Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Jul 1996
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1996hst..prop.6764b&link_type=abstract
HST Proposal ID #6764
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Hst Proposal Id #6764 Cool Stars
Scientific paper
This is a continuation proposal. We know of 188 M dwarfs within 10 parsecs, yet there are very few mass determinations for these faintest and most common stellar constituents of our Galaxy. Additional low-mass binaries are badly needed to determine better the mass-luminosity relation at the lower end of the main sequence. Furthermore, no unambiguous brown dwarfs have been identified, though theory would predict that they exist in great numbers. Nearby M dwarfs provide an ideal hunting ground for low-mass secondaries, whether they are stellar or substellar. Companions can be detected in short- period orbits that can be mapped with a small investment of telescope time, allowing each object's mass to be determined. The identification and follow-up of brown dwarfs and very low mass stars provides insight into such diverse problems as the {purported} galactic missing mass and the formation of stellar and planetary systems. Using HST Fine Guidance Sensor 3, we will acquire POS and TRANS mode observations of one M dwarf primaries with suspected, very low-mass secondaries. TRANS mode observations {0sec point010 resolution} will either confirm these companions or allow more stringent upper mass estimates to be made for unresolved companions. POS mode observations for the targets will provide more precise determinations of astrometric perturbations and will, in fact, be capable of detecting companions down to 0.01 Msun, the regime of high-mass planets.
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