Discovery of a White Dwarf Companion to HD 159062. (arXiv:1905.06440v1 [astro-ph.SR])
<a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Hirsch_L/0/1/0/all/0/1">Lea A. Hirsch</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Ciardi_D/0/1/0/all/0/1">David R. Ciardi</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Howard_A/0/1/0/all/0/1">Andrew W. Howard</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Marcy_G/0/1/0/all/0/1">Geoffrey W. Marcy</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Ruane_G/0/1/0/all/0/1">Garreth Ruane</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Gonzalez_E/0/1/0/all/0/1">Erica Gonzalez</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Blunt_S/0/1/0/all/0/1">Sarah Blunt</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Crepp_J/0/1/0/all/0/1">Justin R. Crepp</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Fulton_B/0/1/0/all/0/1">Benjamin J. Fulton</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Isaacson_H/0/1/0/all/0/1">Howard Isaacson</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Kosiarek_M/0/1/0/all/0/1">Molly Kosiarek</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Mawet_D/0/1/0/all/0/1">Dimitri Mawet</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Sinukoff_E/0/1/0/all/0/1">Evan Sinukoff</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Weiss_L/0/1/0/all/0/1">Lauren Weiss</a>

We report on the discovery of a white dwarf companion to the nearby late G
dwarf star, HD 159062. The companion is detected in 14 years of precise radial
velocity (RV) data, and in high-resolution imaging observations. RVs of HD
159062 from 2003-2018 reveal an acceleration of $-13.3pm0.12 rm{m s}^{-1}$,
indicating that it hosts a companion with a long-period orbit. Subsequent
imaging observations with the ShaneAO system on the Lick Observatory 3-meter
Shane telescope, the PHARO AO system on the Palomar Observatory 5-meter
telescope, and the NIRC2 AO system at the Keck II 10-meter telescope reveal a
faint companion 2.7” from the primary star. We performed relative photometry,
finding $Delta J = 10.09 pm 0.38$ magnitudes, $Delta K_{S} = 10.06 pm 0.22$
magnitudes, and $Delta L’ = 9.67pm0.08$ magnitudes for the companion from
these observations. Analysis of the radial velocities, astrometry, and
photometry reveals that the combined data set can only be reconciled for the
scenario where HD 159062 B is a white dwarf. A full Bayesian analysis of the RV
and imaging data to obtain the cooling age, mass, and orbital parameters of the
white dwarf indicates that the companion is an old $M_{B} =
0.65^{+0.12}_{-0.04} M_{odot}$ white dwarf with an orbital period of $P =
250^{+130}_{-76}$ years, and a cooling age of $tau = 8.2^{+0.3}_{-0.5}$ Gyr.

We report on the discovery of a white dwarf companion to the nearby late G
dwarf star, HD 159062. The companion is detected in 14 years of precise radial
velocity (RV) data, and in high-resolution imaging observations. RVs of HD
159062 from 2003-2018 reveal an acceleration of $-13.3pm0.12 rm{m s}^{-1}$,
indicating that it hosts a companion with a long-period orbit. Subsequent
imaging observations with the ShaneAO system on the Lick Observatory 3-meter
Shane telescope, the PHARO AO system on the Palomar Observatory 5-meter
telescope, and the NIRC2 AO system at the Keck II 10-meter telescope reveal a
faint companion 2.7” from the primary star. We performed relative photometry,
finding $Delta J = 10.09 pm 0.38$ magnitudes, $Delta K_{S} = 10.06 pm 0.22$
magnitudes, and $Delta L’ = 9.67pm0.08$ magnitudes for the companion from
these observations. Analysis of the radial velocities, astrometry, and
photometry reveals that the combined data set can only be reconciled for the
scenario where HD 159062 B is a white dwarf. A full Bayesian analysis of the RV
and imaging data to obtain the cooling age, mass, and orbital parameters of the
white dwarf indicates that the companion is an old $M_{B} =
0.65^{+0.12}_{-0.04} M_{odot}$ white dwarf with an orbital period of $P =
250^{+130}_{-76}$ years, and a cooling age of $tau = 8.2^{+0.3}_{-0.5}$ Gyr.

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