Cardoso, C. V.; Burningham, B.; Smart, R. L.; van Spaandonk, L.; Baker, D.; Smith, L. C.; Zhang, Z. H.; Andrei, A. H.; Bucciarelli, B.; Dhital, S.; Jones, H. R. A.; Lattanzi, M. G.; Magazzú, A.; Pinfield, D. J.; Tinney, C. G.
Bibliographical reference
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Volume 450, Issue 3, p.2486-2499
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7
2015
Citations
10
Refereed citations
8
Description
We present the discovery of 49 new photometrically classified T dwarfs
from the combination of large infrared and optical surveys combined with
follow-up Telescopio Nazionale Galileo photometry. We used multiband
infrared and optical photometry from the United Kingdom Infrared
Telescope and Sloan Digital Sky Surveys to identify possible brown dwarf
candidates, which were then confirmed using methane filter photometry.
We have defined a new photometric conversion between CH4s -
CH4l colour and spectral type for T4-T8 brown dwarfs based on
a part of the sample that has been followed up using methane photometry
and spectroscopy. Using methane differential photometry as a proxy for
spectral type for T dwarfs has proved to be a very efficient technique.
Of a subset of 45 methane selected brown dwarfs that were observed
spectroscopically, 100 per cent were confirmed as T dwarfs. Future deep
imaging surveys will produce large samples of faint brown dwarf
candidates, for which spectroscopy will not be feasible. When broad
wavelength coverage is unavailable, methane imaging offers a means to
efficiently classify candidates from such surveys using just a pair of
near-infrared images.
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Very Low Mass Stars, Brown Dwarfs and Planets
Our goal is to study the processes that lead to the formation of low mass stars, brown dwarfs and planets and to characterize the physical properties of these objects in various evolutionary stages. Low mass stars and brown dwarfs are likely the most numerous type of objects in our Galaxy but due to their low intrinsic luminosity they are not so
Rafael
Rebolo López