Multi-object and long-slit spectroscopy of very low mass brown dwarfs in the Orion Nebular Cluster

Oct 30, 2013
10 pages
Published in:
  • Publ.Astron.Soc.Jap. 66 (2014) 2, 33
  • Published: Apr 1, 2014
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Abstract: (Oxford University Press)
We present the results of an H- and K-band multi-object and long-slit spectroscopic survey of substellar mass candidates in the outer regions of the Orion Nebula Cluster. The spectra were obtained using MOIRCS on the 8.2 m Subaru telescope and ISLE on the 1.88 m telescope of Okayama Astrophysical Observatory. Eight out of twelve spectra show strong water absorption and we confirm that their effective temperatures are ≤ 3000 K (spectral type ≥ M6) from a chi-square fit to synthetic spectra. We plot our sources on an HR diagram overlaid with theoretical isochrones of low-mass objects and identify three new young brown dwarf candidates. One of the three new candidates is a cool object near the brown dwarf and planetary mass boundary. Based on our observations and those of previous studies, we determine the stellar (0.08 < M/M_⊙ < 1) to substellar (0.03 < M/M_⊙ < 0.08) mass number ratio in the outer regions of the Orion Nebular Cluster to be 3.5 ± 0.8. In combination with the number ratio reported for the central region (3.30.7+0.83.3^{+0.8} _{-0.7}), this result suggests the number ratio does not simply change with the distance from the center of the Orion Nebular Cluster.
Note:
  • Accepted for publication in Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan
  • brown dwarfs
  • open clusters and associations: individual: (Orion Nebular Cluster)
  • stars: low-mass