Related papers: SONYC - Substellar Objects in Nearby Young Cluster…

We present the results of a 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…

Near-infrared surveys of high-mass star-forming regions start to shed light onto their stellar content. A particular class of objects found in these regions, the so-called massive Young Stellar Objects (YSOs) are surrounded by dense…

We report the results of mid-IR observations with VISIR at the VLT of 10 ultracool dwarfs members of the nearby Upper Scorpius OB association in four filters ranging between 8.59 (PAH1) to 12.8 $\mu$m (Ne II), and one brown dwarf with…

Recent studies of early-type galaxies have suggested that the initial mass function (IMF) slope is bottom-heavy, i.e. they contain a larger fraction of low-mass stars than the Milky Way. However, measurements of the IMF remain challenging…

The occurrence rate of young giant planets from direct imaging surveys is a fundamental tracer of the efficiency with which planets form and migrate at wide orbital distances. These measurements have progressively converged to a value of…

Direct imaging surveys have discovered wide-orbit planetary-mass companions that challenge existing models of both star and planet formation, but their demographics remain poorly sampled. We have developed an automated binary companion…

As nearby neighbors to the Milky Way, the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds (LMC and SMC) provide a unique opportunity to study star formation in the context of their galactic ecosystems. Thousands of young stellar objects (YSOs) have been…

(abridged) Sub-stellar mass objects have fundamentally different binary properties than stars implying that they cannot have the same formation history. They are rather unfinished stars having either been ejected by their siblings from…

The continuous temporal coverage and high photometric precision afforded by space observatories has opened up new opportunities for the study of variability processes in young stellar cluster members. Of particular interest is the…

We report the results of a deep photometric search for planets and brown dwarfs in the nearby young OB Upper Scorpius association. We obtained optical (I) and near-infrared (JKs) images around nine very low-mass stars and brown dwarf member…

The census of solar neighbours is still complemented by new discoveries, mainly of very low-mass, faint dwarfs, close to or within the substellar domain. These discoveries contribute to a better understanding of the field population; its…

Substellar multiplicity is a key outcome of the formation process. The biggest challenge for the next decade will be to distinguish between the formation history, environmental conditions, and dynamical evolution leading to the least…

JWST observations of NGC 346, a star-forming region in the metal-poor Small Magellanic Cloud, reveal a substantial population of sub-solar mass young stellar objects (YSOs) with IR excess. We detected $\sim$500 YSOs and pre main sequence…

We present spectral observations of 130 young stellar objects (YSOs) in the Serpens Cloud Core and NGC 1333 embedded clusters. The observations consist of near-IR spectra in the H and K-bands, from SpeX on the IRTF and far-red spectra (6000…

Recent observations point to the presence of structured dust grains in the discs surrounding young brown dwarfs, thus implying that the first stages of planet formation take place also in the sub-stellar regime. Here, we investigate the…

We present the initial results from a survey for planetary-mass brown dwarfs in the Taurus star-forming region. We have identified brown dwarf candidates in Taurus using proper motions and photometry from several ground- and space-based…

We examine FUV images of the LITTLE THINGS sample of nearby dwarf irregular (dIrr) and Blue Compact Dwarf (BCD) galaxies to identify distinct young regions in their far outer disks. We use these data, obtained with the Galaxy Evolution…

Studies of the mass function (MF) of open clusters of different ages allow us to probe the efficiency with which brown dwarfs evaporate from clusters to populate the field. Surveys of older clusters (age >100 Myr) are not affected so…

Surveys of young star-forming regions have discovered a growing population of planetary-mass (<13 M_Jup) companions around young stars. There is an ongoing debate as to whether these companions formed like planets (that is, from the…

We have performed mid-IR photometry of the young open cluster NGC 2264 using the images obtained with the Spitzer Space Telescope IRAC and MIPS instruments and present a normalized classification scheme of young stellar objects in various…