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Study investigates a nearby M-dwarf binary system

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2024-05-06 15:00:11

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The upper panel shows the integrated flux density of the primary star LP 349−25A. The middle panel shows the same but for the secondary star LP 349−25B. The lower panel shows the integrated flux density of the UCD binary system LP 349−25AB. Credit: Curiel et al., 2024.

Using the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA), astronomers have explored a nearby binary stellar system composed of two M dwarfs, known as LP 349−25AB. Results of the study, presented April 25 on the pre-print server arXiv, shed more light on the properties of this system, suggesting that one of its components may be a brown dwarf.

At a distance of only 47 light years LP 349−25 (also known as LSPM J0027+2219 or 2MASS J0027559+221932) is a binary system consisting of two M dwarf of spectral type M8V and M9V, separated by 1.2 AU. The system has a combined mass of about 166 Jupiter masses, orbital period of approximately 7.7 years, and is estimated to be 140–190 million years old.