Related papers: Interferometric Identification of a Pre-Brown Dwar…

Brown dwarfs are intermediate objects between planets and stars. The lower end of the brown-dwarf mass range overlaps with the one of massive planets and therefore the distinction between planets and brown-dwarf companions may require to…

By comparing near-infrared spectra with atmosphere models, we infer the effective temperature, surface gravity, projected rotational velocity, and radial velocity for 21 very-low-mass stars and brown dwarfs. The unique sample consists of…

Dust formation in brown dwarf atmospheres is studied by utilising a model for driven turbulence in the mesoscopic scale regime. We apply a pseudo-spectral method where waves are created and superimposed within a limited wavenumber interval.…

(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 formation scenario of brown dwarfs is still unclear because observational studies to investigate its initial condition are quite limited. Our systematic survey of nearby low-mass star-forming regions using the Atacama Compact Array (aka…

Recent surveys have identified sub-stellar objects down to planetary masses in nearby star-forming regions. Reliable determination of the disk frequency in young brown dwarfs is of paramount importance to understanding their origin. Here we…

We report the complete photometric results from our Herschel study which is the first comprehensive program to search for far-infrared emission from cold dust around young brown dwarfs. We surveyed 50 fields containing 51 known or suspected…

Debris disk detections around M dwarfs are rare, and so far no gas emission has been detected from an M dwarf debris disk. This makes the 45 Myr old M dwarf WISEJ080822.18-644357.3 a bit of a curiosity; it has a strong infrared excess at an…

A recent model for the stellar initial mass function (IMF), in which the stellar masses are randomly sampled down to the thermal Jeans mass from hierarchically structured pre-stellar clouds, predicts that regions of ultra-cold CO gas, such…

We have undertaken a series of hydrodynamic + N-body simulations in order to explore the properties of young stars. Our results suggest that the IMF may be sensitive to environment in its substellar region, with more brown dwarfs being…

The survey of the mid-infrared sky by the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) led to the discovery of extremely cold low-mass brown dwarfs, classified as Y dwarfs, which extend the T class to lower temperatures. Twenty-four Y dwarfs…

The first steps toward planet formation involve the coagulation of small microscopic grains into larger and larger pebbles and rocks in gas-rich disks around young stars and brown dwarfs. Observations in the sub-millimeter can trace…

We report the results of a deep near infrared (JHK) survey of the outer parts of the Trapezium Cluster with Gemini South/Flamingos. 396 sources were detected in a 26 arcmin^2 area, including 138 brown dwarf candidates, defined as M<0.075…

We present near-infrared (1.0-2.4 micron) spectra confirming the youth and cool effective temperatures of 6 brown dwarfs and low mass stars with circumstellar disks toward the Chamaeleon II and Ophiuchus star forming regions. The spectrum…

Although many models have been proposed, the physical mechanisms responsible for the formation of low-mass brown dwarfs are poorly understood. The multiplicity properties and minimum mass of the brown-dwarf mass function provide critical…

Mass accretion rate determinations are fundamental for an understanding of the evolution of pre-main sequence star circumstellar disks. Magnetospheric accretion models are used to derive values of the mass accretion rates in objects of very…

Brown dwarfs, being transitional objects between giant planets and low-mass stars, possess dense, cool interiors that provide optimal conditions to explore non-standard physics. Capture and accumulation of dark-matter particles can alter…

The formation of brown dwarfs (BDs) poses a key challenge to star formation theory. The observed dearth of nearby ($\leq 5$ AU) brown dwarf companions to solar-mass stars, known as the brown dwarf desert, as well as the tendency for…

I present observations of a new faint double, 2MASS J11011926-7732383AB, toward the Chamaeleon I star-forming region. From optical and near-infrared images of the pair, I measure a separation of 1.44" and extract RIJHK_s photometry of the…

When a star exhausts its nuclear fuel, it either explodes as a supernova or more quiescently becomes a white dwarf, an object about half the mass of our Sun with a radius of about that of the Earth. About one fifth of white dwarfs exhibit…