A Survey for New Members of Taurus from Stellar to Planetary Masses

We present a large sample of new members of the Taurus star-forming region that extend from stellar to planetary masses. To identify candidate members at substellar masses, we have used color-magnitude diagrams and proper motions measured with several wide-field optical and infrared (IR) surveys. At stellar masses, we have considered the candidate members that were found in a recent analysis of high-precision astrometry from the Gaia mission. Using new and archival spectra, we have measured spectral types and assessed membership for these 161 candidates, 79 of which are classified as new members. Our updated census of Taurus now contains 519 known members. According to Gaia data, this census should be nearly complete for spectral types earlier than M6-M7 at A(J) = M9 and has uncovered the faintest known member in M-K, which should have a mass of similar to 3-10 M-Jup for ages of 1-10 Myr. We have used mid-IR photometry from the Spitzer Space Telescope and the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer to determine whether the new members exhibit excess emission that would indicate the presence of circumstellar disks. The updated disk fraction for Taurus is similar to 0.7 at M3.5.NASA [80NSSC18 K0444, NNH14CK55B]; NASA; University of Texas at Austin McDonald Observatory; Pennsylvania State University; Department of Astronomy; National Development and Reform Commission; NSF; Alfred P. Sloan Foundation; U.S. Department of Energy; Japanese Monbukagakusho; Max Planck Society; Higher Education Funding Council for England; American Museum of Natural History; Astrophysical Institute Potsdam; University of Basel; University of Cambridge; Case Western Reserve University; University of Chicago; Drexel University; Fermilab; Institute for Advanced Study; Japan Participation Group; Johns Hopkins University; Joint Institute for Nuclear Astrophysics; Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology; Korean Scientist Group; Chinese Academy of Sciences; Los Alamos National Laboratory; Max-Planck-Institute for Astronomy; Max-Planck-Institute for Astrophysics; Ohio State University; University of Pittsburgh; University of Portsmouth; Princeton University; United States Naval Observatory; University of Washington; National Aeronautics and Space Administration [NNX08AR22G]; NSF [AST-1238877]; Eberly College of Science; Pennsylvania Space Grant Consortium; New Mexico State University; [U/17B/UA05]; [GN-2017B-Q-8]; [GN-2018B-Q-114]; [GN-2018B-FT-205]; [GN-2018B-FT-207]This item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]

A Survey for New Stars and Brown Dwarfs in the Ophiuchus Star-forming Complex

We have performed a survey for new members of the Ophiuchus cloud complex using high-precision astrometry from the second data release of Gaia, proper motions measured with multi-epoch images from the Spitzer Space Telescope, and color-magnitude diagrams constructed with photometry from various sources. Through spectroscopy of candidates selected with those data, we have identified 155 new young stars. Based on available measurements of kinematics, we classify 102, 47, and six of those stars as members of Ophiuchus, Upper Sco, and other populations in Sco-Cen, respectively. We have also assessed the membership of all other stars in the vicinity of Ophiuchus that have spectroscopic evidence of youth from previous studies, arriving at a catalog of 373 adopted members of the cloud complex. For those adopted members, we have compiled mid-IR photometry from Spitzer and the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer} and have used mid-IR colors to identify and classify circumstellar disks. We find that 210 of the members show evidence of disks, including 48 disks that are in advanced stages of evolution. Finally, we have estimated the relative median ages of the populations near the Ophiuchus clouds and the surrounding Upper Sco association using absolute K-band magnitudes (M_K) based on Gaia} parallaxes. If we adopt an age 10 Myr for Upper Sco, then the relative values of M_K imply median ages of ~2 Myr for L1689 and embedded stars in L1688, 3-4 Myr for low-extinction stars near L1688, and ~6 Myr for the group containing rho Oph.Comment: 8 Pages, 10 figures, accepted in AJ, machine readable tables available at https://www.dropbox.com/sh/kxmumhgdpsfbevd/AACDjnB5FdmjmU4hzc08BxaIa?dl=

New Young Stars and Brown Dwarfs in the Upper Scorpius Association

To improve the census of the Upper Sco association (~11 Myr, ~145 pc), we have identified candidate members using parallaxes, proper motions, and color-magnitude diagrams from several wide-field imaging surveys and have obtained optical and infrared spectra of several hundred candidates to measure their spectral types and assess their membership. We also have performed spectroscopy on a smaller sample of previously known or suspected members to refine their spectral types and evidence of membership. We have classified 530 targets as members of Upper Sco, 377 of which lack previous spectroscopy. Our new compilation of all known members of the association contains 1631 objects. Although the census of Upper Sco has expanded significantly over the last decade, there remain hundreds of candidates that lack spectroscopy. The precise parallaxes and proper motions from the second data release of Gaia should extend down to substellar masses in Upper Sco, which will greatly facilitate the identification of the undiscovered members.Comment: Astronomical Journal, in press; machine readable tables and fits spectra available at http://personal.psu.edu/kll207/usco.ta

Near-infrared Detection of WD 0806-661 B with the Hubble Space Telescope

WD 0806-661 B is one of the coldest known brown dwarfs (T=300-345 K) based on previous mid-infrared photometry from the Spitzer Space Telescope. In addition, it is a benchmark for testing theoretical models of brown dwarfs because its age and distance are well-constrained via its primary star (2+/-0.5 Gyr, 19.2+/-0.6 pc). We present the first near-infrared detection of this object, which has been achieved through F110W imaging (~Y+J) with the Wide Field Camera 3 on board the Hubble Space Telescope. We measure a Vega magnitude of m110=25.70+/-0.08, which implies J~25.0. When combined with the Spitzer photometry, our estimate of J helps to better define the empirical sequence of the coldest brown dwarfs in M4.5 versus J-[4.5]. The positions of WD 0806-661 B and other Y dwarfs in that diagram are best matched by the cloudy models of Burrows et al. and the cloudless models of Saumon et al., both of which employ chemical equilibrium. The calculations by Morley et al. for 50% cloud coverage differ only modestly from the data. Spectroscopy would enable a more stringent test of the models, but based on our F110W measurement, such observations are currently possible only with Hubble, and would require at least ~10 orbits to reach a signal-to-noise ratio of ~5

A WISE Survey of Circumstellar disks in the Upper Scorpius Association

We have performed a survey for new members of the Upper Sco association that have circumstellar disks using mid-infrared photometry from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE). Through optical and near-infrared spectroscopy, we have confirmed 185 candidates as likely members of Upper Sco with spectral types ranging from mid-K to M9. They comprise ~36% of the known disk-bearing members of the association. We also have compiled all available mid-infrared photometry from WISE and the Spitzer Space Telescope for the known members of Upper Sco, resulting in a catalog of data for 1608 objects. We have used these data to identify the members that exhibit excess emission from disks and we have classified the evolutionary stages of those disks with criteria similar to those applied in our previous studies of Taurus and Upper Sco. Among 484 members with excesses in at least one band (excluding five Be stars), we classify 296 disks as full, 66 as evolved, 19 as transitional, 22 as evolved or transitional, and 81 as evolved transitional or debris. Many of these disks have not been previously reported, including 129 full disks and 50 disks that are at more advanced evolutionary stages.Comment: Accepted for publication in AJ. Associated tables and spectra can be found at https://www.dropbox.com/sh/52ygee5v3x6te9a/AABZm55PAI44EMQKvOjsDRxAa?dl=

Are inner disc misalignments common? ALMA reveals an isotropic outer disc inclination distribution for young dipper stars

Dippers are a common class of young variable star exhibiting day-long dimmings with depths of up to several tens of per cent. A standard explanation is that dippers host nearly edge-on (id ≈ 70°) protoplanetary discs that allow close-in (10 au) disc resolved by ALMA and that inner disc misalignments may be common during the protoplanetary phase. More than one mechanism may contribute to the dipper phenomenon, including accretion-driven warps and ‘broken’ discs caused by inclined (sub-)stellar or planetary companions