David G. Monet

L Dwarfs and the Substellar Mass Function

Analysis of initial observations sky surveys has shown that the resulting photometric catalogs, combined with far-red optical data, provide an extremely effective method of finding isolated, very low-temperature objects in the general field. Follow-up observations have already identified more than 25 sources with temperatures cooler than the latest M dwarfs. A comparison with detailed model predictions (Burrows & Sharp 1999) indicates that these L dwarfs have effective temperatures between ≈2000 ± 100 K and 1500 ± 100 K, while the available trigonometric parallax data place their luminosities at between 10-3.5 and 10. Those properties, together with the detection of lithium in one-third of the objects, are consistent with the majority having substellar masses. The mass function cannot be derived directly, since only near-infrared photometry and spectral types are available for most sources, but we can incorporate VLM/brown dwarf models in simulations of the solar neighborhood population and constrain Ψ(M) by comparing the predicted L dwarf surface densities and temperature distributions against observations from the Deep Near-Infrared Survey (DENIS) and 2 Micron All-Sky Survey (2MASS) surveys. The data, although sparse, can be represented by a power-law mass function, Ψ(M) ∝ M-α, with 1 M/M☉ > 0.01 brown dwarfs is 0.10 systems pc-3. In that case, brown dwarfs are twice as common as main-sequence stars but contribute no more than ~15% of the total mass of the disk.

Four Nearby L Dwarfs

We present spectroscopic, photometric and astrometric observations of four bright L dwarfs identified in the course of the 2MASS near-infrared survey. Our spectroscopic data extend to wavelengths shortward of 5000 A in the L0 dwarf 2MASS J0746+2000 and the L4 dwarf 2MASS J0036+1840, allowing the identification of absorption bands due to MgH and CaOH. The atomic resonance lines Ca I λ4227 and Na I λλ5890/5896 are extremely strong, with the latter having an equivalent width of 240 A in the L4 dwarf. By spectral type L5, the D lines extend over ~1000 A and absorb a substantial fraction of the flux emitted in the V band, with a corresponding effect on the (V-I) broadband color. The K I resonance doublet at 7665/7699 A increases in equivalent width from spectral type M3 to M7, but decreases in strength from M7 to L0 before broadening substantially at later types. These variations are likely driven by dust formation in these cool atmospheres.

High-Resolution Spectroscopy of Ultracool M Dwarfs

We present high-resolution echelle spectroscopy of 39 dwarfs with spectral types between M6.5 and L0.5. With one exception, those dwarfs were selected from the Two Micron All Sky Survey database using photometric criteria, (J-KS) ≥ 1.1 and KS ≤ 12.0, and therefore should provide a sample free of the kinematic biases that can affect proper-motion–selected samples. Two of the stars, 2MASSI J0253202+271333 and 2MASSW J0952219-192431, are double-lined spectroscopic binaries. We have used our observations to search for Li I 6708 A absorption, characteristic of substellar mass; estimate the level of chromospheric activity through measurement of Hα emission fluxes; measure rotational velocities via line broadening; and determine radial velocities and Galactic space motions. Two dwarfs have strong lithium absorption, the previously known brown dwarf LP 944-20 and 2MASSI J0335020+234235, which we identify as a probable 0.06 M⊙ brown dwarf with an age of ~1 Gyr. We have investigated the prospect of using the observed frequency of lithium absorption among ultracool M dwarfs (M7 to M9.5) as a probe of the initial mass function, comparing the observed frequency against predictions based on recent theoretical models of low-mass dwarfs and an assumed star formation history. Our results show that the conclusions drawn are vulnerable both to systematic differences between the available models and to incomplete local sampling of the most recent star formation events (ages less than 108 yr). The latter consideration stems from the mass-dependent rate of evolution of brown dwarfs. Even given those caveats, however, the available observations are difficult to reconcile with Salpeter-like power-law mass functions (α ≥ 2) for masses below 0.1 M⊙. A comparison between the rotational velocities and Hα fluxes shows no evidence for significant correlation. The mean activity level of the ultracool dwarfs lies almost a factor of 10 below that of early- and mid-type M dwarfs. The relative number of dwarfs with v sin i < 20 km s-1 with respect to greater than 20 km s-1 is independent of spectral type. Finally, velocity dispersions derived for our photometrically selected sample of ultracool dwarfs are significantly lower than those measured for nearby M dwarfs but show remarkable similarity to results for earlier type emission-line (dMe) dwarfs. The latter are generally assigned ages of less than ~3 Gyr.

Low-Luminosity Companions to Nearby Stars: Status of the 2MASS Data Search

We present 2MASS discoveries of four L and T dwarf companions to nearby stars. Using spectral types of the companions and age estimates of the primaries, we estimate masses for these discoveries and compare them to four other L and T dwarf companions from the literature. Temperatures range from ~2000 to ~750 K, ages range from ~0.2 to ~3 Gyr, and masses range from ~0.035 to ~0.075 MO.

Geosynchronous Earth orbital debris campaign

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Johnson Space Center (JSC) is conducting systematic searches of the Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (GEO) environment as part of an international measurement campaign under the auspices of the Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee (IADC). The objectives for this survey are to determine the extent and character of debris in GEO, buy obtaining distributions for the brightness, inclination, Right Ascension of Ascending Node (RAAN), and mean motion of the debris. The Charged Coupled Device (CCD) Debris Telescope (CDT), an automated 0.32 meter aperture, transportable Schmidt telescope presently located at Cloudcroft, New Mexico, is used nightly to monitor the GEO debris environment. The CDT is equipped with a CCD camera capable of detecting 17th magnitude objects in a 20 second exposure. This corresponds to a 0.6 meter diameter object having a 0.2 albedo at 36000 km. Two other larger telescopes have been used for this purpose, the United States Naval Observatorys new 1.3 meter telescope located in Flagstaff Arizona and a 0.6 m Schmidt telescope located at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO) near La Serena Chile. Data reduction and analysis software used to reduce this data exploit tools developed by both the astronomical and DoD communities. These tools and data results are presented.