Related papers: Exploring Brown Dwarf Disks
I have performed a search for young low-mass stars and brown dwarfs (BDs) in 2 regions encompassing a total area of 4 deg^2 in the Taurus star-forming region, discovering 15 new members of Taurus. In addition, I present 7 new members…
It is estimated that ~60% of all stars (including brown dwarfs) have masses below 0.2Msun. Currently, there is no consensus on how these objects form. I will briefly review the four main theories for the formation of low-mass objects:…
Disks around brown dwarfs (BDs) are excellent laboratories to study the first steps of planet formation in cold and low-mass disk conditions. The radial-drift velocities of dust particles in BD disks are higher than in disks around more…
We present numerical solutions of the collapse of prestellar cores that lead to the formation and evolution of circumstellar disks. The disk evolution is then followed for up to three million years. A variety of models of different initial…
We present high resolution optical spectra obtained with the HIRES spectrograph on the Keck I telescope of low mass T Tauri stars and brown dwarfs (LMTTs) in Taurus-Auriga. Of particular interest is the previously classified "continuum T…
We re-analyzed the Herschel/PACS data of a sample of 55 brown dwarfs (BDs) and very low mass stars with spectral types ranging from M5.5 to L0. We investigated the dependence of disk structure on the mass of the central object in the…
As part of a multi-faceted program to investigate the origin and early evolution of sub-stellar objects, we present high-resolution Keck optical spectra of 14 very low mass sources in the IC 348 young cluster and the Taurus star-forming…
The point at which a protoplanetary disk becomes a debris disk is difficult to identify. To better understand this, here we study the $\sim$40~AU separation binary T~54 in the Chamaeleon I cloud. We derive a K5 spectral type for T~54~A…
First evidences of IR excess and disk mass accretion (strong H$\alpha$ emission) around brown dwarfs seem to indicate the existence of circumstellar disks around these sub-stellar objects. Nothing is known at the present time about outflows…
The formation of brown dwarfs (BDs) due to the fragmentation of proto-stellar disks undergoing pairwise encounters was investigated. High resolution allowed the use of realistic initial disk models where both the vertical structure and the…
We present high-resolution optical spectroscopy of four candidate members of the nearby TW Hydrae young association including three brown dwarfs (2MASS 1207-3932, 2MASS 1139-3159 and TWA 5B) and one T Tauri multiple star (TWA 5A). Using…
During an imaging survey of the Chamaeleon I star-forming region with the ACS aboard HST, we have discovered a candidate substellar companion to the young low-mass star CHXR 73 (~2 Myr, M=0.35 Msun). We measure a projected separation of…
We present imaging observations at 1.3 mm wavelength of Class I protostars in the Taurus star forming region, obtained with the CARMA interferometer. Of an initial sample of 10 objects, we detected and imaged millimeter wavelength emission…
We present the results of a search for new members of the Taurus star-forming region using data from the Spitzer Space Telescope and the XMM-Newton Observatory. We have obtained optical and near-infrared spectra of 44 sources that exhibit…
We derive hydrostatic, radiative equilibrium models for passive disks surrounding T Tauri stars. Each disk is encased by an optically thin layer of superheated dust grains. This layer re-emits directly to space about half the stellar energy…
The study of the properties of disks around young brown dwarfs can provide important clues on the formation of these very low-mass objects and on the possibility of forming planetary systems around them. The presence of warm dusty disks…
A complete accounting of nearby objects -- from the highest-mass white dwarf progenitors down to low-mass brown dwarfs -- is now possible, thanks to an almost complete set of trigonometric parallax determinations from Gaia, ground-based…
The disk mass is among the most important input parameter for every planet formation model to determine the number and masses of the planets that can form. We present an ALMA 887micron survey of the disk population around objects from 2 to…
The masses and temperatures of young low mass stars and brown dwarfs in star- forming regions are not yet well established because of uncertainties in the age of individual objects and the spectral type vs. temperature scale appropriate for…
By combining photometry from the 2MASS Point Source Catalog and the USNO-B1.0 Catalog with optical and infrared spectroscopy, I have performed a search for young brown dwarfs in an area of 225 deg^2 encompassing all of the Taurus…