Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-v9fdk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-20T00:48:36.254Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Brown and Black Dwarfs: their Structure, Evolution and Contribution to the Missing Mass

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 April 2016

D. J. Stevenson*
Affiliation:
Research School of Earth Sciences, Australian National University

Extract

According to Oort (1965), the mass density in the solar neighbourhood (inferred from the gravity component normal to the galactic plane) is between 50% and 150% greater than the mass density inferred from non-dwarf stars. One possible explanation for the “missing mass” is an overabundance of faint M-dwarfs (Weistrop 1972), but present indications are that this overabundance is either small (Weistrop 1976; Sanduleak 1976) or non-existent (Faber et al. 1976; Eggen 1976). Nevertheless, Salpeter’s initial mass function (Salpeter 1955) suggests that the total mass may be dominated by low mass stars, including masses M≤0.08M which never undergo significant hydrogen burning.

Type
Contributions
Copyright
Copyright © Astronomical Society of Australia 1978

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Beer, R. and Taylor, F. W., Astrophys. J., 219, 763 (1978).Google Scholar
Bodenheimer, P., Icarus 23, 319 (1974).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bodenheimer, P. in “Star Formation” ed. Jong, T. de and Maeder, A., D. Reidel, publ., p. 233 (1977).Google Scholar
Davidson, K., Icarus 26, 99 (1975).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eggen, O. J., Astrophys. J., 204, 101 (1976).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Faber, S. M., Burstein, D. and Tinsley, B. M., Astron. J., 81, 45 (1976).Google Scholar
Graboske, H. C. Jr., Pollack, J. B., Grossman, A. S. and Olness, R. J. Astrophys. J., 199, 265 (1975).Google Scholar
Grossman, A. S. and Graboske, H. C. Jr., Astrophys. J., 164, 475 (1971).Google Scholar
Grossman, A. S. and Graboske, H. C. Jr., Astrophys. J., 180, 195 (1973).Google Scholar
Kumar, S. S., Astrophys. J., 137, 1126 (1963).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Larson, R. B., Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc, 157, 121 (1972).Google Scholar
Low, C. and Lynden-Bell, D., Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc, 176, 367 (1976).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mestel, L. in “Star Formation”, ed. Jong, T. de and Maeder, A., publ. D. Reidel, p. 213 (1977).Google Scholar
Oort, J. in “Galactic Structure” ed. Blauuw, A. and Schmidt, M., Un. Chicago Press, p. 470 (1965).Google Scholar
Rees, M. J., Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc, 176, 633 (1976).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Salpeter, E. E., Astrophys. J., 121, 161 (1955).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sanduleak, N., Astron. J., 81, 350 (1976).Google Scholar
Silk, J., Astrophys. J., 211, 638 (1977a).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Silk, J., Astrophys. J., 1U, 152 (1977b).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Staller, R. F. A., Astron. Astrophys., 42, 155 (1975).Google Scholar
Stevenson, D. J., Phys. Rev., 12B, 3999 (1975).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stevenson, D. J., Phys. Lett., 58A, 282 (1976).Google Scholar
Stevenson, D. J., Proc. Astron. Soc. Aust., 3, 167 (1977).Google Scholar
Stevenson, D. J. and Ashcroft, N. W., Phys. Rev., 9A, 782 (1974).Google Scholar
Stevenson, D. J. and Salpeter, E. E., Astrophys. J. Suppl., 35, 221 (1977a).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stevenson, D. J. and Salpeter, E. E., Astrophys. J. Suppl., 35, 239 (1977b).Google Scholar
Weistrop, D., Astron. J., 77, 849 (1972).Google Scholar
Weistrop, D., Astrophys. J., 204, 113 (1976).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zapolsky, H. S. and Salpeter, E. E., Astrophys. J., 158, 809 (1969).Google Scholar