NGTS-7Ab: An ultrashort-period brown dwarf transiting a tidally locked and active M dwarf

Abstract

We present the discovery of NGTS-7Ab, a high-mass brown dwarf transiting an M dwarf with a period of 16.2 h, discovered as part of the Next Generation Transit Survey (NGTS). This is the shortest period transiting brown dwarf around a main or pre-main sequence star to date. The M star host (NGTS-7A) has an age of roughly 55 Myr and is in a state of spin–orbit synchronization, which we attribute to tidal interaction with the brown dwarf acting to spin-up the star. The host star is magnetically active and shows multiple flares across the NGTS and follow-up light curves, which we use to probe the flare–star-spot phase relation. The host star also has an M star companion at a separation of 1.13 arcsec with very similar proper motion and systemic velocity, suggesting that the NGTS-7 system is a hierarchical triple. The combination of tidal synchronisation and magnetic braking is expected to drive on-going decay of the brown dwarf orbit, with a remaining lifetime of only 5–10 Myr.