Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
2003-02-25
Astron.J.125:3302-3310,2003
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
To appear in June 2003 Astronomical Journal
Scientific paper
10.1086/374991
We present analysis of Hubble Space Telescope images of 82 nearby field late-M and L dwarfs. We resolve 13 of these systems into double M/L dwarf systems and identify an additional possible binary. Combined with previous observations of 20 L dwarfs, we derive an observed binary fraction for ultracool dwarfs of 17+4-3%, where the statistics included systems with separations in the range 1.6-16 A.U. We argue that accounting for biases and incompleteness leads to an estimated binary fraction 15+-5% in the range 1.6-16 A.U. No systems wider than 16 A.U. are seen, implying that the wide companion frequency is less than 1.7%; the distribution of orbital separation is peaked at ~2-4 A.U. and differs greatly from the G dwarf binary distribution. Indirect evidence suggests that the binary fraction is ~5+-3% for separations less than 1.6 A.U. We find no evidence for differences in the binary fraction between stellar late-M and L dwarfs and substellar L dwarfs. We note, however, that the widest (>10 A.U.) systems in our sample are all of earlier (M8-L0) spectral type; a larger sample is needed determine if this is a real effect. One system with a spectral type of L7 has a secondary that is fainter in the HST F814W filter but brighter in F1042M; we argue that this secondary is an early-T dwarf.
Burgasser Adam Jonathan
Gizis John E.
Kirkpatrick Joseph D.
Knapp Gillan R.
Koerner David William
No associations
LandOfFree
Hubble Space Telescope Observations of Binary Very-Low-Mass Stars and Brown Dwarfs does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.
If you have personal experience with Hubble Space Telescope Observations of Binary Very-Low-Mass Stars and Brown Dwarfs, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Hubble Space Telescope Observations of Binary Very-Low-Mass Stars and Brown Dwarfs will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-482392