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1. Massive White Dwarfs in the 100 pc Sample: Magnetism, Rotation, Pulsations, and the Merger Fraction

   https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ad6905  

   Jewett, Gracyn; Kilic, Mukremin; Bergeron, Pierre; Moss, Adam; Blouin, Simon; Brown, Warren R; Kosakowski, Alekzander; Toonen, Silvia; Agüeros, Marcel A (October 2024, The Astrophysical Journal)

   Abstract We present a detailed model atmosphere analysis of massive white dwarfs withM> 0.9M_⊙andT_eff≥ 11,000 K in the Montreal White Dwarf Database 100 pc sample and the Pan-STARRS footprint. We obtained follow-up optical spectroscopy of 109 objects with no previous spectral classification in the literature. Our spectroscopic follow-up is now complete for all 204 objects in the sample. We find 118 normal DA white dwarfs, including 45 massive DAs near the ZZ Ceti instability strip. There are no normal massive DBs: the six DBs in the sample are strongly magnetic and/or rapidly rotating. There are 20 massive DQ white dwarfs in our sample, and all are found in the crystallization sequence. In addition, 66 targets are magnetic (32% of the sample). We use magnetic white dwarf atmosphere models to constrain the field strength and geometry using offset dipole models. We also use magnetism, kinematics, and rotation measurements to constrain the fraction of merger remnant candidates among this population. The merger fraction of this sample increases from 25% for 0.9–1M_⊙white dwarfs to 49% for 1.2–1.3M_⊙. However, this fraction is as high as ${78}_{-7}^{+4}$% for 1.1–1.2M_⊙white dwarfs. Previous works have demonstrated that 5%–9% of high-mass white dwarfs stop cooling for ∼8 Gyr due to the²²Ne distillation process, which leads to an overdensity of Q-branch stars in the solar neighborhood. We demonstrate that the overabundance of the merger remnant candidates in our sample is likely due to the same process. 

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2. The Kinematic and Chemical Properties of the Close-in Planet Host Star 8 UMi

   https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ad3bb4  

   Chen, Huiling; Huang, Yang; Zhu, Wei; Beers, Timothy C; Xie, Renjing; Zhou, Yutao; Wang, Sharon Xuesong; Wang, Wei; Alexeeva, Sofya; Feng, Qikang; et al (May 2024, The Astrophysical Journal Letters)

   Abstract A recent study by Hon et al. reported that a close-in planet around the red clump star, 8 UMi, should have been engulfed during the expansion phase of its parent star’s evolution. They explained the survival of this exoplanet through a binary-merger channel for 8 UMi. The key to testing this formation scenario is to derive the true age of this star: is it an old “imposter” resulting from a binary merger, or a genuinely young red clump giant? To accomplish this, we derive kinematic and chemical properties for 8 UMi using astrometric data from Gaia DR3 and the element-abundance pattern measured from a high-resolution (R∼ 75,000) spectrum taken by SOPHIE. Our analysis shows that 8 UMi is a normal thin-disk star with orbital rotation speed ofV_ϕ= 244.96 km s⁻¹, and possesses a solar metallicity ([Fe/H] = −0.05 ± 0.07) andα-element-abundance ratio ([α/Fe] = +0.01 ± 0.03). By adopting well-established relationships between age and space velocities/elemental abundances, we estimate a kinematic age of ${3.50}_{-2.00}^{+3.00}$Gyr, and a chemical age of ${3.25}_{-1.50}^{+2.50}$Gyr from [C/N] and 3.47 ± 1.96 Gyr from [Y/Mg] for 8 UMi, respectively. These estimates are consistent with the isochrone-fitting age ( ${1.90}_{-0.30}^{+1.15}$Gyr) of 8 UMi, but are all much younger than the timescale required in a binary-merger scenario. This result challenges the binary-merger model; the existence of such a closely orbiting exoplanet around a giant star remains a mystery yet to be resolved. 

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3. Searching for GEMS: Discovery and Characterization of Two Brown Dwarfs Around M Dwarfs*

   https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/adbb54  

   Larsen, Alexander; Swaby, Tera N; Kobulnicky, Henry A; Cañas, Caleb I; Kanodia, Shubham; Libby-Roberts, Jessica; Monson, Andrew; Gupta, Arvind F; Cochran, William; Mahadevan, Suvrath; et al (April 2025, The Astronomical Journal)

   Abstract Brown dwarfs bridge the gap between stars and planets, providing valuable insight into both planetary and stellar-formation mechanisms. Yet the census of transiting brown-dwarf companions, in particular around M-dwarf stars, remains incomplete. We report the discovery of two transiting brown dwarfs around low-mass hosts using a combination of space- and ground-based photometry along with near-infrared radial velocities. We characterize TOI-5389Ab ( $68.0_{-2.2}^{+2.2}{M}_{\mathrm{J}}$) and TOI-5610b ( $40.4_{-1.0}^{+1.0}{M}_{\mathrm{J}}$), two moderately massive brown dwarfs orbiting early M-dwarf hosts (T_eff = 3569 ± 59 K and 3618 ± 59 K, respectively). For TOI-5389Ab, the best fitting parameters are periodP = 10.40046 ± 0.00002 days, radius $R_{\mathrm{BD}}=0.824_{-0.031}^{+0.033}$R_J, and low eccentricity $e=0.0962_{-0.0046}^{+0.0027}$. In particular, this constitutes one of the most extreme substellar-stellar companion-to-host mass ratios ofq= 0.150. For TOI-5610b, the best-fitting parameters are periodP = 7.95346 ± 0.00002 days, radius $R_{\mathrm{BD}}=0.887_{-0.031}^{+0.031}$R_J, and moderate eccentricity $e=0.354_{-0.012}^{+0.011}$. Both targets are expected to have shallow, but potentially observable, occultations: ≲500 ppm in the JohnsonKband. A statistical analysis of M-dwarf/BD systems reveals for the first time that those at short orbital periods (P < 13 days) exhibit a dearth of 13M_J < M_BD < 40M_Jcompanions (q < 0.1) compared to those at slightly wider separations. 

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4. Magellan/IMACS Spectroscopy of Grus I: A Low Metallicity Ultra-faint Dwarf Galaxy*

   https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ac96ed  

   Chiti, Anirudh; Simon, Joshua D.; Frebel, Anna; Pace, Andrew B.; Ji, Alexander P.; Li, Ting S. (November 2022, The Astrophysical Journal)

   Abstract We present a chemodynamical study of the Grus I ultra-faint dwarf galaxy (UFD) from medium-resolution (R∼ 11,000) Magellan/IMACS spectra of its individual member stars. We identify eight confirmed members of Grus I, based on their low metallicities and coherent radial velocities, and four candidate members for which only velocities are derived. In contrast to previous work, we find that Grus I has a very low mean metallicity of 〈[Fe/H]〉 = −2.62 ± 0.11 dex, making it one of the most metal-poor UFDs. Grus I has a systemic radial velocity of −143.5 ± 1.2 km s⁻¹and a velocity dispersion of ${\sigma }_{\mathrm{rv}}={2.5}_{-0.8}^{+1.3}$km s⁻¹, which results in a dynamical mass of $M_{1/2}\left(r_h\right)=8_{-4}^{+12}\times {10}^5$M_⊙and a mass-to-light ratio ofM/L_V= ${440}_{-250}^{+650}$M_⊙/L_⊙. Under the assumption of dynamical equilibrium, our analysis confirms that Grus I is a dark-matter-dominated UFD (M/L> 80M_⊙/L_⊙). However, we do not resolve a metallicity dispersion (σ_[Fe/H]< 0.44 dex). Our results indicate that Grus I is a fairly typical UFD with parameters that agree with mass–metallicity and metallicity-luminosity trends for faint galaxies. This agreement suggests that Grus I has not lost an especially significant amount of mass from tidal encounters with the Milky Way, in line with its orbital parameters. Intriguingly, Grus I has among the lowest central densities ( ${\rho }_{1/2}\sim {3.5}_{-2.1}^{+5.7}\times {10}^7$M_⊙kpc⁻³) of the UFDs that are not known to be tidally disrupting. Models of the formation and evolution of UFDs will need to explain the diversity of these central densities, in addition to any diversity in the outer regions of these relic galaxies. 

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5. Validation of Elemental and Isotopic Abundances in Late-M Spectral Types with the Benchmark HIP 55507 AB System

   https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ad1243  

   Xuan, Jerry W; Wang, Jason; Finnerty, Luke; Horstman, Katelyn; Grimm, Simon; Peck, Anne E; Nielsen, Eric; Knutson, Heather A; Mawet, Dimitri; Isaacson, Howard; et al (February 2024, The Astrophysical Journal)

   Abstract M dwarfs are common host stars to exoplanets but often lack atmospheric abundance measurements. Late-M dwarfs are also good analogs to the youngest substellar companions, which share similarT_eff∼ 2300–2800 K. We present atmospheric analyses for the M7.5 companion HIP 55507 B and its K6V primary star with Keck/KPIC high-resolution (R∼ 35,000)K-band spectroscopy. First, by including KPIC relative radial velocities between the primary and secondary in the orbit fit, we improve the dynamical mass precision by 60% and find $M_B={88.0}_{-3.2}^{+3.4}{M}_{\mathrm{Jup}}$, putting HIP 55507 B above the stellar–substellar boundary. We also find that HIP 55507 B orbits its K6V primary star with $a={38}_{-3}^{+4}$au ande= 0.40 ± 0.04. From atmospheric retrievals of HIP 55507 B, we measure [C/H] = 0.24 ± 0.13, [O/H] = 0.15 ± 0.13, and C/O = 0.67 ± 0.04. Moreover, we strongly detect¹³CO (7.8σsignificance) and tentatively detect ${\mathrm{H}}_2^{18}\mathrm{O}$(3.7σsignificance) in the companion’s atmosphere and measure ${}^{12}\mathrm{CO}{/}^{13}\mathrm{CO}={98}_{-22}^{+28}$and ${\mathrm{H}}_2^{16}\mathrm{O}/{\mathrm{H}}_2^{18}\mathrm{O}={240}_{-80}^{+145}$after accounting for systematic errors. From a simplified retrieval analysis of HIP 55507 A, we measure ${}^{12}\mathrm{CO}{/}^{13}\mathrm{CO}={79}_{-16}^{+21}$and ${\mathrm{C}}^{16}\mathrm{O}/{\mathrm{C}}^{18}\mathrm{O}={288}_{-70}^{+125}$for the primary star. These results demonstrate that HIP 55507 A and B have consistent¹²C/¹³C and¹⁶O/¹⁸O to the <1σlevel, as expected for a chemically homogeneous binary system. Given the similar flux ratios and separations between HIP 55507 AB and systems with young substellar companions, our results open the door to systematically measuring¹³CO and ${\mathrm{H}}_2^{18}\mathrm{O}$abundances in the atmospheres of substellar or even planetary-mass companions with similar spectral types. 

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