Recent observations from B-star Exoplanet Abundance Study (BEAST) have
illustrated the existence of sub-stellar companions around very massive stars.
In this paper, we present the detection of two lower mass companions to a
relatively nearby (148.7−1.3+1.5 pc), young (17−4+3 Myr),
bright (V=6.632±0.006 mag), 2.58±0.06M⊙ B9V star HIP 81208
residing in the Sco-Cen association, using the Spectro-Polarimetric
High-contrast Exoplanet REsearch (SPHERE) instrument at the Very Large
Telescope (VLT) in Chile. Analysis of the photometry obtained gives mass
estimates of 67−7+6MJ for the inner companion and
0.135−0.013+0.010M⊙ for the outer companion, indicating the
former to be most likely a brown dwarf and the latter to be a low-mass star.
The system is compact but unusual, as the orbital planes of the two companions
are likely close to orthogonal. The preliminary orbital solutions we derived
for the system indicate that the star and the two companions are likely in a
Kozai resonance, rendering the system dynamically very interesting for future
studies.Comment: 18 pages, 14 figures, 5 tables Accepted for publication in the 10.
Planets and planetary systems section of A&