Monday, 2nd June at 3.30pm at the JAC
Nige Hambly
University of Edinburgh IfA
"The substellar Initial Mass Function from the UKIRT Infrared Deep
Sky Survey (UKIDSS)"
ABSTRACT:
One of the fundamental questions in star formation astrophysics concerns
the spectrum of masses that results from the process - is there a
single, universal mass spectrum? There are also secondary questions concerning
the effects that environment and metallicity. While there
have been many studies that accurately measure the mass function in
the stellar hydrogen burning regime, it is much more difficult to do the
same in the brown dwarf regime. Moreover, the emerging shape of the
mass spectrum indicates that a full answer to the question can only be
given once the substellar mass ranges have been probed.
In this talk I will describe how the UKIDSS Galactic Clusters
Survey (GCS) is progressing towards it's primary goal of determining the
substellar mass spectrum in a variety of clusters and star formation
regions well into the brown dwarf regime, and how these new
observations are enabling us to progress towards answers to some of
these questions.
Relevant web site:
UKIDSS Homepage
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