Discovery of the Brightest T Dwarf in the Northern Hemisphere

Abstract

We report the discovery of a bright (H=12.77) brown dwarf designated SIMP J013656.5+093347. The discovery was made as part of a near-infrared proper motion survey, SIMP (Sondage Infrarouge de Mouvement Propre), which uses proper motion and near-infrared/optical photometry to identify brown dwarf candidates. A low resolution (lambda/dlambda~40) spectrum of this brown dwarf covering the 0.88-2.35 microns wavelength interval is presented. Analysis of the spectrum indicates a spectral type of T2.5+/-0.5. A photometric distance of 6.4+/-0.3 pc is estimated assuming it is a single object. Current observations rule out a binary of mass ratio ~1 and separation >5 AU. SIMP 0136 is the brightest T dwarf in the northern hemisphere and is surpassed only by Eps Indi Bab over the whole sky. It is thus an excellent candidate for detailed studies and should become a benchmark object for the early-T spectral class.