Related papers: Exploring the planetary-mass population in the Upp…
Upper Scorpius is a subgroup of the nearest OB association, Scorpius--Centaurus. Its young age makes it an important association to study star and planet formation. We present parallaxes to 52 low mass stars in Upper Scorpius, 28 of which…
Free-floating planetary-mass objects (FFPs) have been detected through direct imaging in several young, nearby star-forming regions. The properties of circumstellar disks around these objects may provide a valuable probe into their origin…
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…
SONYC -- Substellar Objects in Nearby Young Clusters -- is a survey program to investigate the frequency and properties of substellar objects in nearby star-forming regions. We present a new imaging and spectroscopic survey conducted in the…
Given its relative proximity (~430 pc), compact size (< 20'), young age (~ 0.5 Myr) and rich number of young stellar objects, the Serpens-South star forming region is a promising site for studying young sub-stellar objects, yet the low-mass…
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…
Low-mass stars and sub-stellar objects are essential in tracing the initial mass function (IMF). We study the nearby young $\sigma$ Orionis cluster (d$\sim$408 pc; age$\sim$1.8 Myr) using deep NIR photometric data in J, W and H-bands from…
We present deep 1.2 millimeter photometry of 37 stars in the young (5 Myr) Upper Scorpius OB association, sensitive to ~4 x 10^-3 Mjup of cool millimeter dust. Disks around four low- and solar-mass stars are detected, as well as one debris…
It is now well established that many young brown dwarfs exhibit characteristics similar to classical T Tauri stars, including infrared excess from disks and emission lines related to accretion. Whether the same holds true for even lower…
By collecting optical and infrared photometry and low resolution spectroscopy, we have identified a large number of low mass stars and brown dwarf candidates belonging to the young cluster (~5 Myr) associated with the binary star lambda…
We present first results from a deep (J = 18.7), wide-field (6.5 square degrees) infrared (ZYJHK) survey in the Upper Sco association conducted within the science verification phase of the UKIRT Infrared Deep Sky Survey Galactic Cluster…
Surveys of nearby field stars indicate that stellar binaries are common, yet little is known about the effects that these companions may have on planet formation and evolution. The Friends of Hot Jupiters project uses three complementary…
We present the results of a direct-imaging survey for very large separation ($>$100 au), companions around 95 nearby young K5-L5 stars and brown dwarfs. They are high-likelihood candidates or confirmed members of the young ($\lessapprox$150…
We present optical and near-infrared adaptive optics (AO) imaging and spectroscopy of 13 ultracool (>M6) companions to late-type stars (K7-M4.5), most of which have recently been identified as candidate members of nearby young moving groups…
We present the results of a search for wide binary systems among 783 members of three nearby young associations: Taurus-Auriga, Chamaeleon I, and two subgroups of Upper Scorpius. Near-infrared (JHK) imagery from 2MASS was analyzed to search…
We have conducted an angular differential imaging survey with NIRC2 at Keck in search of close-in substellar companions to a sample of seven systems with confirmed planetary-mass companions (PMCs) on wide orbits (>50 AU). These…
We have carried out a Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) Cycle 1 guest investigator program covering 56 square degrees near the Taurus T association and 12 square degrees along the northern edge of the Upper Scorpius OB association. We…
Intermediate resolution (R=7000) spectroscopy is presented for 76 photometrically selected very low mass (0.04<M<0.3M_{sun}) candidate members of the Sigma Orionis cluster. More than two thirds appear to be genuine cluster members on the…
We present optical spectroscopy of 71 photometric candidate low-mass members of the cluster associated with Sigma Orionis. Thirty-five of these are found to pass the lithium test and hence are confirmed as true cluster members, covering a…
We present results from a high-contrast adaptive optics imaging search for giant planets and brown dwarfs (>1 MJup) around 122 newly identified nearby (<40 pc) young M dwarfs. Half of our targets are younger than 135 Myr and 90% are younger…