Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
May 1998
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1998aj....115.2074b&link_type=abstract
The Astronomical Journal, Volume 115, Issue 5, pp. 2074-2091.
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
129
Stars: Evolution, Stars: Formation, Stars: Low-Mass, Brown Dwarfs
Scientific paper
We present the initial results of a deep CCD survey for very low mass pre-main-sequence (PMS) stars in selected fields of the Taurus molecular cloud complex. The results reported herein span a little over half a square degree in the dark clouds L1495, L1529, L1551, and B209. Our survey is complete down to I_C ~ 19 at (R - I)_C ~ 2.5, which enables us to probe well below the hydrogen burning limit at 1-2 Myr. From follow-up spectroscopic observations we have identified nine new low-mass T Tauri stars (TTSs). A large fraction of the new PMS objects (5/9) have very low masses as inferred from their late spectral types (>=M5), and comparison with recent evolutionary tracks and Pleiades brown dwarfs suggests that our M6-M6.5 new TTSs are very young brown dwarfs. Two of the new TTSs may constitute a new, moderately embedded, binary classical T Tauri system. The new young stars represent a ~38% increase in the known PMS population of our survey area and a factor of ~2 increase in the number of known late-type TTSs. In spite of our sensitivity, we detect no young stars with spectral types later than ~M7. Our results illustrate the importance of spectroscopy in eliminating foreground M stars. Observations reported in this paper were obtained at the Multiple Mirror Telescope Observatory, a facility operated jointly by the University of Arizona and the Smithsonian Institution.
Briceno Cesar
Hartmann Lee
Martin Eduardo
Stauffer John
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