666 research outputs found
Discovery of a Second L Subdwarf in the Two Micron All Sky Survey
I report the discovery of the second L subdwarf identified in the Two Micron
All Sky Survey, 2MASS J16262034+3925190. This high proper motion object (mu =
1.27+/-0.03 "/yr) exhibits near-infrared spectral features indicative of a
subsolar metallicity L dwarf, including strong metal hydride and H2O absorption
bands, pressure-broadened alkali lines, and blue near-infrared colors caused by
enhanced collision-induced H2 absorption. This object is of later type than any
of the known M subdwarfs, but does not appear to be as cool as the apparently
late-type sdL 2MASS 0532+8246. The radial velocity (Vrad = -260+/-35 km/s) and
estimated tangential velocity (Vtan ~ 90-210 km/s) of 2MASS 1626+3925 indicate
membership in the Galactic halo, and this source is likely near or below the
hydrogen burning minimum mass for a metal-poor star. L subdwarfs such as 2MASS
1626+3925 are useful probes of gas and condensate chemistry in low-temperature
stellar and brown dwarf atmospheres, but more examples are needed to study
these objects as a population as well as to define a rigorous classification
scheme.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication ApJ Letters, v. 614
October 200
Hubble Space Telescope Observations of Field Ultracool Dwarfs at High Galactic Latitude
We present a sample of 17 newly discovered ultracool dwarf candidates later
than ~M8, drawn from 231.90 arcmin2 of {\it Hubble Space Telescope} Wide Field
Camera 3 infrared imaging. By comparing the observed number counts for
17.5<J_125<25.5 AB mag to an exponential disk model, we estimate a vertical
scale height of z_scl=290 +- 25 (random) +- 30 (systematic) pc for a binarity
fraction of f_b=0. While our estimate is roughly consistent with published
results, we suggest that the differences can be attributed to sample
properties, with the present sample containing far more substellar objects than
previous work. We predict the object counts should peak at J_{125}~24 AB mag
due to the exponentially-declining number density at the edge of the disc. We
conclude by arguing that trend in scale height with spectral type may breakdown
for brown dwarfs since they do not settle onto the main sequence.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures, 3 tables, accepted to ApJ (v2 is consistent with
Referee changes
A search for lithium in metal-poor L dwarfs
The aim of the project is to search for lithium in absorption at 6707.8
Angstroms to constrain the nature and the mass of the brightest low-metallicity
L-type dwarfs (refered to as L subdwarfs) identified in large-scale surveys.
We obtained low- to intermediate-resolution (R~2500-9000) optical (~560-770
nm) spectra of two mid-L subdwarfs, SDSSJ125637.13-022452.4 (SDSS1256; sdL3.5)
and 2MASSJ162620.14+392519.5 (2MASS1626; sdL4) with spectrographs on the
European Southern Observatory Very Large Telescope and the Gran Telescopio de
Canarias.
We report the presence of a feature at the nominal position of the lithium
absorption doublet at 6707.8 Angstroms in the spectrum of SDSS1256, with an
equivalent width of 66+/-27 Angstroms at 2.4 sigma, which we identify as
arising from a CaH molecular transition based on atmosphere models. We do not
see any feature at the position of the lithium feature in the spectrum of
2MASS1626. The existence of overlapping molecular absorption sets a confusion
detection limit of [Li/H]=-3 for equivalently-typed L subdwarfs. We provided
improved radial velocity measurements of -126+/-10 km/s and -239+/-12 km/s for
SDSS1256 and 2MASS1626, respectively, as well as revised Galactic orbits. We
implemented adjusting factors for the CaH molecule in combination with the
NextGen atmosphere models to fit the optical spectrum of SDSS1256 in the
6200-7300 Angstroms range. We also estimate the expected Li abundance from
interstellar accretion ([Li/H]=-5), place limits on circumstellar accretion
(10^9 g/yr), and discuss the prospects of Li searches in cooler L and T
subdwarfs.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures, 4 tables, accepted to A&
SDSS J125637-022452: a high proper motion L subdwarf
We report the discovery of a high proper motion L subdwarf (
=0.617arcsec/yr) in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey spectral database. The optical
spectrum from the star SDSS J125637-022452 has mixed spectral features of both
late-M spectral subtype (strong TiO and CaH at 7000A) and mid-L spectral
subtype (strong wings of KI at 7700A, CrH and FeH), which is interpreted as the
signature of a very low-mass, metal-poor star (ultra-cool subdwarf) of spectral
type sdL. The near infrared (NIR) (J-Ks) colors from 2MASS shows the object to
be significantly bluer compared to normal L dwarfs, which is probably due a
strong collision induced absorption (CIA) due to H2 molecule. This is
consistent with the idea that CIA from H2 is more pronounced at low
metallicities. Proper motion and radial velocity measurements also indicate
that the star is kinematically "hot" and probably associated with the Galactic
halo population.Comment: 13 pages, 2 figures. Accepted for ApJ
A focus on L dwarfs with trigonometric parallaxes
This is an author-created, un-copyedited version of an article published in Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. Under embargo until 14 May 2019. IOP Publishing Ltd is not responsible for any errors or omissions in this version of the manuscript or any version derived from it. The Version of Record is available online at https://doi.org/10.1088/1538-3873/aaacc5.We report new parallax measurements for ten L and early T type dwarfs, five of which have no previous published values, using observations over 3 years at the robotic Liverpool Telescope. The resulting parallaxes and proper motions have median errors of 2\,mas and 1.5\,mas/year respectively. Their space motions indicate they are all Galactic disk members. We combined this sample with other objects with astrometry from the Liverpool Telescope and with published literature astrometry to construct a sample of 260 L and early T type dwarfs with measured parallaxes, designated the Astrometry Sample. We study the kinematics of the Astrometry Sample, and derived a solar motion of \,\kms~ with respect to the local standard of rest, in agreement with recent literature. We derive a kinematic age of 1.5-1.7\,Gyr for the Astrometry Sample assuming the age increases monotonically with the total velocity for a given disk sample. This kinematic age is less than half literature values for other low mass dwarf samples. We believe this difference arises for two reasons (1) the sample is mainly composed of mid to late L dwarfs which are expected to be relatively young and (2) the requirement that objects have a measured parallax biases the sample to the brighter examples which tend to be younger.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio
Discovery of An Unusually Blue L Dwarf Within 10 pc of the Sun
We report the discovery of an unusually blue L5 dwarf within 10 pc of the Sun
from a search of Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) spectra. A spectrophotometric
distance estimate of 8.0+/-1.6 pc places SDSS J141624.08+134826.7 among the six
closest known L dwarfs. SDSS 1416+13 was overlooked in infrared color-based
searches because of its unusually blue J-K_S color, which also identifies it as
the nearest member of the blue L dwarf subclass. We present additional infrared
and optical spectroscopy from the IRTF/SpeX and Magellan/MagE spectrographs and
determine UVW motions that indicate thin disk kinematics. The inclusion of SDSS
1416+13 in the 20 pc sample of L dwarfs increases the number of L5 dwarfs by
20% suggesting that the L dwarf luminosity function may be far from complete.Comment: 15 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in AJ; updated version
includes corrected radial velocit
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
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