A 2MASS L Dwarf Companion to the Nearby K Dwarf GJ 1048.pdf

a r X i v : a s t r o - p h / 0 0 1 2 4 4 5 v 1 2 0 D e c 2 0 0 0 to appear in April 2001 Astronomical Journal A 2MASS L Dwarf Companion to the Nearby K Dwarf GJ 1048 John E. Gizis1, J. Davy Kirkpatrick Infrared Processing and Analysis Center, 100-22, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125 gizis@,davy@ John C. Wilson Space Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853 jcw14@ ABSTRACT We report the discovery of a probable L1 companion to the nearby K2 dwarf GJ 1048 using the Two Micron All-Sky Survey (2MASS). This source, 2MASSI J0235599-233120 or GJ 1048B, has 2MASS near-infrared colors and absolute magnitudes consistent with an early L dwarf companion with a projected separation of 250 A.U. The L1 spectral type is confirmed by far-red optical and low-resolution IR spectroscopy. We present evidence that GJ 1048 is a young (. 1Gyr) system, and that GJ 1048B may be a high- mass brown dwarf below the hydrogen-burning limit. Additional studies of the GJ 1048 system will help constrain the characteristics of L dwarfs as a function of age and mass. Subject headings: binaries: general — solar neighborhood — stars: low-mass, brown dwarfs 1. Introduction Brown dwarfs are very-low-mass dwarfs which are unable to maintain a stable luminosity by hydrogen fusion. Analysis of radial velocity surveys has identified a “brown dwarf desert” — although stellar and planetary companions to FGKM main sequence stars are relatively common, less than 1% of such stars have companions in the range 0.005 - 0.08 M⊙ within 3 A.U.(Mazeh et al. 1Visiting Astronomer, Kitt Peak National Observatory, National Optical Astronomy Observatories, which is op- erated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc. (AURA) under cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation. – 2 – 1992; Marcy Butler 2000). Although brown dwarfs are rare as short-period companions to more massive stars, they are quite common in the field. The Deep Near-Infrared Survey (DE