2MASS J02431371−2453298 (abbreviated to 2MASS 0243−2453) is a brown dwarf of spectral class T6, located in the constellation Fornax about 34.84 light-years from Earth.
2MASS 0243−2453 was discovered in 2002 by Adam J. Burgasser et al. from Two Micron All-Sky Survey (2MASS), conducted from 1997 to 2001. Follow-up observations were made in 1998–2001 using the Near-Infrared Camera, mounted on the Palomar 60 inch (1.5 m) Telescope; CTIO Infrared Imager (CIRIM) and Ohio State Infrared Imager/Spectrometer (OSIRIS), mounted on the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO) 1.5 m Telescope; and some additional observations were made using the Near Infrared Camera (NIRC), mounted on the Keck I 10 m telescope, and nearinfrared camera D78, mounted on the Palomar 5 m Hale Telescope. In 2002 Burgasser et al. published a paper, where they defined new spectral subtypes T1—T8, and presented discovery of 11 new T-type brown dwarfs, among which also was 2MASS 0243-2453. These 11 objects were among the earliest T-type brown dwarfs ever discovered: before this, the total number of known T-type objects was 13, and the discoveries increased it up to 24 (apart from additional T-type dwarfs, identified by Geballe et al. 2001 in SDSS data).
2MASS J02431371−2453298 distance estimates
| Source | Ref. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vrba et al. (2004) | 93.62 | ||||
| Manjavacas et al. (2018) | 93.46 |
Position of 2MASS 0243-2453 shifts due to its proper motion by 0.3548 arcseconds per year.
Using an evolutionary model, the surface temperature of 2MASS 0243−2453 is estimated to be 1040–1100 K, and its mass is estimated at 2.4–4.1% that of the Sun, its diameter 0.092 to 0.106 that of the Sun, and age 0.4–1.7 billion years.[1]
As with other brown dwarfs of spectral type T, its spectrum is dominated of methane. Like mant of other T-class brown dwarf, 2MASS J0243−2453 does not exhibit any optical variability, indicating its upper atmosphere is free of clouds.
The other 10 brown dwarfs, presented in Burgasser et al. (2002):