2003/01/07 by T. Rauch, K. Werner · 2 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Astronomy and Astrophysical Research #Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20021883
published as Astron.Astrophys. 400 (2003) 271-278 · 7 pages, 11 Postscript figures, to appear in A&A
arxiv created 2003/01/07 · openalex publication_date 2003/02/24 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/31
We present an analysis of the rotational velocity of the primary of LB 3459 based on 107 new high-resolution and high- ESO VLT UVES spectra. 105 of them cover a complete orbital period (0.26 d) of this binary system. We have determined an orbital period of , a radial velocity amplitude of , and . From simulations of the He II λ 4686 Å line profile (based on NLTE model atmosphere calculations), we derive . We present an animation which shows the orbital movement of the binary system, its synthetic lightcurve, and compares the phase-dependent variation of the predicted with the observed He II λ 4686 Å line profile. The radius of the cool component is almost the same size like Jupiter but its mass is about 70 times higher than Jupiter's mass. Thus, from its present mass (), the secondary of LB 3459 lies formally within the brown-dwarf mass range (). It might be a former planet which has survived the previous common-envelope phase and even has gained mass.