142 research outputs found
Searching for T Dwarfs Within the Spitzer XFLS
One of the main advantages of the Spitzer Space Telescope are the
Extragalactic and Galactic First Look Survey (XFLS, FLS) created during the
first months of nominal operations. The IRAC instrument, especially, allowed
simultaneous observations in multiple bands of these large areas of sky available
to the astronomical community. We have decided to exploit the XFLS for a
brown dwarf search, as well as the GFLS. In this paper, we report on the progress
on our search within the XFLS
Not Alone: Tracing the Origins of Very Low Mass Stars and Brown Dwarfs Through Multiplicity Studies
The properties of multiple stellar systems have long provided important
empirical constraints for star formation theories, enabling (along with several
other lines of evidence) a concrete, qualitative picture of the birth and early
evolution of normal stars. At very low masses (VLM; M <~ 0.1 M_sun), down to
and below the hydrogen burning minimum mass, our understanding of formation
processes is not as clear, with several competing theories now under
consideration. One means of testing these theories is through the empirical
characterization of VLM multiple systems. Here, we review the results of
various VLM multiplicity studies to date. These systems can be generally
characterized as closely separated (93% have projected separations Delta < 20
AU) and near equal-mass (77% have M_2/M_1 >= 0.8) occurring infrequently
(perhaps 10-30%). Both the frequency and maximum separation of stellar and
brown dwarf binaries steadily decrease for lower system masses, suggesting that
VLM binary formation and/or evolution may be a mass-dependent process. There is
evidence for a fairly rapid decline in the number of loosely-bound systems
below ~0.3 M_sun, corresponding to a factor of 10-20 increase in the minimum
binding energy of VLM binaries as compared to more massive stellar binaries.
This wide-separation ``desert'' is present among both field (~1-5 Gyr) and
older (> 100 Myr) cluster systems, while the youngest (<~10 Myr) VLM binaries,
particularly those in nearby, low-density star forming regions, appear to have
somewhat different systemic properties. We compare these empirical trends to
predictions laid out by current formation theories, and outline future
observational studies needed to probe the full parameter space of the lowest
mass multiple systems.Comment: 16 pages, 7 figures, contributed chapter for Planets and Protostars V
meeting (October 2005); full table of VLM binaries can be obtained at
http://paperclip.as.arizona.edu/~nsiegler/VLM_binarie
A Distant Stellar Companion in the Upsilon Andromedae System
Upsilon Andromedae is an F8V star known to have an extrasolar system of at
least 3 planets in orbit around it. Here we report the discovery of a low-mass
stellar companion to this system. The companion shares common proper motion,
lies at a projected separation of ~750 AU, and has a spectral type of M4.5V.
The effect of this star on the radial velocity of the brighter primary is
negligible, but this system provides an interesting testbed for stellar
planetary formation theory and understanding dynamical stability since it is
the first multiple planetary system known in a multiple stellar system.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, to be published in June ApJ Letter
Identifying Young Brown Dwarfs Using Gravity-Sensitive Spectral Features
We report the initial results of the Brown Dwarf Spectroscopic Survey Gravity
Project, to study gravity sensitive features as indicators of youth in brown
dwarfs. Low-resolution (R~2000) J-band and optical (R~1000) observations using
NIRSPEC and LRIS at the W.M. Keck Observatory reveal transitions of TiO, VO, K
I, Na I, Cs I, Rb I, CaH, and FeH. By comparing these features in late-type
giants and in old field dwarfs we show that they are sensitive to the gravity
(g = GM/R^2) of the object. Using low-gravity spectral signatures as age
indicators, we observed and analyzed J-band and optical spectra of two young
brown dwarfs, G 196-3B (20-300 Myr) and KPNO Tau-4 (1-2 Myr), and two possible
low mass brown dwarfs in the sigma Orionis cluster (3-7 Myr). We report the
identification of the phi bands of TiO near 1.24 microns and the A-X band of VO
near 1.18 microns together with extremely weak J-band lines of K I in
KPNO-Tau4. This is the first detection of TiO and VO in the J-band in a
sub-stellar mass object. The optical spectrum of KPNO-Tau4 exhibits weak K I
and Na I lines, weak absorption by CaH, and strong VO bands, also signatures of
a lower gravity atmosphere. G 196-3B shows absorption features in both
wavelength regions like those of KPNO-Tau4 suggesting that its age and mass are
at the lower end of published estimates. Whereas sigma Ori 51 appears to be
consistent with a young sub-stellar object, sigma Ori 47 shows signatures of
high gravity most closely resembling an old L1.5/L0, and can not be a member of
the sigma Orionis cluster.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figures. To appear in the January 10, 2004 issue of the
Astrophysical Journa
Using drift scans to improve astrometry with Spitzer
The Spitzer Space Telescope Infrared Array Camera (IRAC) is the only space-based instrument currently capable of continuous long duration monitoring of brown dwarfs to detect variability and characterize their atmospheres. Any such studies are limited, however, by the accuracy to which we know the positions and distances to these targets (most of which are newly discovered and therefore do not yet have multiple epochs of astrometric data). To that end, we have begun a new initiative to adapt the astrometric drift scanning technique employed by the Hubble Space Telescope to enhance Spitzer measurements of parallaxes and proper motions of brown dwarfs and other targets. A suite of images are taken with a set of sources scanned across the array. This technique reduces random noise by coaddition, and because each target covers multiple pixels we are able to average over residual instrumental distortion and intra-pixel variations. Although these benefits can be realized with appropriate dithering, scanning is much more effcient because we can take data concurrently with the spacecraft motion, covering many pixels without waiting to reposition and settle. In this contribution we demonstrate that the observing mode works and describe our software for analyzing the observations. We outline ongoing efforts towards simultaneously solving for source position and residual distortion. Initial testing shows a factor of more than 2 improvement in the astrometric precision can be obtained with Spitzer. We anticipate being able to measure parallaxes for sources out to about 50 pc, increasing the volume surveyed by a factor of 100 and enabling luminosity measurements of the young population of brown dwarfs in the β Pictoris moving group. This observing mode will be ready for public use around Winter of 2015
Discovery of a Very Young Field L Dwarf, 2MASS J01415823-4633574
While following up L dwarf candidates selected photometrically from the Two
Micron All Sky Survey, we uncovered an unusual object designated 2MASS
J01415823-4633574. Its optical spectrum exhibits very strong bands of vanadium
oxide but abnormally weak absorptions by titanium oxide, potassium, and sodium.
Morphologically such spectroscopic characteristics fall intermediate between
old, field early-L dwarfs (log(g)~5) and very late M giants (log(g)~0), leading
us to favor low gravity as the explanation for the unique spectral signatures
of this L dwarf. Such a low gravity can be explained only if this L dwarf is
much lower in mass than a typical old field L dwarf of similar temperature and
is still contracting to its final radius. These conditions imply a very young
age. Further evidence of youth is found in the near-infrared spectrum,
including a triangular-shaped H-band continuum reminiscent of young brown dwarf
candidates discovered in the Orion Nebula Cluster. Using the above information
along with comparisons to brown dwarf atmospheric and interior models, our
current best estimate is that this L dwarf has an age of 1-50 Myr and a mass of
6-25 M_Jupiter. The location of 2MASS 0141-4633 on the sky coupled with a
distance estimate of ~35 pc and the above age estimate suggests that this
object may be a brown dwarf member of either the 30-Myr-old Tucana/Horologium
Association or the ~12-Myr-old beta Pic Moving Group.Comment: Accepted for publication in the 10 March 2006 issue (volume 639) of
the Astrophysical Journa
: Pressure-dependent Changes In Light Curve Phase In Brown Dwarfs From Simultaneous and Observations
We present /IRAC Ch1 and Ch2 monitoring of six brown dwarfs during 8
different epochs over the course of 20 months. For four brown dwarfs, we also
obtained simulataneous /WFC3 G141 Grism spectra during two epochs and
derived light curves in five narrow-band filters. Probing different pressure
levels in the atmospheres, the multi-wavelength light curves of our six targets
all exhibit variations, and the shape of the light curves evolves over the
timescale of a rotation period, ranging from 1.4 h to 13 h. We compare the
shapes of the light curves and estimate the phase shifts between the light
curves observed at different wavelengths by comparing the phase of the primary
Fourier components. We use state-of-the-art atmosphere models to determine the
flux contribution of different pressure layers to the observed flux in each
filter. We find that the light curves that probe higher pressures are similar
and in phase, but are offset and often different from the light curves that
probe lower pressures. The phase differences between the two groups of light
curves suggest that the modulations seen at lower and higher pressures may be
introduced by different cloud layers.Comment: 34 pages, 22 figures, accepted for publication in Ap
NICMOS Imaging of the HR 4796A Circumstellar Disk
We report the first near infrared (NIR) imaging of a circumstellar annular
disk around the young (~8 Myr), Vega-like star, HR 4796A. NICMOS coronagraph
observations at 1.1 and 1.6 microns reveal a ring-like symmetrical structure
peaking in reflected intensity 1.05 arcsec +/- 0.02 arcsec (~ 70 AU) from the
central A0V star. The ring geometry, with an inclination of 73.1 deg +/- 1.2
deg and a major axis PA of 26.8 deg +/- 0.6 deg, is in good agreement with
recent 12.5 and 20.8 micron observations of a truncated disk (Koerner, et al.
1998). The ring is resolved with a characteristic width of less than 0.26
arcsec (17 AU) and appears abruptly truncated at both the inner and outer
edges. The region of the disk-plane inward of ~60 AU appears to be relatively
free of scattering material. The integrated flux density of the part of the
disk that is visible (greater than 0.65 arcsec from the star) is found to be
7.5 +/- 0.5 mJy and 7.4 +/- 1.2 mJy at 1.1 and 1.6 microns, respectively.
Correcting for the unseen area of the ring yields total flux densities of 12.8
+/- 1.0 mJy and 12.5 +/- 2.0 mJy, respectively (Vega magnitudes = 12.92 /+-
0.08 and 12.35 +/-0.18). The NIR luminosity ratio is evaluated from these
results and ground-based photometry of the star. At these wavelengths
Ldisk(lambda)/L*(lambda) = 1.4 +/- 0.2E-3 and 2.4 +/- 0.5E-3, giving reasonable
agreement between the stellar flux scattered in the NIR and that which is
absorbed in the visible and re-radiated in the thermal infrared. The somewhat
red reflectance of the disk at these wavelengths implies mean particle sizes in
excess of several microns, larger than typical interstellar grains. The
confinement of material to a relatively narrow annular zone implies dynamical
constraints on the disk particles by one or more as yet unseen bodies.Comment: 14 pages, 1 figure for associated gif file see:
http://nicmosis.as.arizona.edu:8000/AAS99/FIGURE1_HR4796A_ApJL.gif . Accepted
13 January 1999, Astrophyical Journal Letter
Spitzer Infrared Array Camera (IRAC) Pipeline: final modifications and lessons learned
In more than ten years of operations, the Spitzer Space Telescope has conducted a wide range of investigations from observing nearby asteroids to probing atmospheric properties of exoplanets to measuring masses of the most distance galaxies. Observations using the Infrared Array Camera (IRAC) at 3.6 and 4.5um will continue through mid-2019 when the James Webb Space Telescope will succeed Spitzer. In anticipation of the eventual end of the mission, the basic calibrated data reduction pipeline designed to produce flux-calibrated images has been finalized and used to reprocess all the data taken during the Spitzer warm mission. We discuss all final modifications made to the pipeline
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