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The Luminosity and Mass Functions at the Bottom of the Main Sequence

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 July 2016

C. Tinney*
Affiliation:
European Southern Observatory, D-85748 Garching, Germany

Abstract

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A 270 square degree survey for Very Low Mass (VLM — M < 0.2M) stars in the field is discussed. The major pitfalls encountered in the survey are covered, as well as the major results. In particular, it was found that: 1) no significant difference is seen between the luminosity function for VLM stars as measured by photometric and trigonometric selection criteria; 2) the luminosity function does not show a significant increase below Mbol = 13, 3) the mass function for VLM stars shows significant structure in the VLM regime; and 4) it is hard to envisage a significant amount of missing mass in the disk being in the form of brown dwarfs.

Type
Part Nine: Galactic Structure
Copyright
Copyright © Kluwer 1994 

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