Abstract
Results of an extensive survey for wide companions around late-M and L dwarfs, using NASA's IRTF are presented. No companions have been detected thus far. We develop a Bayesian statistical approach to the study of the ultracool dwarf companion distribution. This Bayesian method is applied to the analysis of several extant surveys of ultracool dwarfs for companions. Our Bayesian results indicate that the companion distribution to ultracool dwarfs is fundamentally different from that of higher mass stars. In particular, we demonstrate, to ∼4σ, that the mass function of brown dwarf companions is different than the mass function of their primaries.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 385-388 |
| Number of pages | 4 |
| Journal | European Space Agency, (Special Publication) ESA SP |
| Issue number | 560 I |
| State | Published - 2005 |
| Event | 13th Cambridge Workshop on Cool Stars, Stellar Systems and the Sun - Hamburg, Germany Duration: Jul 5 2004 → Jul 9 2004 |
Keywords
- Brown dwarfs
- Stars: very low-mass
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Aerospace Engineering
- Space and Planetary Science