Abstract
We have used the Low-Resolution Imaging Spectrograph on the Keck II telescope to observe the brown dwarf candidate D04. The spectrum matches that of a spectral type M7 dwarf, implying a photospheric temperature of ≈2600 K. This is consistent with the available (R-I)C and (I-K) colours. If the parallax measured by Hawkins et al. is correct, then the implication is that D04 has a radius of ∼0.035 R⊙, or one-third that of Jupiter. This contradicts the predictions made by current stellar models that electron degeneracy leads to nearly constant radii for stars and brown dwarfs at masses below 0.1 M⊙. We suggest that an equally valid interpretation of the data is that D04 is a VB8 analogue at a distance of ≈150 pc.
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