As outflow activity in low mass protostars is strongly connected to ac- cretion it is reasonable to expect accreting brown dwarfs to also be driving out- flows. In the last three years we have searched for brown dwarf outflows using high quality optical spectra obtained with UVES on the VLT and the technique of spectro-astrometry. To date five brown dwarf outflows have been discovered. Here the method is discussed and the results to date outlined.
It is now apparent that classical T Tauri-like outflows commonly accompany the formation of young brown dwarfs. To date two optical outflows have been discovered and results presented in this paper increase this number to three. Using spectro-astrometry the origin of the LS-RCrA 1 forbidden emission lines in a blue-shifted outflow is confirmed. The non-detection of the red-shifted component of the outflow in forbidden lines, along with evidence for some separation between low and high velocity outflow components, do not support the hypothesis that LS-RCrA 1 has an edge-on accretion disk. The k…
Context. The previously identified source SSTB213 J041757 is a proto brown dwarf candidate in Taurus, which has two possible components A and B. It was found that component B is probably a class 0/I proto brown dwarf associated with an extended envelope. Aims. Studying molecular outflows from young brown dwarfs provides important insight into brown dwarf formation mechanisms, particularly brown dwarfs at the earliest stages such as class 0, I. We therefore conducted a search for molecular outflows from SSTB213 J041757. Methods. We observed SSTB213 J041757 with the Submillimeter Array to search…
Characterization of the properties of young brown dwarfs are important to constraining the formation of objects at the extreme low-mass end of the IMF. While young brown dwarfs share many properties with solar-mass T Tauri stars, differences may be used as tests of how the physics of accretion/outflow and disk chemistry/dissipation depend on the mass of the central object. This article summarizes the presentations and discussions during the splinter session on 'Disks, accretion and outflows of brown dwarfs' held at the CoolStars17 conference in Barcelona in June 2012. Recent results in the fie…
We discuss accretion and outflow properties of three very low-mass young stellar objects based on broad-band mid-resolution X-Shooter/VLT spectra. Our targets (FU TauA, 2M 1207-39, and Par-Lup3-4) have spectral types between M5 and M8, ages between 1 Myr and ~10 Myr, and are known to be accreting from previous studies. The final objective of our project is the determination of mass outflow to accretion rate for objects near or within the substellar regime as a probe for the T Tauri phase of brown dwarfs and the investigation of variability in the accretion and outflow processes.
The protostellar outflow mechanism operates for a significant fraction of the pre-main sequence phase of a solar mass star and is thought to have a key role in star and perhaps even planet formation. This energetic mechanism manifests itself in several different forms and on many scales. Thus outflow activity can be probed in numerous different regimes from radio to X-ray wavelengths. Recent discoveries have shown that it is not only solar mass stars that launch outflows during their formation but also the sub-stellar brown dwarfs. In this article what is currently known about jets from young …
An investigation of the magnetospheric accretion and outflow signatures in sub-stellar objects is a natural extension of similar studies conducted on classical T Tauri stars (CTTS), and helps understand if brown dwarfs (BDs) follow the same formation mechanism as stars. Over the past decade, evidence for accretion in very low-mass stars (VLMs) and BDs has been accumulated using various techniques, which indicates that the overall accretion characteristics are continuous across the sub-stellar boundary. Outflow activity in VLMs and BDs has been confirmed based on spectro-astrometry of forbidden…
We report the detection of a molecular outflow driven by the brown dwarf binary FU Tau. Using the IRAM 30 m telescope we observed the $^{12}$CO(2-1) (CO) emission in the vicinity of FU Tau and detected a bipolar outflow by examining the wings of the CO(2-1) line as we moved away from the source position. An integrated map of the wing emission between 3 kms$^{-1}$ and 5 kms$^{-1}$ reveals a blue-shifted lobe at a position of $\sim$ 20 \arcsec\ from the FU Tau system and at a position angle of $\sim$ 20$^{\circ}$. The beam size of the observations is $11\arcsec$\ hence it is not possible to dist…
We show that the very young brown dwarf candidate ISO217 (M6.25) is driving an intrinsically asymmetric bipolar outflow with a stronger and slightly faster red-shifted component based on spectro-astrometry of forbidden [SII] emission lines observed in UVES/VLT spectra taken in 2009. ISO217 is only one of a handful of brown dwarfs and VLMS (M5-M8) for which an outflow has been detected and that show that the T Tauri phase continues at the substellar limit. We measure a spatial extension of the outflow of +/-190mas (+/-30AU) and velocities of +/-40-50kms/s. We show that the velocity asymmetry be…
Studies of brown dwarf (BD) outflows provide information pertinent to questions on BD formation, as well as allowing outflow mechanisms to be investigated at the lowest masses. Here new observations of the bipolar outflow from the 24 M$_{JUP}$ BD, 2MASSJ12073347-3932540 are presented. The outflow was originally identified through the spectro-astrometric analysis of the [OI]$λ$6300 emission line. Follow-up observations consisting of spectra and [SII], R-band and I-band images were obtained. The new spectra confirm the original results and are used to constrain the outflow PA at $\sim$ 65$^{\cir…
Over the last number of years spectroscopic studies have strongly supported the assertion that protostellar accretion and outflow activity persists to the lowest masses. In this paper we present the results of our latest investigation of brown dwarf (BD) outflow activity and report on the discovery of two new outflows. Here ISO-Oph 32 is shown to drive a blue-shifted outflow with a radial velocity of 10-20 km/s and spectro-astrometric analysis constrains the position angle of this outflow to 240 +/- 7 degrees. The BD candidate ISO-Cha1 217 is found to have a bipolar outflow bright in several k…
We report here our latest search for molecular outflows from young brown dwarfs and very low-mass stars in nearby star-forming regions. We have observed three sources in Taurus with the Submillimeter Array and the Combined Array for Research in Millimeter-wave Astronomy at 230 GHz frequency to search for CO J=2-1 outflows. We obtain a tentative detection of a redshifted and extended gas lobe at about 10 arcsec from the source GM Tau, a young brown dwarf in Taurus with an estimated mass of 73 M_J, which is right below the hydrogen-burning limit. No blueshifted emission around the brown dwarf po…
Multiplicity is a key statistic for understanding the formation of very low mass (VLM) stars and brown dwarfs. Currently, the separation distribution of VLM binaries remains poorly constrained at small separations (< 1 AU), leading to uncertainty in the overall binary fraction. We approach this problem by searching for spectral binaries whose identification is independent of separation. The combined spectra of these systems exhibit traces of methane imposed on an earlier-type spectra. When the primary of such a system is a late-type M or early-type L dwarf, however, the relative faintness of t…
As the number of observed brown dwarf outflows is growing it is important to investigate how these outflows compare to the well studied jets from young stellar objects. A key point of comparison is the relationship between outflow and accretion activity and in particular the ratio between the mass outflow and accretion rates ($\dot{M}_{out}$/$\dot{M}_{acc}$). The brown dwarf candidate ISO-ChaI 217 was discovered by our group, as part of a spectro-astrometric study of brown dwarfs, to be driving an asymmetric outflow with the blue-shifted lobe having a position angle of $\sim$ 20$^{\circ}$. The…
We present a survey of molecular outflows across the dark cloud complex in the Cygnus region, based on 46.75 deg^2 field of CO isotopologues data from Milky Way Imaging Scroll Painting (MWISP) survey. A supervised machine learning algorithm, Support Vector Machine (SVM), is introduced to accelerate our visual assessment of outflow features in the data cube of 12CO and 13CO J = 1-0 emission. A total of 130 outflow candidates are identified, of which 77 show bipolar structures and 118 are new detections. Spatially, these outflows are located inside dense molecular clouds and some of them are fou…
Brown dwarf formation and star formation efficiency are studied using a nested grid simulation that covers five orders of magnitude in spatial scale (10^4 - 0.1AU). Starting with a rotating magnetized compact cloud with a mass of 0.22 M_sun, we follow the cloud evolution until the end of main accretion phase. Outflow of about 5 km/s emerges about 100 yr before the protostar formation and does not disappear until the end of the calculation. The mass accretion rate declines from 10^-6 M_sun/yr to 10^-8 - 10^-12 M_sun/yr in a short time (about 10^4 yr) after the protostar formation. This is becau…
Recently it has become apparent that proto-stellar-like outflow activity extends to the brown dwarf (BD) mass regime. While the presence of accretion appears to be the common ingredient in all objects known to drive jets fundamental questions remain unanswered. The more prominent being the exact mechanism by which jets are launched, and whether this mechanism remains universal among such a diversity of sources and scales. To address these questions we have been investigating outflow activity in a sample of protostellar objects that differ considerably in mass and mass accretion rate. Central t…
Recent studies have shown that close-in brown dwarfs in the mass range 35-55 M$_{\rm Jup}$ are almost depleted as companions to stars, suggesting that objects with masses above and below this gap might have different formation mechanisms. We determine the fundamental stellar parameters, as well as individual abundances for a large sample of stars known to have a substellar companion in the brown dwarf regime. The sample is divided into stars hosting "massive" and "low-mass" brown dwarfs. Following previous works a threshold of 42.5 M$_{\rm Jup}$ was considered. Our results confirm that stars w…
In this letter a near-infrared integral field study of a proto-brown dwarf candidate is presented. A $\sim$ 0\farcs5 blue-shifted outflow is detected in both H$_{2}$ and [Fe II] lines at V$_{sys}$ = (-35~$\pm$ 2)~km~s$^{-1}$ and V$_{sys}$ = (-51~$\pm$ 5)~km~s$^{-1}$ respectively. In addition, slower ($\sim$ $\pm$~10~km~s$^{-1}$) H$_{2}$ emission is detected out to $<$ 5\farcs4, in the direction of both the blue and red-shifted outflow lobes but along a different position angle to the more compact faster emission. It is argued that the more compact emission is a jet and the extended H$_{2}$ emi…
The NASA Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) has discovered almost all the known members of the new class of Y-type brown dwarfs. Most of these Y dwarfs have been identified as isolated objects in the field. It is known that binaries with L- and T-type brown dwarf primaries are less prevalent than either M-dwarf or solar-type primaries, they tend to have smaller separations and are more frequently detected in near-equal mass configurations. The binary statistics for Y-type brown dwarfs, however, are sparse, and so it is unclear if the same trends that hold for L- and T-type brown dwarfs…
We present a near-infrared study of accretion and outflow activity in 6 Class 0/I proto-brown dwarfs (proto-BDs) using VLT/SINFONI spectroscopy and spectro-imaging observations. The spectra show emission in several [FeII] and H$_{2}$ lines associated with jet/outflow activity, and in the accretion diagnostics of Pa$β$ and Br$γ$ lines. The peak velocities of the [FeII] lines ($>$100 km s$^{-1}$) are higher than the H$_{2}$ lines. The Class 0 proto-BDs show strong emission in the H$_{2}$ lines but the [FeII] lines are undetected, while the Class I objects show emission in both [FeII] and H$_{2}$…
We present ALMA $^{12}$CO (2-1), $^{13}$CO (2-1), C$^{18}$O (2-1) molecular line observations of a very young proto-brown dwarf system, ISO-OPH 200. We have conducted physical+chemical modelling of the complex internal structure for this system using the core collapse simulations for brown dwarf formation. The model at an age of $\sim$6000 yr can provide a good fit to the observed kinematics, spectra, and reproduce the complex structures seen in the moment maps. Results from modelling indicate that $^{12}$CO emission is tracing an extended ($\sim$1000 au) molecular outflow and a bright shock k…
We present optimal survey strategies for the upcoming NIX imager, part of the ERIS instrument to be installed on the Very Large Telescope (VLT). We will use a custom 2.2 micron K-peak filter to optimise the efficiency of a future large-scale direct imaging survey, aiming to detect brown dwarfs and giant planets around nearby stars. We use the results of previous large scale imaging surveys (primarily SPHERE SHINE and Gemini GPIES) to inform our choice of targets, as well as improved planet population distributions. We present four possible approaches to optimise survey target lists for the hig…
We discover that the very young very low-mass star ISO143 (M5) is driving an outflow based on spectro-astrometry of forbidden [SII] emission lines at 6716A and 6731A observed in UVES/VLT spectra. This adds another object to the handful of brown dwarfs and very low-mass stars (M5-M8) for which an outflow has been confirmed and which show that the T Tauri phase continues at very low masses. We find the outflow of ISO143 to be intrinsically asymmetric and the accretion disk to not obscure the outflow, as only the red outflow component is visible in the [SII] lines. ISO143 is only the third T Taur…
We present CFHT photometry and IRTF spectroscopy of low-mass candidate members of Serpens South and Serpens Core ($\sim$430 pc, $\sim$0.5 Myr), identified using a novel combination of photometric filters, known as the W-band method. We report SC182952+011618, SS182959-020335 and SS183032-021028 as young, low-mass Serpens candidate members, with spectral types in the range M7-M8, M5-L0 and M5-M6.5 respectively. Best-fit effective temperatures and luminosities imply masses of $<$ 0.12M$_{\odot}$ for all three candidate cluster members. We also present Hubble Space Telescope imaging data (F127M, …
On the basis of various data such as ALMA, JVLA, Chandra, {\it Herschel}, and {\it Spitzer}, we confirmed that two protostellar candidates in Oph-A are bona fide protostars or proto-brown dwarfs (proto-BDs) in extremely early evolutionary stages. Both objects are barely visible across infrared (IR, i.e., near-IR to far-IR) bands. The physical nature of the cores is very similar to that expected in first hydrostatic cores (FHSCs), objects theoretically predicted in the evolutionary phase prior to stellar core formation with gas densities of $\sim$ 10$^{11-12}$ cm$^{-3}$. This suggests that the …
Searching for radio emission from stellar wind-magnetosphere interaction or co-rotation breakdown in brown dwarfs
Institute of Space Sciences (ICE-CSIC)（空间科学研究所）；Institut d’Estudis Espacials de Catalunya (IEEC)（加泰罗尼亚空间研究学院）；Institute of Applied Computing & Community Code (IAC3)（应用计算与社区代码研究所）
We report here our search for molecular outflows from young very low mass stars and brown dwarfs in Taurus and rho Ophiuchi. Using the Submillimeter Array (SMA) and the Combined Array for Research in Millimeter-wave Astronomy (CARMA), we have observed 4 targets at 1.3 mm wavelength (230 GHz) to search for CO J=2-->1 outflows. A young very low mass star MHO 5 (in Taurus) with an estimated mass of 90 M_J, which is just above the hydrogen-burning limit, shows two gas lobes that are likely outflows. While the CO map of MHO 5 does not show a clear structure of outflow, possibly due to environment g…
We report on Submillimeter Array observations of the 870 micron continuum and CO(3-2), 13CO(2-1) and C18O(2-1) line emission of a faint object, SMM2E, near the driving source of the HH797 outflow in the IC348 cluster. The continuum emission shows an unresolved source for which we estimate a mass of gas and dust of 30 Mjup, and the CO(3-2) line reveals a compact bipolar outflow centred on SMM2E, and barely seen also in 13CO(2-1). In addition, C18O(2-1) emission reveals hints of a possible rotating envelope/disk perpendicular to the outflow, for which we infer a dynamical mass of ~16 Mjup. In or…
Observations made using TESS revealed a sample of low mass stars which show a periodic modulation on a period $<0.2$~d. Surprisingly many of these Ultra Fast Rotating (UFR) stars showed no evidence of flare activity which would be expected from such rapidly rotating stars. We present results from a spectroscopic survey of UFRs using the Nordic Optical Telescope to search for radial velocity variations which could reveal evidence for binarity. Our sample of 29 sources have a photometric period between 0.1-0.2d, cover spectral classes of M0-4V, and show no evidence for flares. We detect only one…
Beyond the main sequence solar type stars undergo extensive mass loss, providing an environment where planet and brown dwarf companions interact with the surrounding material. To examine the interaction of substellar mass objects embedded in the stellar wind of an asymptotic giant branch (AGB) star, three dimensional hydrodynamical simulations at high resolution have been calculated utilizing the FLASH adaptive mesh refinement code. Attention is focused on the perturbation of the substellar mass objects on the morphology of the outflowing circumstellar matter. In particular, we determine the p…
We present a brief overview of a splinter session on determining the metallicity of low-mass dwarfs that was organized as part of the Cool Stars 16 conference. We review contemporary spectroscopic and photometric techniques for estimating metallicity in low-mass dwarfs and discuss the importance of measuring accurate metallicities for studies of Galactic and chemical evolution using subdwarfs, creating metallicity benchmarks for brown dwarfs, and searching for extrasolar planets that are orbiting around low--mass dwarfs. In addition, we present the current understanding of the effects of metal…
We report on I band photometric observations of 21 stars with spectral types between M8 and L4 made using the Isaac Newton Telescope. The total amount of time for observations which had a cadence of <2.3 mins was 58.5 hrs, with additional data with lower cadence. We test for photometric variability using the Kruskal-Wallis H-test and find that 4 sources (2MASS J10224821+5825453, 2MASS J07464256+2000321, 2MASS J16262034+3925190 and 2MASS J12464678+4027150) were found to be significantly variable at least on one epoch. Three of these sources are reported as photometrically variable for the first…
This paper presents our observational attempts to precisely measure the central mass of a proto-brown dwarf candidate, L328-IRS, in order to investigate whether L328-IRS is in the substellar mass regime. Observations were made for the central region of L328-IRS with the dust continuum and CO isotopologue line emission at ALMA band 6, discovering the detailed outflow activities and a deconvolved disk structure of a size of $\sim$87 AU $\times$ 37 AU. We investigated the rotational velocities as a function of the disk radius, finding that its motions between 130 AU and 60 AU are partially fitted…
Multiplicity is a key statistic for understanding the formation of very low mass (VLM) stars and brown dwarfs. Currently, the separation distribution of VLM binaries remains poorly constrained at small separations (<1 AU), leading to uncertainty in the overall binary fraction. We approach this problem by searching for late M/early L plus T dwarf spectral binaries whose combined light spectra exhibit distinct peculiarities, making their identification independent of separation. We define a set of spectral indices designed to identify these systems, and use a spectral template fitting method to …
Recent sub-millimetric observations at the Plateau de Bure interferometer evidenced a cavity at ~ 46 AU in radius into the proto-planetary disk around the T Tauri star LkCa15 (V1079 Tau), located in the Taurus molecular cloud. Additional Spitzer observations have corroborated this result possibly explained by the presence of a massive (>= 5 MJup) planetary mass, a brown dwarf or a low mass star companion at about 30 AU from the star. We used the most recent developments of high angular resolution and high contrast imaging to search directly for the existence of this putative companion, and to …
We report the discovery of a new Herbig-Haro jet, HH 1165, in SOAR narrow-band imaging of the vicinity of the sigma Orionis cluster. HH 1165 shows a spectacular extended and collimated spatial structure, with a projected length of 0.26 pc, a bent C-shaped morphology, multiple knots, and fragmented bow-shocks at the apparent ends of the flow. The Halpha image shows a bright halo with a clumpy distribution of material seen around the driving source, and curved reflection nebulosity tracing the outflow cavities. The driving source of HH 1165 is a Class I proto-brown dwarf, Mayrit 1701117 (M170111…
The VVV survey has observed the southern disk of the Milky Way in the near infrared, covering 240 deg$^{2}$ in the $ZYJHK_S$ filters. We search the VVV Survey images in a $\sim$19 deg$^{2}$ field around $α$ Centauri, the nearest stellar system to the Sun, to look for possible overlooked companions that the baseline in time of VVV would be able to uncover. The photometric depth of our search reaches $Y\sim$19.3 mag, $J\sim$19 mag, and $K_S\sim$17 mag. This search has yielded no new companions in $α$ Centauri system, setting an upper mass limit for any unseen companion well into the brown dwarf/…
Molecular outflows from very low-mass stars (VLMSs) and brown dwarfs (BDs) have been studied very little, and only a few objects have been directly imaged. Using VLT SINFONI K-band observations, we spatially resolved, for the first time, the H2 emission around IRS54, a ~0.1-0.2 Msun Class I source. The molecular emission shows a complex structure delineating a large outflow cavity and an asymmetric molecular jet. In addition, new [FeII] VLT ISAAC observations at 1.644um allowed us to discover the atomic jet counterpart which extends down to the central source. The outflow structure is similar …
As part of an ongoing collaboration between student groups at high schools and professional astronomers, we have searched for the presence of circum-binary planets in a bona-fide unbiased sample of twelve post-common envelope binaries (PCEBs) from the Catalina Sky Survey (CSS) and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). Although the present ephemerides are significantly more accurate than previous ones, we find no clear evidence for orbital period variations between 2005 and 2011 or during the 2011 observing season. The sparse long-term coverage still permits O-C variations with a period of years…
The formation mechanism of brown dwarfs (BDs) is one of the long-standing problems in star formation because the typical Jeans mass in molecular clouds is too large to form these substellar objects. To answer this question, it is crucial to study a BD at the embedded phase. IRAS 16253-2429 is classified as a very low luminosity object (VeLLO) with internal luminosity 0.1 Lsun. VeLLOs are believed to be very low-mass protostars or even proto-BDs. We observed the jet/outflow driven by IRAS 16253-2429 in CO (2-1), (6-5), and (7-6) using the IRAM 30 m and APEX telescopes and the SMA in order to st…
The science case on studies of accretion and outflows in low-mass ($<$1.5 $M_{\odot}$) young stellar objects (YSOs) with the new CUBES instrument is presented. We show the need for a high-sensitivity, near-ultraviolet (NUV) spectrograph like CUBES, with a resolving power at least four times that of X-Shooter and combined with UVES via a fibrelink for simultaneous observations. Simulations with the CUBES exposure time calculator and the end-to-end software show that a significant gain in signal-to -noise can be achieved compared to current instruments, for both the spectral continuum and emissi…
Luminous red novae (LRNe) are astrophysical transients believed to be caused by the partial ejection of a binary star's common envelope (CE) and the merger of its components. The formation of the CE is likely to occur during unstable mass transfer, initiated by a primary star which is evolving off the main sequence (a Hertzsprung gap star) and a lower mass companion. In agreement with observations, theoretical studies have shown that outflows from the pre-CE phase produce a detectable brightening of the progenitor system a few years before the ejection event. Based on these assumptions, we pre…
Molecular outflows from very low-mass stars (VLMSs) and brown dwarfs have been studied very little. So far, only a few CO outflows have been observed, allowing us to map the immediate circumstellar environment. We present the first spatially resolved H2 emission around IRS54 (YLW52), a ~0.1-0.2 Msun Class I source. By means of VLT SINFONI K-band observations, we probed the H2 emission down to the first ~50 AU from the source. The molecular emission shows a complex structure delineating a large outflow cavity and an asymmetric molecular jet. Thanks to the detection of several H2 transitions, we…
L-type and T-type dwarfs span the boundaries between main-sequence stars, brown dwarfs, and planetary-mass objects. For these reasons, L and T dwarfs are the perfect laboratories for exploring the relationship between planet formation and moon formation, and evidence suggests they may be swarming with close-in rocky satellites, though none have been found to date. The discovery of satellites orbiting L or T dwarfs will have transformative implications for the nature of planets, moons and even life in the Universe. These transiting satellites will be prime targets for characterization with NASA…
The Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) is a powerful tool for finding nearby brown dwarfs and searching for new planets in the outer solar system, especially with the incorporation of NEOWISE and NEOWISE-Reactivation data. So far, searches for brown dwarfs in WISE data have yet to take advantage of the full depth of the WISE images. To efficiently search this unexplored space via visual inspection, we have launched a new citizen science project, called "Backyard Worlds: Planet 9," which asks volunteers to examine short animations composed of difference images constructed from time-reso…
We present new far-ultraviolet observations of the young M8 brown dwarf 2MASS J12073346-3932539, which is surrounded by an accretion disk. The data were obtained using the Hubble Space Telescope-Cosmic Origins Spectrograph. Moderate resolution spectra (R~17,000-18,000) obtained in the 1150-1750 A and 2770-2830 A bandpasses reveal H2 emission excited by HI Ly$α$ photons, several ionization states of carbon (CI - CIV), and hot gas emission lines of HeII and NV (T ~ 10^4-5 K). Emission from some species that would be found in a typical thermal plasma at this temperature (SiII, SiIII, SiIV, and Mg…
Complex morphology and kinematics at the heart of the very low luminosity object IRAM 04191+1522
Maynooth University（梅努斯大学）；European Southern Observatory（欧洲南方天文台）；Centro de Astrobiología (CAB), CSIC-INTA（天体生物学中心（CAB），西班牙国家科学研究委员会-国家航空航天技术研究所）；Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía（安达卢西亚天体物理学研究所）
We present Atacama Large Millimeter-Submillimeter Array (ALMA) observations of CK Vulpeculae which is identified with "Nova Vulpeculae 1670". They trace obscuring dust in the inner regions of the associated nebulosity. The dust forms two cocoons, each extending ~5 arcsec north and south of the presumed location of the central star. Brighter emission is in a more compact east-west structure (2 arcsec by 1 arcsec) where the cocoons intersect. We detect line emission in NH$_2$CHO, CN, four organic molecules and C$^{17}$O. CN lines trace bubbles within the dusty cocoons; CH$_3$OH a north-south S-s…
Gravitational microlensing has the potential to provide direct gravitational masses of single, free-floating brown dwarfs, independent of evolutionary and atmospheric models. The proper motions and parallaxes of nearby brown dwarfs can be used to predict close future alignments with distant background stars that cause a microlensing event. Targeted astrometric follow up of the predicted microlensing events permits the brown dwarf's mass to be measured. Predicted microlensing events are typically found via searching for a peak threshold signal using an estimate of the lens mass. We develop a no…
Searching for Ultracool Dwarfs in Early LSST Data Products
University of Delaware（特拉华大学）；Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics & Cosmology, Stanford University（斯坦福大学卡弗里粒子天体物理与宇宙学研究所）；SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory（斯坦福直线加速器中心）；Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias（加那利群岛天体物理学研究所）；Universidad de La Laguna（拉帕鲁纳大学）
Using astrometric measurements obtained with the FORS2/VLT camera, we are searching for low-mass companions around 20 nearby ultracool dwarfs. With a single-measurement precision of 0.1 milli-arcseconds, our survey is sensitive to a wide range of companion masses from planetary companions to binary systems. Here, we report the discovery and orbit characterisation of a new ultracool binary at a distance of 19.5 pc from Earth that is composed of the M8.5-dwarf primary DE0630-18 and a substellar companion. The nearly edge-on orbit is moderately eccentric (e=0.23) with an orbital period of 1120 d,…
We conduct three-dimensional hydrodynamical simulations of energy deposition into the envelope of a red giant star as a result of the merger of two close main sequence stars or brown dwarfs, and show that the outcome is a highly non-spherical outflow. Such a violent interaction of a triple stellar system can explain the formation of `messy', i.e., lacking any kind of symmetry, planetary nebulae (PNe) and similar nebulae around evolved stars. We do not simulate the merging process, but simply assume that after the tight binary system enters the envelope of the giant star the interaction with th…
The birth and death of planets may be affected by mass outflows from their parent stars during the T-Tauri or post-main-sequence phases of stellar evolution. These outflows are often modelled to be isotropic, but this assumption is not realistic for fast rotators, bipolar jets and supernovae. Here we derive the general equations of motion for the time evolution of a single planet, brown dwarf, comet or asteroid perturbed by anisotropic mass loss in terms of a complete set of planetary orbital elements, the ejecta velocity, and the parent star's co-latitude and longitude. We restrict our applic…
In order to search for shocks in the very early stage of star formation, we performed single-point surveys of SiO J=1-0, 2-1 and 3-2 lines and the H$_2$CO $2_{12}-1_{11}$ line toward a sample of 100 high-mass starless clump candidates (SCCs) by using the Korean VLBI Network (KVN) 21-m radio telescopes. The detection rates of the SiO J=1-0, 2-1, 3-2 lines and the H$_2$CO line are $31.0\%$, $31.0\%$, $19.5\%$ and $93.0\%$, respectively. Shocks seem to be common in this stage of massive star formation. The widths of the observed SiO lines (full width at zero power (FWZP)) range from 3.4 to 55.1 k…
The last decade of direct imaging (DI) searches for sub-stellar companions has uncovered a widely diverse sample that challenges the current formation models, while highlighting the intrinsically low occurrence rate of wide companions, especially at the lower end of the mass distribution. These results clearly show how blind surveys, crucial to constrain the underlying planet and sub-stellar companion population, are not an efficient way to increase the sample of DI companions. It is therefore becoming clear that efficient target selection methods are essential to ensure a larger number of det…
In recent years there have been many attempts to characterize the occurrence of stellar, BD and planetary-mass companions to solar-type stars, with the aim of constraining formation mechanisms. From RV observations a dearth of companions with masses between 10-40 MJup has been noticed at close separations, suggesting the possibility of a distinct formation mechanism for objects above and below this range. We present a model for the substellar companion mass function (CMF). It consists of the superposition of the planet and BD companion mass distributions, assuming that we can extrapolate the R…
The presence of a close, low-mass companion is thought to play a substantial and perhaps necessary role in shaping post-Asymptotic Giant Branch and Planetary Nebula outflows. During post-main-sequence evolution, radial expansion of the primary star, accompanied by intense winds, can significantly alter the binary orbit via tidal dissipation and mass loss. To investigate this, we couple stellar evolution models (from the zero-age main-sequence through the end of the post-main sequence) to a tidal evolution code. The binary's fate is determined by the initial masses of the primary and the compan…
