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arXiv · astro-ph/0201140

A Near-Infrared Wide-Field Proper Motion Search for Brown Dwarfs

Abstract

A common proper motion survey of M dwarf stars within 8 pc of the Sun reveals no new stellar or brown dwarf companions at wide separations (~100-1400 AU). This survey tests whether the brown dwarf ``desert'' extends to large separations around M dwarf stars and further explores the census of the solar neighborhood. The sample includes 66 stars north of -30 degrees and within 8 pc of the Sun. Existing first epoch images are compared to new J-band images of the same fields an average of 7 years later to reveal proper motion companions within a ~4 arcminute radius of the primary star. No new companions are detected to a J-band limiting magnitude of ~16.5, corresponding to a companion mass of ~40 Jupiter masses for an assumed age of 5 Gyr at the mean distance of the objects in the survey, 5.8 pc.

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BibTeXRIS

J. L. Hinz, D. W. McCarthy, D. A. Simons, T. J. Henry, J. D. Kirkpatrick, P. C. McGuire. 2002-01-09. A Near-Infrared Wide-Field Proper Motion Search for Brown Dwarfs. https://doi.org/10.1086/339555

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