UKIRT under new management: status and plans

The United Kingdom Infrared Telescope (UKIRT) observatory has been transferred to the ownership of the University of Hawaii (UH) and is now being managed by UH. We have established partnerships with several organizations to utilize the UKIRT for science projects and to support its operation. Our main partners are the U.S. Naval Observatory (USNO), the East Asian Observatory (EAO), and the UKIRT microlensing team (JPL/IPAC/OSU/Vanderbilt). The USNO is working on deep northern hemisphere surveys in the H and K bands and the UKIRT microlensing team is running a monitoring campaign of the Galactic bulge. EAO, UH, and USNO have individual P.I. research programs. Most of the observations are using the Wide Field Camera (WFCAM), but the older suite of cassegrain instruments are still fully operational. Data processing and archiving continue to be done CASU and WSA in the UK. We are working on a concept to upgrade the WFCAM with new larger infrared detector arrays for substantially improved survey efficiency

UKIRT under new management: status and plans

The United Kingdom Infrared Telescope (UKIRT) observatory has been transferred to the ownership of the University of Hawaii (UH) and is now being managed by UH. We have established partnerships with several organizations to utilize the UKIRT for science projects and to support its operation. Our main partners are the U.S. Naval Observatory (USNO), the East Asian Observatory (EAO), and the UKIRT microlensing team (JPL/IPAC/OSU/Vanderbilt). The USNO is working on deep northern hemisphere surveys in the H and K bands and the UKIRT microlensing team is running a monitoring campaign of the Galactic bulge. EAO, UH, and USNO have individual P.I. research programs. Most of the observations are using the Wide Field Camera (WFCAM), but the older suite of cassegrain instruments are still fully operational. Data processing and archiving continue to be done CASU and WSA in the UK. We are working on a concept to upgrade the WFCAM with new larger infrared detector arrays for substantially improved survey efficiency

Redder than Red: Discovery of an Exceptionally Red L/T Transition Dwarf

We present the discovery of CWISE J050626.96+073842.4 (CWISE J0506+0738), an L/T transition dwarf with extremely red near-infrared colors discovered through the Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 citizen science project. Photometry from UKIRT and CatWISE give a (J − K)MKO color of 2.97 ± 0.03 mag and a J MKO − W2 color of 4.93 ± 0.02 mag, making CWISE J0506+0738 the reddest known free-floating L/T dwarf in both colors. We confirm the extremely red nature of CWISE J0506+0738 using Keck/NIRES near-infrared spectroscopy and establish that it is a low-gravity, late-type L/T transition dwarf. The spectrum of CWISE J0506+0738 shows possible signatures of CH4 absorption in its atmosphere, suggesting a colder effective temperature than other known, young, red L dwarfs. We assign a preliminary spectral type for this source of L8γ-T0γ. We tentatively find that CWISE J0506+0738 is variable at 3-5 μm based on multiepoch WISE photometry. Proper motions derived from follow-up UKIRT observations combined with a radial velocity from our Keck/NIRES spectrum and a photometric distance estimate indicate a strong membership probability in the β Pic moving group. A future parallax measurement will help to establish a more definitive moving group membership for this unusual object