Ground-based exoplanet near-infrared search by imaging and spectroscopy: 3 new companion candidates in TWA

Abstract

We report first results from our ground-based infrared imaging search for sub-stellar companions (brown dwarfs and giant planets) of young (up to 100 Myrs) nearby (up to 100 pc) stars, where companions should be well separated from the central stars and still relatively bright due to ongoing accretion and/or contraction. Our observations are performed mainly with SOFI and SHARP at the ESO 3.5m NTT on La Silla (imaging) and with ISAAC at the ESO 8.2m Antu (VLT-UT1) on Cerro Paranal (imaging and spectroscopy), all in the H- and K-bands. Here, we present new companion candidates around three T Tauri stars (TWA-8 A, RXJ1121.1-3845, and RXJ1121.3-3447 N) in the TW Hya group, which would have been sub-stellar if at the same distance and age as the T Tauri stars, but are found to be background stars by spectroscopy.