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arXiv · 2604.22983

The POKEMON Speckle Survey of Nearby M dwarfs. IV. Distance-Limited Catalog (POKEMON-DLC)

Catherine A. Clark·Zafar Rustamkulov·Gerard T. van Belle·Mark E. Everett·Colin Littlefield·Sarah J. Deveny·David R. Ciardi·Kaspar von Braun
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Abstract

The Solar Neighborhood is dominated by stars smaller, colder, and fainter than the Sun: the M dwarfs. If we are to understand the context in which the Sun formed and evolved, then we must investigate the system architectures of our low-mass neighbors. We have therefore carried out the Pervasive Overview of Kompanions of Every M Dwarf in Our Neighborhood (POKEMON) speckle survey of nearby M-dwarf primaries. We created the survey with the goal of observing a volume-limited (north of -30 degrees) sample of M-dwarf primaries through M9 out to 15 pc at diffraction-limited resolution. Pre-Gaia parallax measurements yielded a catalog of 454 nearby M-dwarf primaries. However, the precise astrometry from Gaia indicated that there are additional low-mass sources within 15 pc. Here we present the POKEMON-Distance Limited Catalog (POKEMON-DLC), a supplemental catalog that consists of speckle observations for the 66 additional M-dwarf primaries identified by Gaia, increasing the number of ultracool dwarf (later than M6.5) primaries in the POKEMON catalog by a factor of 1.6. In our observations we detect four likely bound companions. After carrying out a literature search for additional companions, we update the projected separation distribution and find a peak at 7.91 au (σlog(a) = 1.1, SElog(a) = 0.10). We also update the M-dwarf stellar multiplicity and companion rates, and find values of 22.7 p/m 1.8% and 27.5 p/m 2.0%, respectively. These results emphasize the utility of Gaia for identifying low-mass, nearby sources, and we find that ensuing characterization of these sources by SPHEREx will continue to clarify the nature of the Solar Neighborhood.

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Catherine A. Clark, Zafar Rustamkulov, Gerard T. van Belle, Mark E. Everett, Colin Littlefield, Sarah J. Deveny, David R. Ciardi, Kaspar von Braun. 2026-09-08. The POKEMON Speckle Survey of Nearby M dwarfs. IV. Distance-Limited Catalog (POKEMON-DLC). https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.22983

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