643 research outputs found
The large-scale disk fraction of brown dwarfs in the Taurus cloud as measured with Spitzer
Aims. The brown dwarf (BD) formation process has not yet been completely
understood. To shed more light on the differences and similarities between star
and BD formation processes, we study and compare the disk fraction among both
kinds of objects over a large angular region in the Taurus cloud. In addition,
we examine the spatial distribution of stars and BD relative to the underlying
molecular gas Methods. In this paper, we present new and updated photometry
data from the Infrared Array Camera (IRAC) aboard the Spitzer Space Telescope
on 43 BDs in the Taurus cloud, and recalculate of the BD disk fraction in this
region. We also useed recently available CO mm data to study the spatial
distribution of stars and BDs relative to the cloud's molecular gas. Results.
We find that the disk fraction among BDs in the Taurus cloud is 41 \pm 12%, a
value statistically consistent with the one among TTS (58 \pm 9%). We find that
BDs in transition from a state where they have a disk to a diskless state are
rare, and we study one isolated example of a transitional disk with an inner
radius of \approx 0.1 AU (CFHT BD Tau 12, found via its relatively small mid-IR
excess compared to most members of Taurus that have disks. We find that BDs are
statistically found in regions of similar molecular gas surface density to
those associated with stars. Furthermore, we find that the gas column density
distribution is almost identical for stellar and substellar objects with and
without disks.Comment: 8 page, 6 figures, Accepted in Astronomy & Astrophysics
X-ray view of IC348 in the light of an updated cluster census
We study the properties of the coronae of the low-mass stars in the young
(~2-3Myr), nearby (~310pc) open cluster IC348 combining X-ray and
optical/infrared data. The four existing Chandra observations of IC348 are
merged, thus providing a deeper and spatially more complete X-ray view than
previous X-ray studies of the cluster. We have compiled a comprehensive catalog
of IC348 members taking into account recent updates to the cluster census. Our
data collection comprises fundamental stellar parameters, infrared excess
indicating the presence of disks, Halpha emission as a tracer of chromospheric
emission or accretion and mass accretion rates. We have detected 290 X-ray
sources in four merged Chandra exposures, of which 187 are associated with
known cluster members. Only four of the X-ray sources are brown dwarfs
(spectral type M6 and later). The detection rate is highest for diskless Class
III stars and increases with stellar mass. This may be explained with higher
X-ray luminosities for higher mass and later evolutionary stage that is evident
in the X-ray luminosity functions. In particular, we find that for the lowest
examined masses (0.1-0.25 Msun) there is a difference between the X-ray
luminosity functions of accreting and non-accreting stars (classified on the
basis of their Halpha emission strength) as well as those of disk-bearing and
diskless stars (classified on the basis of the slope of the spectral energy
distribution). These differences disappear for higher masses. This is related
to our finding that the L_x/L_bol ratio is non-constant across the
mass/luminosity sequence of IC348 with a decrease towards lower luminosity
stars. Our analysis of an analogous stellar sample in the Orion Nebula Cluster
suggests that the decline of L_x/L_ bol for young stars at the low-mass end of
the stellar sequence is likely universal.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysic
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=
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]
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
Spectroscopy of Candidate Members of the Eta Cha and MBM12 Young Associations
We present an analysis of candidate members of the Eta Cha and MBM 12A young
associations. For an area of 0.7 deg^2 toward Eta Cha, we have performed a
search for members of the association by combining JHK_s photometry from 2MASS
and i photometry from DENIS with followup optical spectroscopy at Magellan
Observatory. We report the discovery of three new members with spectral types
of M5.25-M5.75, corresponding to masses of 0.13-0.08 M_sun by theoretical
evolutionary models. Two and three of these members were found independently by
Lyo and coworkers and Song and coworkers, respectively. Meanwhile, no brown
dwarfs were detected in Eta Cha down to the completeness limit of 0.015 M_sun.
For MBM 12A, we have obtained spectra of three of the remaining candidate
members that lacked spectroscopy at the end of the survey by Luhman, all of
which are found to be field M dwarfs. Ogura and coworkers have recently
presented four "probable" members of MBM 12A. However, two of these objects
were previously classified as field dwarfs by the spectroscopy of Luhman. In
this work, we find that the other two objects are field dwarfs as well.Comment: to be published in The Astrophysical Journal, 19 pages, 7 figure
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