Type: Article
Publication Date: 2012-09-06
Citations: 60
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637x/757/1/100
We report the discovery of a wide (∼1400 AU projected separation), common proper motion companion to the nearby M dwarf LHS 2803 (PSO J207.0300–13.7422). This object was discovered during our census of the local T dwarf population using Pan-STARRS1 and Two Micron All Sky Survey data. Using the Infrared Telescope Facility/SpeX near-infrared spectroscopy, we classify the secondary to be spectral type T5.5. University of Hawaii 2.2 m/SuperNova Integral Field Spectrograph optical spectroscopy indicates that the primary has a spectral type of M4.5, with approximately solar metallicity and no measurable Hα emission. We use this lack of activity to set a lower age limit for the system of 3.5 Gyr. Using a comparison with chance alignments of brown dwarfs and nearby stars, we conclude that the two objects are unlikely to be a chance association. The primary's photometric distance of 21 pc and its proper motion implies thin disk kinematics. Based on these kinematics and its metallicity, we set an upper age limit for the system of 10 Gyr. Evolutionary model calculations suggest that the secondary has a mass of 72±47 MJup, temperature of 1120 ± 80 K, and log g = 5.4 ± 0.1 dex. Model atmosphere fitting to the near-IR spectrum gives similar physical parameters of 1100 K and log g = 5.0.