The Hawaii Infrared Parallax Program. V. New T-dwarf Members and Candidate Members of Nearby Young Moving Groups
Abstract
We present a search for new planetary-mass members of nearby young moving groups (YMGs) using astrometry for 694 T and Y dwarfs, including 447 objects with parallaxes, mostly produced by recent large parallax programs from UKIRT and Spitzer. Using the BANYAN Σ and LACEwING algorithms, we identify 30 new candidate YMG members, with spectral types of T0-T9 and distances of 10-43 pc. Some candidates have unusually red colors and/or faint absolute magnitudes compared to field dwarfs with similar spectral types, providing supporting evidence for their youth, including four early-T dwarfs. We establish one of these, the variable T1.5 dwarf 2MASS J21392676+0220226, as a new planetary-mass member ( ${14.6}_{-1.6}^{+3.2}$ <!-- --> MJup) of the Carina-Near group (200 ± 50 Myr) based on its full six-dimensional kinematics, including a new parallax measurement from CFHT. The high-amplitude variability of this object is suggestive of a young age, given the coexistence of variability and youth seen in previously known YMG T dwarfs. Our four latest-type (T8-T9) YMG candidates, WISE J031624.35+430709.1, ULAS J130217.21+130851.2, WISEPC J225540.74-311841.8, and WISE J233226.49-432510.6, if confirmed, will be the first free-floating planets (≈2-6 MJup) whose ages and luminosities are compatible with both hot-start and cold-start evolutionary models, and thus overlap with the properties of the directly imaged planet 51 Eri b. Several of our early/mid-T candidates have peculiar near-infrared spectra, indicative of heterogenous photospheres or unresolved binarity. Radial velocity measurements needed for final membership assessment for most of our candidates await upcoming 20-30 m class telescopes. In addition, we compile all 15 known T7-Y1 benchmarks and derive a homogeneous set of their effective temperatures, surface gravities, radii, and masses.
- Publication:
-
The Astrophysical Journal
- Pub Date:
- April 2021
- DOI:
- 10.3847/1538-4357/abe3fa
- arXiv:
- arXiv:2102.05045
- Bibcode:
- 2021ApJ...911....7Z
- Keywords:
-
- T dwarfs;
- Free floating planets;
- Stellar associations;
- 1679;
- 549;
- 1582;
- Astrophysics - Earth and Planetary Astrophysics;
- Astrophysics - Astrophysics of Galaxies;
- Astrophysics - Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
- E-Print:
- ApJ, in press. 27 pages including 6 figures and 5 tables