Discovery of the Exceptionally Short Period Ultracool Dwarf Binary LP 413-53AB

Abstract

We report the detection of large-amplitude, rapid radial velocity (RV) variations and line-splitting in high-resolution Keck/NIRSPEC spectra of the M9 dwarf LP 413-53. We attribute these features to binary motion. Analyzing data spanning 15 yr, we infer a preliminary orbital period of 0.7106156 ± 0.0000002 days, an eccentricity of 0.0088 ± 0.0017, a primary RV semiamplitude of 23.70 ± 0.05 km s−1, and a secondary RV semiamplitude of 28.41 ± 0.06 km s−1, implying a system mass ratio M secondary/M primary = 0.8340 ± 0.0017. These measurements identify LP 413-53 as the shortest-period ultracool binary discovered to date, and one of the smallest separation main-sequence binaries known. The position and velocity of the system rule out previously reported membership in the Hyades Moving Group, and indicate that this is likely a pair of evolved (age ≳1 Gyr), very-low-mass stars. Assuming masses consistent with evolved late-M and L dwarfs, we estimate an orbital separation of 0.0081–0.0084 au or 17–19 stellar radii, and an orbital inclination angle of 24°, making it unlikely that this system exhibits eclipse events. The larger radii of these stars at young ages would have put them near contact at the system’s current separation, and we speculate that this system has undergone dynamical evolution, either through orbital angular momentum loss or ejection of a third component followed by tidal circularization. While further observations are needed to fully constrain the orbital and physical parameters of LP 413-53, this ultra-short-period ultracool dwarf binary system serves as a new test bed for formation and dynamical evolution models of very-low-mass multiples.