Primeval very low-mass stars and brown dwarfs - I. Six new L subdwarfs, classification and atmospheric properties

Zhang, Z. H.; Pinfield, D. J.; Gálvez-Ortiz, M. C.; Burningham, B.; Lodieu, N.; Marocco, F.; Burgasser, A. J.; Day-Jones, A. C.; Allard, F.; Jones, H. R. A.; Homeier, D.; Gomes, J.; Smart, R. L.
Bibliographical reference

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Volume 464, Issue 3, p.3040-3059

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1
2017
Number of authors
13
IAC number of authors
2
Citations
55
Refereed citations
49
Description
We have conducted a search for L subdwarf candidates within the photometric catalogues of the UKIRT Infrared Deep Sky Survey and Sloan Digital Sky Survey. Six of our candidates are confirmed as L subdwarfs spectroscopically at optical and/or near-infrared wavelengths. We also present new optical spectra of three previously known L subdwarfs (WISEA J001450.17-083823.4, 2MASS J00412179+3547133, and ULAS J124425.75+102439.3). We examined the spectral type and metallicity classification of subclasses of known L subdwarfs. We summarized the spectroscopic properties of L subdwarfs with different spectral types and subclasses. We classify these new L subdwarfs by comparing their spectra to known L subdwarfs and L dwarf standards. We estimate temperatures and metallicities of 22 late-type M and L subdwarfs by comparing their spectra to BT-Settl models. We find that L subdwarfs have temperatures between 1500 and 2700 K, which are higher than similar-typed L dwarfs by around 100-400 K depending on different subclasses and subtypes. We constrained the metallicity ranges of subclasses of M, L, and T subdwarfs. We also discussed the spectral-type and absolute magnitude relationships for L and T subdwarfs.
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