Galactic Diversity: The Many Colors of Brown Dwarfs
Adam Burgasser
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Just over a decade ago, astronomers detected the first examples of brown
dwarfs, low-mass objects that bridge the gap between hydrogen-burning
stars and giant gas planets. Since then, hundreds of these intrinsically
cold and dim sources have been identified in the vicinity of the Sun, in
young clusters and associations, and as companions to nearby stars. With
great numbers have come the realization of great diversity in the empirical
properties of the brown dwarf population, with an associated enrichening
of our astrophysical understanding of these sources. In this talk I will
review how astronomers are now distinguishing whole subclasses of brown
dwarfs, and what these subclasses reveal about the cloud properties,
ages and multiplicity of the lowest mass stars.
Date: | Mardi, le 4 novembre 2008 |
Heure: | 16:00 |
Lieu: | Université McGill |
| Ernest Rutherford Physics Building, R.E. Bell Conference Room (room 103) |
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