The Discovery of a Field Methane Dwarf from Sloan Digital Sky Survey Commissioning Data*

Michael A. Strauss; Xiaohui Fan; James E. Gunn; S. K. Leggett; T. R. Geballe; Jeffrey R. Pier; Robert H. Lupton; G. R. Knapp; James Annis; J. Brinkmann; J. H. Crocker; István Csabai; Masataka Fukugita; David A. Golimowski; Frederick H. Harris; G. S. Hennessy; Robert B. Hindsley; Željko Ivezić; Stephen Kent; D. Q. Lamb; Jeffrey A. Munn; Heidi Jo Newberg; Ron Rechenmacher; Donald P. Schneider; J. Allyn Smith; Chris Stoughton; Douglas L. Tucker; Patrick Waddell; Donald G. York

doi:10.1086/312218

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The Discovery of a Field Methane Dwarf from Sloan Digital Sky Survey Commissioning Data^*

Michael A. Strauss¹, Xiaohui Fan¹, James E. Gunn¹, S. K. Leggett², T. R. Geballe³, Jeffrey R. Pier⁴, Robert H. Lupton¹, G. R. Knapp¹, James Annis⁵, J. Brinkmann⁶, J. H. Crocker⁷, István Csabai^7,8, Masataka Fukugita⁹, David A. Golimowski⁷, Frederick H. Harris⁴, G. S. Hennessy¹⁰, Robert B. Hindsley¹⁰, Željko Ivezić¹, Stephen Kent⁵, D. Q. Lamb¹¹, Jeffrey A. Munn⁴, Heidi Jo Newberg⁵, Ron Rechenmacher⁵, Donald P. Schneider¹², J. Allyn Smith¹³, Chris Stoughton⁵, Douglas L. Tucker⁵, Patrick Waddell¹⁴, and Donald G. York¹¹

Published 1999 July 21 • © 1999. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved. Printed in U.S.A.
The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 522, Number 1 Citation Michael A. Strauss et al 1999 ApJ 522 L61 DOI 10.1086/312218

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Author affiliations

¹ Princeton University Observatory, Princeton, NJ 08544

² United Kingdom Infrared Telescope, Joint Astronomy Centre, 660 North A'ohoku Place, Hilo, HI 96720

³ Gemini North Observatory, 670 North A'ohoku Place, Hilo, HI 96720

⁴ US Naval Observatory, Flagstaff Station, P.O. Box 1149, Flagstaff, AZ 86002-1149

⁵ Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, P.O. Box 500, Batavia, IL 60510

⁶ Apache Point Observatory, P.O. Box 59, Sunspot, NM 88349-0059

⁷ Department of Physics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University, 3701 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218

⁸ Department of Physics of Complex Systems, Eötvös University, Pázmány Péter sétány 1/A, Budapest, H-1117, Hungary

⁹ Institute for Cosmic-Ray Research, University of Tokyo, Midori, Tanashi, Tokyo 188-8502, Japan

¹⁰ US Naval Observatory, 3450 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20392-5420

¹¹ University of Chicago, Astronomy and Astrophysics Center, 5640 South Ellis Avenue, Chicago, IL 60637

¹² Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802

¹³ Department of Physics, University of Michigan, 500 East University, Ann Arbor, MI 48109

¹⁴ Department of Astronomy, University of Washington, Box 351580, Seattle, WA 98195

Dates

Received 1999 May 21
Accepted 1999 June 28
Published 1999 July 21

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Abstract

We report the discovery of the coolest field dwarf yet known, selected as an unresolved object with extremely red colors from commissioning imaging data of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. Its spectrum from 0.8 to 2.5 μm is dominated by strong bands of H₂O and CH₄. Its spectrum and colors over this range are very similar to those of Gl 229B, the only other known example of a methane dwarf. It is roughly 1.2 mag fainter than Gl 229B, suggesting that it lies at a distance of ~10 pc. Such a cool object must have a mass well below the hydrogen-burning limit of 0.08 M_☉ and therefore is a genuine brown dwarf, with a probable mass in the range 0.015-0.06 M_☉ for an age range of 0.3-5 Gyr.

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Footnotes

*
Based on observations obtained with the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and the Apache Point Observatory 3.5 m telescope, which are owned and operated by the Astrophysical Research Consortium, and with the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope.

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