PI Total time #CoIs, team Fernando Comerón 2n (ELT 42m) Not many people Low-mass brown dwarf...
5
PI Total time #CoIs, team Fernando Comerón 2n (ELT 42m) Not many people Low-mass brown dwarf formation in the Magellanic Clouds: A population long gone into obscurity in our neighbourhood The Magellanic Clouds are the only nearby place where low- metallicity, very low-mass brown dwarfs are accessible to observation. And the ELT will be the only telescope reaching the depth and resolution needed to reveal them.
-
Upload
stephen-lynch -
Category
Documents
-
view
213 -
download
0
Transcript of PI Total time #CoIs, team Fernando Comerón 2n (ELT 42m) Not many people Low-mass brown dwarf...
PI
Total time
#CoIs, team
Fernando Comerón
2n (ELT 42m)
Not many people
Low-mass brown dwarf formation in the Magellanic Clouds: A population long gone into obscurity in our neighbourhood
The Magellanic Clouds are the only nearby place where low-metallicity, very low-mass brown dwarfs are accessible to observation. And the ELT will be the only telescope reaching the depth and resolution needed to reveal them.
Scientific rationaleOur Galaxy may have produced huge numbers of low
metallicity, very low mass (a few MJup) brown dwarfs in its infancy –but they have faded beyond detection long since then: 10 MJup at 5 Gyr MK = 30.5, H-K=-7.2
However, we can watch them forming now in the LMC and SMC –if they form at all!
At K=28, Mlim = 6 MJup (1 Myr); 15 MJup (10 Myr); reachable in 2h at S/N>5 with a 42m ELT (similar times and limits for J, H).
A low-mass star forming cloud is only ~2’’across at the LMC distance LTAO can yield nearly diffraction-limited image cores of the whole cluster, reach very deep, and overcome confusion.
Immediate objectives- Observe low-mass SFR in the LMC and SMC. - Identify the lowest-mass objects from their position in
color-color-magnitude diagrams.- Spectroscopy of the brightest candidates is possible- Compare mass functions to galactic, solar metallicity
counterparts (we will know much more about those thanks to VISTA)
- Extrapolate numbers over the history of the Milky Way: how abundant are old, low-metallicity low-mass brown dwarfs?
- What if none is found? Is there a minimum mass threshold that depends on metallicity?
Run Target R.A. Dec. ToT Mag Notes
A LMC 5.4h -69˚ 5h <29 S/N > 3
B SMC 0.8h -72˚ 5h <29 S/N > 3
ELT Justification: milliarcsecond-level resolution is needed down to K ~ 28.
Legacy Value: Complete stellar and substellar IMFs in a low metallicity environment will be obtained.
Data Reduction: Not particularly challenging from this point of view –crowded field photometry?
Run MP Mode AO T. FOV Pixel Notes
A - Imaging LTAO 1n 2’’ 10 JHK Z = 0.3
B - Imaging LTAO 1n 2’’ 10 JHK Z = 0.1
