2023RNAAS...7..234W

Proper motion changes between astrometric surveys provide a hint for unresolved companions and near-infrared interferometry is arguably the most efficient way to reveal or constrain their nature. Here we report on the VLTI/GRAVITY. detection of a companion to the nearby star HIP 7298 with a K band flux ratio of 11.9% at a projected separation ρ = 57.1 mas ↔ 4.3 au. Through isochrone fitting we find that the primary is a 1 Gyr old M_A = 1.56M_⊙ star while the newly discovered secondary is a M_B = 0.80M_⊙ K dwarf. The stars will most likely avoid common envelope evolution and will become a system similar to Gliese 86 in about 1.5 Gyr.