VLT/NACO adaptive optics imaging of the Herbig Ae star HD 100453

¹ Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie, Königstuhl 17, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany e-mail: [chen;henning;boekel]@mpia.de
² Eureka Scientific and Goddard Space Flight Center, Exploration of the Universe Division, Code 667, NASA's GSFC Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA e-mail: cgrady@echelle.gsfc.nasa.gov

Revised: 2 May 2005
Accepted: 4 October 2005

Abstract

We report the detection of a companion candidate to the Herbig Ae star HD 100453, using the NACO instrument at the VLT UT4. The separation between the companion candidate and HD 100453 is 106, and their brightness contrast is 5.1 mag at K_s and 4.2 mag at Brγ. We discuss the possible nature of the newly detected star based on near-infrared photometry. The photometric data are consistent with a 0.3  companion to HD 100453, corresponding to a spectral type of M3-M5. This detection could have important implications for the structure of the disk around HD 100453.