Related papers: AB Doradus C: Age, Spectral Type, Orbit, and Compa…
We present new photometric and spectroscopic measurements for the unique, young, low-mass evolutionary track calibrator AB Dor C. While the new Ks photometry is similar to that previously published in Close et al. (2005) the spectral type…
Studies of fundamental parameters of very low-mass objects are indispensable to provide tests of stellar evolution models that are used to derive theoretical masses of brown dwarfs and planets. However, only objects with dynamically…
AB Dor C, a low-mass companion to the young star AB Dor A has recently been imaged. Direct detection and astrometric observations have been used to solve the AB Dor C orbit and obtain a dynamical mass estimate. Near-infrared magnitudes and…
We assess the constraints on the evolutionary models of young low-mass objects that are provided by the measurements of the companion AB Dor C by Close and coworkers and by a new comparison of model-derived IMFs of star-forming regions to…
We have derived a new age estimate for the nearby young star AB Dor and have investigated the resulting implications for testing theoretical evolutionary models with the data reported by Close and coworkers for the low-mass companion AB Dor…
We present resolved NACO photometry of the close binary AB Dor B in H- and Ks-band. AB Dor B is itself known to be a wide binary companion to AB Dor A, which in turn has a very low-mass close companion named AB Dor C. These four known…
Substellar members of young ($\lesssim$150 Myr) moving groups are valuable benchmarks to empirically define brown dwarf evolution with age and to study the low-mass end of the initial mass function. We have combined Pan-STARRS1 (PS1) proper…
Observations of low-mass companions for which the dynamical masses are well constrained help to improve the calibration of evolutionary models. Such observations thereby provide more confidence in the estimation of the mass of a companion…
We present new evidence for a problem with cooling rates predicted by substellar evolutionary models that implies model-derived masses in the literature for brown dwarfs and directly imaged planets may be too high. Based on our dynamical…
AA Dor is an eclipsing, post common-envelope binary with an sdOB-type primary and an unseen low-mass secondary, believed to be a brown dwarf. Eleven years ago, a NLTE spectral analysis of the primary showed a discrepancy with the surface…
The study of high contrast imaged brown dwarfs and exoplanets depends strongly on evolutionary models. To estimate the mass of a directly imaged substellar object, its extracted photometry or spectrum is used and adjusted with model spectra…
Benchmark brown dwarfs are those objects for which fiducial constraints are available, including effective temperature, parallax, age, metallicity. We searched for new cool brown dwarfs in 186 sq.deg. of the new area covered by the data…
2MASS J03202839-0446358AB is a recently identified, late-type M dwarf/T dwarf spectroscopic binary system for which both the radial velocity orbit for the primary and spectral types for both components have been determined. By combining…
We present a systematic study of the physical properties of late-M dwarfs based on high-quality dynamical mass measurements and near-infrared (NIR) spectra. We use astrometry from Keck NGS and LGS AO imaging to determine orbits for late-M…
Low-mass stars exhibit substantial pre-main sequence evolution during the first ~100 Myrs of their lives. Thus, young M-type stars are prime targets for isochronal dating, especially in young moving groups (YMGs), which contain large…
Using the CFBDSIR wide field survey for brown dwarfs, we identified CFBDSIRJ214947.2-040308.9, a late T dwarf with atypically red J-Ks colour. We obtained an X-Shooter spectra, with signal detectable from 0.8 to 2.3 micron, which confirmed…
Our long-term photometric monitoring of southern nova-like cataclysmic variables with the 1.3-m SMARTS telescope found BB Doradus fading from V ~ 14.3 towards a deep low state at V ~ 19.3 in April 2008. Here we present time-resolved optical…
We analyse pre-Main Sequence evolutionary tracks for low mass stars with masses $m \le 1.4 \msol$ based on the Baraffe et al. (1998) input physics. We also extend the recent Chabrier et al. (2000) evolutionary models based on dusty…
We report the discovery of an L-type companion to the young M3.5V star 2MASS J01225093-2439505 at a projected separation of 1.45" (~52 AU) as part of our adaptive optics imaging search for extrasolar giant planets around young low-mass…
We present the full results of our decade-long astrometric monitoring programs targeting 31 ultracool binaries with component spectral types M7-T5. Joint analysis of resolved imaging from Keck Observatory and Hubble Space Telescope and…