Ultracool Subdwarfs: The Halo Population Down to the Substellar Limit

Burgasser, Adam J.; Lépine, Sebastién; Lodieu, Nicolas; Scholz, Ralf-Dieter; Delorme, Phillippe; Jao, Wei-Chun; Swift, Brandon J.; Cushing, Michael C.
Bibliographical reference

COOL STARS, STELLAR SYSTEMS AND THE SUN: Proceedings of the 15th Cambridge Workshop on Cool Stars, Stellar Systems and the Sun. AIP Conference Proceedings, Volume 1094, pp. 242-249 (2009).

Advertised on:
2
2009
Number of authors
8
IAC number of authors
1
Citations
6
Refereed citations
5
Description
Ultracool subdwarfs are low luminosity, late-type M and L dwarfs that exhibit spectroscopic indications of subsolar metallicity and halo kinematics. Their recent discovery and ongoing investigation have led to new insights into the role of metallicity in the opacity structure, chemistry (e.g. dust formation) and evolution of low-temperature atmospheres; the long-term evolution of magnetic activity and angular momentum amongst the lowest-mass stars; the form of the halo luminosity and mass functions down to the hydrogen-burning mass limit; and even fundamental issues such as spectral classification and absolute brightness scales. This Splinter Session was devoted to bringing advances in observational and theoretical ultracool subdwarf research to the attention of the low-mass stellar and brown dwarf communities, as well as to share results among ultracool subdwarf enthusiasts.