NOAO > Observing Info > Approved Programs > 2013B-0526
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NOAO > Observing Info > Approved Programs > 2013B-0526 |
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PI: Trent Dupuy, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, tdupuy@cfa.harvard.edu
Address: 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
CoI: Jessica Lu, University of Hawaii (IfA)
CoI: Michael Liu, University of Hawaii (IfA)
CoI: William Best, University of Hawaii (IfA)
CoI: Eugene Magnier, University of Hawaii (IfA)
Title: Uncovering a New Population of Brown Dwarf Binaries with GeMS Astrometry
Abstract:
Brown dwarfs provide key laboratories for understanding the evolution and
atmospheres of low-luminosity objects. The transition between the L and T
spectral class remains one of the long-standing puzzles in this field, as
highlighted by the discovery of similar atmospheres around directly imaged
extrasolar planets. We propose to use GeMS to investigate a newly identified
population of candidate binaries spanning the L/T transition. By measuring
the photocenter position as a function of wavelength compared to background
stars, GeMS will allow us to achieve an order of magnitude increase in
angular resolution over traditional AO imaging, as verified by our analysis
of on-sky data. Our program will enable discovery of very short period
binaries, uniquely suited for increasing the number of dynamical mass
measurements in the very near-term. In addition, we will identify the truly
single objects with peculiar heterogenous photospheres, which will serve as
ideal systems for understanding cloud evolution at the L/T transition.
National Optical Astronomy Observatory, 950 North Cherry Avenue, P.O. Box 26732, Tucson, Arizona 85726, Phone: (520) 318-8000, Fax: (520) 318-8360
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NOAO > Observing Info > Approved Programs > 2013B-0526 |
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