Discovery of seven T Tauri stars and a brown dwarf candidate in the nearby TW Hydrae Association

R. A. Webb, B. Zuckerman, I. Platais, J. Patience, R. J. White, M. J. Schwartz, C. McCarthy

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

184 Scopus citations

Abstract

We report the discovery of five T Tauri star systems, two of which are resolved binaries, in the vicinity of the nearest known region of recent star formation: the TW Hydrae Association. The newly discovered systems display the same signatures of youth (namely high X-ray flux, large Li abundance, and strong chromospheric activity) and the same proper motion as the original five members. These similarities firmly establish the group as a bona fide T Tauri association, unique in its proximity to Earth and its complete isolation from any known molecular clouds. At an age of ∼10 Myr and a distance of ∼50 pc, the association members are excellent candidates for future studies of circumstellar disk dissipation and the formation of brown dwarfs and planets. Indeed, as an example, our speckle imaging revealed a faint, very likely companion 2″ north of CD -33° 7795 (TWA 5). Its color and brightness suggest a spectral type of ∼M8.5 which, at an age of ∼107 yr, implies a mass ∼20MJup.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)L63-L67
JournalAstrophysical Journal
Volume512
Issue number1 PART 2
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 10 1999
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Open clusters and associations: Individual (TW Hydrae)
  • Stars: Low-mass, brown dwarfs
  • Stars: Pre-main-sequence
  • X-rays: Stars

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Astronomy and Astrophysics
  • Space and Planetary Science

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