Whats the Deal with LowMass Stars Brown Dwarfs










- Slides: 10

What’s the Deal with Low-Mass Stars, Brown Dwarfs, and Planets? Kelle Cruz American Museum of Natural History

People Care About Planets


Low-Mass Stars, BDs, & Jupiter l l l All about same size as Jupiter L dwarfs can be either a stellar or sub-stellar. Both planets and brown dwarfs cool over time l Jupiter was a T dwarf in youth


Definition of Planet l In the Solar System (low mass) l l Sphericity Pluto Diameter Only 9 Discard altogether l Terrestrials, Jovians, etc. l Outside the Solar System (high mass) l l Orbits another body Formed in circumstellar disk rather than grav. collapse l l Difficult to observe Deuterium Burning l 13 MJupiter cutoff

Kuiper Belt Objects l Xena (2003 UB 313) l l Larger than Pluto (10 th Planet? ) Has a moon From Mike Brown’s website. l 2003 EL 61 l l l Has two moons 2005 FY 9 Both very bright and ¾ Pluto’s size. From Mike Brown’s website.

GQ Lup B l Primary l l T Tauri (young Sun) Secondary (“Planet”) l l Spectral type: M 9 -L 4 Mass: 1 -42 MJupiter

2 M 1207 B l Primary: l l l Secondary: l l young (8 Myr), active brown dwarf (M 8) 5 MJupiter, L 5 -L 9. 5 Too wide and too massive to have formed in a circumstellar disk.

In Closing l What the heck is a planet? l None of the proposed definitions take care of both mass ends at the same time. l Personally, I think time will tell but in the meantime, enjoy the spectacle! Provides a great way to engage the public l Signifies an exciting time in astronomy. l
Planets around LowMass Stars and Brown Dwarfs Michael
BROWN DWARFS Failed Stars of the Universe Stars
White Dwarfs and Neutron Stars White dwarfs Degenerate
White Dwarfs and Neutron Stars White dwarfs Degenerate
Quantum Stars degeneracy pressure white dwarfs neutron stars
Studying cool planets around distant lowmass stars Planet
Probing Jets and Disk Winds Toward LowMass Stars
Stars Distances To The Stars Stars are separated