Related papers: Two class I very low-mass objects in Taurus
The formation mechanism of brown dwarfs (BDs) is one of the long-standing problems in star formation because the typical Jeans mass in molecular clouds is too large to form these substellar objects. To answer this question, it is crucial to…
The formation of objects below or close to the hydrogen burning limit is currently vividly discussed and is one of the main open issues in the field of the origins of stars and planets. Applying various observational techniques, we explored…
We have performed a search for planetary-mass brown dwarfs in the Chamaeleon I star-forming region using proper motions and photometry measured from optical and infrared images from the Spitzer Space Telescope, the Hubble Space Telescope,…
We present results from a large, high-spatial-resolution near-infrared imaging search for stellar and sub-stellar companions in the Taurus-Auriga star-forming region. The sample covers 64 stars with masses between those of the most massive…
[abridged] We present high resolution optical spectra of stars in Taurus-Auriga whose circumstellar environment suggests that they are less evolved than optically revealed T Tauri stars. Many of the stars are seen only via scattered light.…
We define a sample designed to select low-mass T Tauri stars and young brown dwarfs using DENIS data in the Chamaeleon II molecular cloud. We use a star count method to construct an extinction map of the Chamaeleon II cloud. We select our…
I report the results of a survey for low-mass (0.030 <~ M <~ 0.013 M_solar) brown dwarfs in the direction of the TW Hya association using 2MASS. Two late-M dwarfs show signs of low surface gravity and are strong candidates to be young,…
We have measured high-precision parallaxes for a large sample of candidate young (~10-100 Myr) and intermediate-age (~100-600 Myr) ultracool dwarfs, with spectral types ranging from M8 to T2.5. These objects are compelling benchmarks for…
We present results of a search for very low mass stars and brown dwarfs towards the central region of the Hyades cluster. Using Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS) near-infrared and Second Palomar Sky Survey (POSSII) optical photometry, we…
I present new results from a continuing program to identify and characterize the low-mass stellar and substellar populations in the young cluster IC 348 (1-10~Myr). Optical spectroscopy has revealed young objects with spectral types as late…
We have identified a large sample of probable low mass members of the young open cluster IC2391 based on optical (VRIZ) and Infrared (JHK$_s$) photometry. Our sample includes 50 probable members and 82 possible members, both very low mass…
We have carried out sensitive 1.3 mm observations of 20 young brown dwarfs in the Taurus star-forming region, representing the largest sample of young substellar objects targeted in a deep millimeter continuum survey to date. Under standard…
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…
We present spectroscopy of two candidate substellar members of the Chamaeleon I star-forming region. The candidates, which were identified photometrically by Oasa, Tamura, & Sugitani, have been observed at 1-2.5 micron during commissioning…
We present preliminary trigonometric parallaxes of 184 late-T and Y dwarfs using observations from Spitzer (143), USNO (18), NTT (14), and UKIRT (9). To complete the 20-pc census of $\ge$T6 dwarfs, we combine these measurements with…
We present new near-IR observations of 76 Class I/flat-spectrum objects in the nearby (d < 320 pc) Perseus, Taurus, Chamaeleon I and II, rho Ophiuchi, and Serpens dark clouds. These observations are part of a larger systematic infrared…
We discuss accretion and outflow properties of three very low-mass young stellar objects based on broad-band mid-resolution X-Shooter/VLT spectra. Our targets (FU TauA, 2M 1207-39, and Par-Lup3-4) have spectral types between M5 and M8, ages…
In comparison with other well studied star formation regions, Taurus is unusual in several respects. (i) Its stellar initial mass function (IMF) peaks at relatively high mass ($\sim 0.8 M_\odot$), but contains very few stars much more…
We have measured a trigonometric parallax to the young brown dwarf 2MASSW J1207334-393254. The distance [54.0 (+3.2,-2.8) pc] and space motion confirm membership in the TW Hydrae Association. The primary is a ~25 M_jup brown dwarf. We…
We describe near-IR imaging data for a sample of 23 class I sources in the Taurus-Auriga dark clouds. Combining our data with previous photometry, we detect brightness variations of 0.1-0.5 mag in many sources. The near-IR morphologies are…