Very low mass stars and substellar objects in the pleiades

D. M. Williams, R. P. Boyle, W. T. Morgan, G. H. Rieke, J. R. Stauffer, M. J. Rieke

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

15 Scopus citations

Abstract

We have identified a small number of faint, red stars in optical and infrared frames taken near the center of the Pleiades cluster. The sampled masses range from 0.25 to 0.04 M⊙. The Pleiades mass function in linear units is consistent with a M-1 power law or with a flat dependence in logarithmic mass units. This dependence is consistent with studies of other young open clusters and suggests that massive brown dwarfs and low-mass stars do not contribute significantly to the dark matter.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)238-246
Number of pages9
JournalAstrophysical Journal
Volume464
Issue number1 PART I
DOIs
StatePublished - 1996

Keywords

  • Dark matter
  • Open clusters and associations: individual (Pleiades)
  • Stars: low-mass, brown dwarfs
  • Stars: luminosity function, mass function

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Astronomy and Astrophysics
  • Space and Planetary Science

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