Bibcode
Leggett, S.; Pinfield, David; Ruiz, Maria Teresa; Marley, Mark; Saumon, Didier; Morley, Caroline; Gomes, Joana; Day-Jones, Avril; Gromadzki, Mariusz; Kurtev, Radostin; Lodieu, N.; Smart, Ricky; Faherty, Jackie
Bibliographical reference
NOAO Proposal ID #2014A-0535
Advertised on:
2
2014
Citations
0
Refereed citations
0
Description
We propose to continue our near-IR followup of ultracool dwarf
candidates in the WISE survey. We identify candidate late-T and Y dwarfs
at the faint limits of the survey by using WISE multiple measurements
and photometric profile fits to identify non-variable point sources
detected only in W2. Photometry at J identifies likely cool objects, and
H is measured for confirmation. Spectroscopy is then obtained of the
probable T9-Y dwarfs. In followup to date, we find about half the
W2-only sources are brown dwarfs cooler than 700K (>T8), about 40%
are warmer brown dwarfs, and about 10% are contaminants. In 13B we were
awarded time to followup 60 candidates. In 14A we will obtain additional
data on 30 13B targets of interest, plus 17 new sources. We have already
increased the number of WISE T9-Y dwarf by 30%, and expect to double the
number of 400K Y dwarfs when Gemini followup of the 13B and 14A samples
is complete. This work allows the WISE mission to reach its full
potential for one of its key goals: discovery of the nearest and coolest
brown dwarfs.