Graduate student Qier An recently contributed to new research published in The Astronomical Journal that identified a brown dwarf orbiting a red dwarf through the synergy of ground- and space-based observatories. An international research team led by the Astrobiology Center, California State University Northridge, and An from JHU has now discovered a brown dwarf companion, J1446B, orbiting the nearby M dwarf LSPM J1446+4633 (hereafter J1446), located about 55 light-years from Earth. An’s input on constraining full orbit using Gaia NSS acceleration (1st time application) made the publication possible.
While previous methods combining Hipparcos and Gaia astrometric acceleration with direct imaging have been used to detect and constrain the masses of companions, this study represents the first successful application of Gaia-only acceleration data to a faint nearby red dwarf system, beyond Hipparcos’ detection limits, resulting in the precise characterization of a brown dwarf companion.