2MASS J04070752+1546457
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2MASS J04070752+1546457 (abbreviated to 2MASS J0407+1546) is a rapidly-rotating brown dwarf of spectral class L3.5, located in the constellation Taurus about 119 light-years from Earth. With a photometrically measured rotation period of 1.23 hours, it is one of the fastest-rotating known brown dwarfs announced by a team of astronomers led by Megan E. Tannock in March 2021. With a rotational velocity of over Template:Cvt, it is approaching the predicted rotational speed limit beyond which it would break apart due to centripetal forces. As a consequence of its rapid rotation, the brown dwarf is slightly flattened at its poles to a similar degree as Saturn, the most oblate planet in the Solar System.[1] Its rapid rotation may enable strong auroral radio emissions via particle interactions in its magnetic field, as observed in other known rapidly-rotating brown dwarfs.[2]
Discovery
2MASS J0407+1546 was first catalogued as a point source in June 2003 by the Two Micron All-Sky Survey (2MASS) organized by the University of Massachusetts Amherst and the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center under the California Institute of Technology.[3] It was discovered to be a brown dwarf of the spectral class L3.5 by I. Neill Reid and collaborators, based on near-infrared spectra obtained in October 2005 with the Gemini North at the Mauna Kea Observatory, Hawaii. Their discovery and spectroscopic characterization of 430 ultracool dwarfs including 2MASS J0407+1546 was published in The Astronomical Journal in September 2008.[4]
Distance
The trigonometric parallax of 2MASS 1114−2618 was measured to be Template:Val milliarcseconds by the Gaia spacecraft in 2018, corresponding to a distance of Template:Convert.[5] This is in close agreement with Reid et al.'s spectrophotometric estimate of Template:Convert in 2008, calculated from the object's spectral type and near-infrared absolute magnitude.[4]
Proper motion
From Gaia DR2, 2MASS J0407+1546 has a measured net proper motion of 81.0 mas/yr with position angle 139.06 degrees,Template:EfnTemplate:Efn indicating motion in south-east direction on the sky.[5]
See also
- 2MASS J12195156+3128497 – L8 spectral class brown dwarf with a period of Template:Val
- 2MASS J03480772−6022270 – T7 spectral class brown dwarf with a period of Template:Val
Notes
References
External links
- Trio of Fast-Spinning Brown Dwarfs May Reveal a Rotational Speed Limit, Calla Cofield, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 7 April 2021
- Western space scientists identify fastest-spinning "failed stars" ever found, Jeff Renaud, University of Western Ontario, 7 April 2021
- Caught Speeding: Clocking the Fastest-Spinning Brown Dwarfs, NOIRLab, 7 April 2021
Template:Stars of Taurus Template:2021 in space
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