Spitzer Verification of the Coldest WISE-selected Brown Dwarfs

Details Spitzer Verification of the Coldest WISE-selected Brown Dwarfs Spitzer Verification of the Coldest WISE-selected Brown Dwarfs

Jun 2010

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2010sptz.prop70062k&link_type=abstract

Spitzer Proposal ID #70062

Physics

Scientific paper

We will use data from WISE to search for brown dwarfs colder than those currently known. The discovery and subsequent study of low-temperature brown dwarfs will expand our knowledge of the low-mass end of the 'stellar' mass function and of the physics of low-Teff, high-pressure atmospheres, the latter of which is important in characterizing exoplanets. Spitzer is an important component in the WISE discovery process because it is the only observatory capable of providing deeper imaging in the same wavelength range used by WISE to select candidates (3-5 um). Our WISE selection process uses the W1 (3.4 um) and W2 (4.6 um) color to identify brown dwarf candidates; the resulting, red W1-W2 colors are indicative of deep methane absorption at 3.3 um. For our coldest sources, which are the most important for deciphering the low-mass cutoff of star formation, these will be color limits because the candidate is undetected in W1. Spitzer can easily provide much deeper imaging and measure robust ch1-ch2 colors, which are complementary to W1-W2. The reddest of these sources will also be the faintest since they are expected to be the coldest ones in the list. For these, near-infrared spectroscopy will be impossible from the ground, so we also ask for HST time with WFC3 to obtain low-resolution grism spectra over the 1.1-1.7 um range to confirm these as brown dwarfs.

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