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The Brown Dwarf Deficit in Taurus: Evidence for a Non-Universal IMF

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 May 2016

César Briceño
Affiliation:
Centro de Investigaciones de Astronomía (CIDA), Apartado Postal 264, Mérida 5101-A, Venezuela
Kevin L. Luhman
Affiliation:
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden St., Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
Lee Hartmann
Affiliation:
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden St., Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
John R. Stauffer
Affiliation:
SIRTF Science Center, MS 220–6, Caltech, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
J. Davy Kirkpatrick
Affiliation:
IPAC, MS 100–22, 770 S. Wilson, Caltech, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA

Abstract

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We present the results of a deep, optical/IR wide field imaging survey of selected fields in the nearby (d~ 140 pc) Taurus star-forming region. We report the discovery of 9 new members with spectral types M5.75–M9.5. We derive an Initial Mass Function encompassing 54% of the known members in Taurus. Comparison with dense regions like the Trapezium Cluster in Orion shows that Taurus has produced x2 less brown dwarfs. We suggest that the lower frequency of brown dwarfs in Taurus may result from the low-density star-forming environment, leading to larger minimum Jeans masses.

Type
Part 2. Observations of Recently Born Substellar Objects
Copyright
Copyright © Astronomical Society of the Pacific 2001 

References

Baraffe, I., Chabrier, G., Allard, F., & Hauschildt, P. H., 1998, A&A, 337, 403 Google Scholar
Briceño, C., Luhman, K., Hartmann, L., Stauffer, J., Kirkpatrick, D., 2002, ApJ, in press.Google Scholar
Luhman, K., 2000, ApJ, 544, 104 Google Scholar