January
2026
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2026AJ....171...12C
Authors
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Carmichael, Theron W.
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Giacalone, Steven
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Vowell, Noah
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Huber, Daniel
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Wang, Xian-Yu
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Bossett, Malik
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Handley, Luke
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Householder, Aaron
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Li, Yaguang
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Fulton, Benjamin J.
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Howard, Andrew W.
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Isaacson, Howard
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Halverson, Samuel
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Roy, Arpita
Abstract
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We present a new analysis of the CWW 89 system as part of the Orbital Architectures of Transiting Massive Exoplanets And Low-mass stars (OATMEAL) survey. The CWW 89 system is a member of the 2.8 Gyr old Ruprecht 147 (NGC 6774) cluster and consists of two stars, CWW 89A (EPIC 219388192) and CWW 89B, with the primary hosting a transiting brown dwarf, CWW 89Ab. We use in-transit, highly precise radial velocity measurements with the Keck Planet Finder to characterize the Rossiter─McLaughlin (RM) effect and measure the projected spin─orbit obliquity ∣λ∣ = 1 .° 4 ± 2 .° 5 and the full 3D spin─orbit obliquity of the brown dwarf to be ψ=15.1−10.9+15.0∘ . This value of λ implies that the brown dwarf's orbit is prograde and well-aligned with the equator of the host star, continuing the trend of transiting brown dwarfs showing a preference for spin─orbit alignment (λ ≍ 0°) regardless of the stellar effective temperature. This contrast with the transiting giant planet population, whose spin─orbit alignments depend on host Teff, shows an increasingly clear distinction in the formation and orbital migration mechanisms between transiting giant planets and transiting brown dwarfs like CWW 89Ab. For this system in particular, we find it plausible that the brown dwarf may have undergone coplanar high-eccentricity migration influenced by CWW 89B.
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