arXiv subjects

J. D. Kirkpatrick

Publications and source records attributed to J. D. Kirkpatrick.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2024

The Gaia Ultracool Dwarf Sample -- IV. GTC/OSIRIS optical spectra of Gaia late-M and L dwarfs

As part of our comprehensive, ongoing characterisation of the low-mass end of the main sequence in the Solar neighbourhood, we used the OSIRIS instrument at the 10.4 m Gran Telescopio Canarias to acquire low- and mid-resolution (R$\approx$300 and R$\approx$2500) optical spectroscopy of 53 late-M and L ultracool dwarfs. Most of these objects are known but poorly investigated and lacking complete kinematics. We measured spectral indices, determined spectral types (six of which are new) and inferred effective temperature and surface gravity from BT-Settl synthetic spectra fits for all objects. We were able to measure radial velocities via line centre fitting and cross correlation for 46 objects, 29 of which lacked previous radial velocity measurements. Using these radial velocities in combination with the latest Gaia DR3 data, we also calculated Galactocentric space velocities. From their kinematics, we identified two candidates outside of the thin disc and four in young stellar kinematic groups. Two further ultracool dwarfs are apparently young field objects: 2MASSW J1246467$+$402715 (L4$β$), which has a potential, weak lithium absorption line, and G 196$-$3B (L3$β$), which was already known as young due to its well-studied primary companion.

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arXiv2023

Young Stellar Object Candidates in IC 417

IC 417 is in the Galactic Plane, and likely part of the Aur OB2 association; it is ~2 kpc away. Stock 8 is one of the densest cluster constituents; off of it to the East, there is a 'Nebulous Stream' (NS) that is dramatic in the infrared (IR). We have assembled a list of literature-identified young stellar objects (YSOs), new candidate YSOs from the NS, and new candidate YSOs from IR excesses. We vetted this list via inspection of the images, spectral energy distributions (SEDs), and color-color/color-magnitude diagrams. We placed the 710 surviving YSOs and candidate YSOs in ranked bins, nearly two-thirds of which have more than 20 points defining their SEDs. The lowest-ranked bins include stars that are confused, or likely carbon stars. There are 503 in the higher-ranked bins; half are SED Class III, and $\sim$40\% are SED Class II. Our results agree with the literature in that we find that the NS and Stock 8 are at about the same distance as each other (and as the rest of the YSOs), and that the NS is the youngest region, with Stock 8 a little older. We do not find any evidence for an age spread within the NS, consistent with the idea that the star formation trigger came from the north. We do not find that the other literature-identified clusters here are as young as either the NS or Stock 8; at best they are older than Stock 8, and they may not all be legitimate clusters.

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arXiv2016

Spitzer Space Telescope Mid-IR Light Curves of Neptune

We have used the Spitzer Space Telescope in February 2016 to obtain high cadence, high signal-to-noise, 17-hour duration light curves of Neptune at 3.6 and 4.5 $μ$m. The light curve duration was chosen to correspond to the rotation period of Neptune. Both light curves are slowly varying with time, with full amplitudes of 1.1 mag at 3.6 $μ$m and 0.6 mag at 4.5 $μ$m. We have also extracted sparsely sampled 18-hour light curves of Neptune at W1 (3.4 $μ$m) and W2 (4.6 $μ$m) from the WISE/NEOWISE archive at six epochs in 2010-2015. These light curves all show similar shapes and amplitudes compared to the Spitzer light curves but with considerable variation from epoch to epoch. These amplitudes are much larger than those observed with Kepler/K2 in the visible (amplitude $\sim$0.02 mag) or at 845 nm with the Hubble Space Telescope in 2015 and at 763 nm in 2016 (amplitude $\sim$ 0.2 mag). We interpret the Spitzer and WISE light curves as arising entirely from reflected solar photons, from higher levels in Neptune's atmosphere than for K2. Methane gas is the dominant opacity source in Neptune's atmosphere, and methane absorption bands are present in the HST 763, and 845 nm, WISE W1, and Spitzer 3.6 $μ$m filters.

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arXiv2016

Observed Variability at 1um and 4um in the Y0 Brown Dwarf WISEP J173835.52+273258.9

We have monitored photometrically the Y0 brown dwarf WISEP J173835.52+273258.9 (W1738) at both near- and mid-infrared wavelengths. This ~1 Gyr-old 400K dwarf is at a distance of 8pc and has a mass around 5 M_Jupiter. We observed W1738 using two near-infrared filters at lambda~1um, Y and J, on Gemini observatory, and two mid-infrared filters at lambda~4um, [3.6] and [4.5], on the Spitzer observatory. Twenty-four hours were spent on the source by Spitzer on each of June 30 and October 30 2013 UT. Between these observations, around 5 hours were spent on the source by Gemini on each of July 17 and August 23 2013 UT. The mid-infrared light curves show significant evolution between the two observations separated by four months. We find that a double sinusoid can be fit to the [4.5] data, where one sinusoid has a period of 6.0 +/- 0.1 hours and the other a period of 3.0 +/- 0.1 hours. The near-infrared observations suggest variability with a ~3.0 hour period, although only at a <~2 sigma confidence level. We interpret our results as showing that the Y dwarf has a 6.0 +/- 0.1 hour rotation period, with one or more large-scale surface features being the source of variability. The peak-to-peak amplitude of the light curve at [4.5] is 3%. The amplitude of the near-infrared variability, if real, may be as high as 5 to 30%. Intriguingly, this size of variability and the wavelength dependence can be reproduced by atmospheric models that include patchy KCl and Na_2S clouds and associated small changes in surface temperature. The small number of large features, and the timescale for evolution of the features, is very similar to what is seen in the atmospheres of the solar system gas giants.

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arXiv2016

The Spitzer-IRAC/MIPS Extragalactic survey (SIMES) in the South Ecliptic Pole field

We present the Spitzer-IRAC/MIPS Extragalactic survey (SIMES) in the South Ecliptic Pole (SEP) field. The large area covered (7.7 deg$^2$), together with one of the lowest Galactic cirrus emissions in the entire sky and a very extensive coverage by Spitzer, Herschel, Akari, and GALEX, make the SIMES field ideal for extragalactic studies. The elongated geometry of the SIMES area ($\approx$4:1), allowing for a significant cosmic variance reduction, further improves the quality of statistical studies in this field. Here we present the reduction and photometric measurements of the Spitzer/IRAC data. The survey reaches a depth of 1.93 and 1.75 $μ$Jy (1$σ$) at 3.6 and 4.5 $μ$m, respectively. We discuss the multiwavelength IRAC--based catalog, completed with optical, mid-- and far--IR observations. We detect 341,000 sources with F$_{3.6μm} \geq 3σ$. Of these, 10% have an associated 24 $μ$m counterpart, while 2.7% have an associated SPIRE source. We release the catalog through the NASA/IPAC Infrared Science Archive (IRSA). Two scientific applications of these IRAC data are presented in this paper: first we compute integral number counts at 3.6 $μ$m. Second, we use the [3.6]--[4.5] color index to identify galaxy clusters at z$>$1.3. We select 27 clusters in the full area, a result consistent with previous studies at similar depth.

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arXiv2015

Radial Velocity Variability of Field Brown Dwarfs

We present paper six of the NIRSPEC Brown Dwarf Spectroscopic Survey, an analysis of multi-epoch, high-resolution (R~20,000) spectra of 25 field dwarf systems (3 late-type M dwarfs, 16 L dwarfs, and 6 T dwarfs) taken with the NIRSPEC infrared spectrograph at the W. M. Keck Observatory. With a radial velocity precision of ~2 km/s, we are sensitive to brown dwarf companions in orbits with periods of a few years or less given a mass ratio of 0.5 or greater. We do not detect any spectroscopic binary brown dwarfs in the sample. Given our target properties, and the frequency and cadence of observations, we use a Monte Carlo simulation to determine the detection probability of our sample. Even with a null detection result, our 1 sigma upper limit for very low mass binary frequency is 18%. Our targets included 7 known, wide brown dwarf binary systems. No significant radial velocity variability was measured in our multi-epoch observations of these systems, even for those pairs for which our data spanned a significant fraction of the orbital period. Specialized techniques are required to reach the high precisions sensitive to motion in orbits of very low-mass systems. For eight objects, including six T dwarfs, we present the first published high-resolution spectra, many with high signal to noise, that will provide valuable comparison data for models of brown dwarf atmospheres.

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arXiv2010

The WIRED Survey I: A Bright IR Excess Due to Dust Around the Heavily Polluted White Dwarf GALEX J193156.8+011745

With the launch of the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), a new era of detecting planetary debris around white dwarfs has begun with the WISE InfraRed Excesses around Degenerates (WIRED) Survey. The WIRED Survey will be sensitive to substellar objects and dusty debris around white dwarfs out to distances exceeding 100 pc, well beyond the completeness level of local WDs and covering a large fraction of known WDs detected with the SDSS DR4 white dwarf catalogue. In this paper we report an initial result of the WIRED survey, the detection of the heavily polluted hydrogen white dwarf (spectral type DAZ) GALEX J193156.8+011745 at 3.35 and 4.6 \micron. We find that the excess is consistent with either a narrow dusty ring with an inner radius of 29 $R_{\rm WD}$, outer radius of 40 $R_{\rm WD}$, and a face-on inclination, or a disk with an inclination of 70$^\circ$, an inner radius of 23 $R_{\rm WD}$, and an outer radius of 80 $R_{\rm WD}$. We also report initial optical spectroscopic monitoring of several metal lines present in the photosphere and find no variability in the line strengths or radial velocities of the lines. We rule out all but planetary mass companions to GALEX1931 out to 0.5 AU.

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arXiv2009

2MASS J06164006-6407194: The First Outer Halo L Subdwarf

We present the serendipitous discovery of an L subdwarf, 2MASS J06164006-6407194, in a search of the Two Micron All Sky Survey for T dwarfs. Its spectrum exhibits features indicative of both a cool and metal poor atmosphere including a heavily pressured-broadened K I resonant doublet, Cs I and Rb I lines, molecular bands of CaH, TiO, CrH, FeH, and H2O, and enhanced collision induced absorption of H2. We assign 2MASS 0616-6407 a spectral type of sdL5 based on a comparison of its red optical spectrum to that of near solar-metallicity L dwarfs. Its high proper motion (mu =1.405+-0.008 arcsec yr-1), large radial velocity (Vrad = 454+-15 km s-1), estimated uvw velocities (94, -573, 125) km s-1 and Galactic orbit with an apogalacticon at ~29 kpc are indicative of membership in the outer halo making 2MASS 0616-6407 the first ultracool member of this population.

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arXiv2009

The Physical Properties of Four ~600K T Dwarfs

We present Spitzer 7.6-14.5um spectra of ULAS J003402.77-005206.7 and ULAS J133553.45+113005.2, two T9 dwarfs with the latest spectral types currently known. We fit synthetic spectra and photometry to the near- through mid-infrared energy distributions of these dwarfs and that of the T8 dwarf 2MASS J09393548-2448279. We also analyse near-infrared data for another T9, CFBD J005910.82-011401.3. We find that the ratio of the mid- to near-infrared fluxes is very sensitive to effective temperature at these low temperatures, and that the 2.2 and 4.5um fluxes are sensitive to metallicity and gravity; there is a degeneracy between these parameters. The 4.5 and 10um fluxes are also sensitive to vertical transport of gas through the atmosphere, which we find to be significant for these dwarfs. The full near- through mid-infrared spectral energy distribution allows us to constrain the effective temperature (K)/gravity (m/s2)/metallicity ([m/H] dex) of ULAS J0034-00 and ULAS J1335+11 to 550-600/ 100-300/ 0.0-0.3 and 500-550/ 100-300/ 0.0-0.3, respectively. These fits imply low masses and young ages for the dwarfs of 5-20 M(Jup) and 0.1-2 Gyr. The fits to 2MASS J0939-24 are in good agreement with the measured distance, the observational data, and the earlier T8 near-infrared spectral type if it is a slightly metal-poor 4-10 Gyr old system consisting of a 500 and 700K, ~25 and ~40 M(Jup), pair, although it is also possible that it is an identical pair of 600K, 30 M(Jup), dwarfs. As no mid-infrared data are available for CFBD J0059-01 its properties are less well constrained; nevertheless it appears to be a 550-600K dwarf with g= 300-2000 m/s2 and [m/H]= 0-0.3 dex. These properties correspond to mass and age ranges of 10-50 M(Jup) and 0.5-10 Gyr for this dwarf.

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arXiv2008

Discovery of a T Dwarf Binary with the Largest Known J-Band Flux Reversal

We present Keck laser guide star observations of two T2.5 dwarfs - 2MASS J11061197+2754225 & 2MASS J14044941-3159329 - using NIRC2 on Keck-II and find 2MASS J14044941-3159329 to be a 0.13" binary. This system has a secondary that is 0.45 mags brighter than the primary in J-band but 0.49 mags fainter in H-band and 1.13 mags fainter in Ks-band. We use this relative photometry along with near-infrared synthetic modeling performed on the integrated light spectrum to derive component types of T1 for the primary and T5 for the secondary. Optical spectroscopy of this system obtained with Magellan/LDSS-3 is also presented. This is the fourth L/T transition binary to show a flux reversal in the 1-1.2 micron regime and this one has the largest flux reversal. Unless the secondary is itself an unresolved binary, the J-band magnitude difference between the secondary and primary shows that the J-band "bump" is indeed a real feature and not an artifact caused by unresolved binarity.

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arXiv2006

Mid-Infrared Selection of Brown Dwarfs and High-Redshift Quasars

We discuss color selection of rare objects in a wide-field, multiband survey spanning from the optical to the mid-infrared. Simple color criteria simultaneously identify and distinguish two of the most sought after astrophysical sources: the coolest brown dwarfs and the most distant quasars. We present spectroscopically-confirmed examples of each class identified in the IRAC Shallow Survey of the Bootes field of the NOAO Deep Wide-Field Survey. ISS J142950.9+333012 is a T4.5 brown dwarf at a distance of approximately 42 pc, and ISS J142738.5+331242 is a radio-loud quasar at redshift z=6.12. Our selection criteria identify a total of four candidates over 8 square degrees of the Bootes field. The other two candidates are both confirmed 5.5<z<6 quasars, previously reported by Cool et al. (2006). We discuss the implications of these discoveries and conclude that there are excellent prospects for extending such searches to cooler brown dwarfs and higher redshift quasars.

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arXiv2006

A Spitzer Infrared Spectrograph (IRS) Spectral Sequence of M, L, and T Dwarfs

We present a low-resolution (R = 90), 5.5-38 micron spectral sequence of a sample of M, L, and T dwarfs obtained with the Infrared Spectrograph (IRS) onboard the Spitzer Space Telescope. The spectra exhibit prominent absorption bands of H_2O at 6.27 microns, CH_4 at 7.65 microns, and NH_3 at 10.5 microns and are relatively featureless at lambda > 15 microns. Three spectral indices that measure the strengths of these bands are presented; H_2O absorption features are present throughout the MLT sequence while the CH_4 and NH_3 bands first appear at roughly the L/T transition. Although the spectra are, in general, qualitatively well matched by synthetic spectra that include the formation of spatially homogeneous silicate and iron condensate clouds, the spectra of the mid-type L dwarfs show an unexpected flattening from roughly 9 to 11 microns. We hypothesize that this may be a result of a population of small silicate grains that are not predicted in the cloud models. The spectrum of the peculiar T6 dwarf 2MASS J0937+2931 is suppressed from 5.5-7.5 microns relative to typical T6 dwarfs and may be a consequence of its mildly metal-poor/high surface gravity atmosphere. Finally, we compute bolometric luminosities of a subsample of the M, L, and T dwarfs by combining the IRS spectra with previously published 0.6-4.1 micron spectra and find good agreement with the values of Golimowski et al. who use L'- and M'-band photometry and to account for the flux emitted at lambda > 2.5 microns.

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arXiv2004

Spitzer Infrared Spectrograph Observations of M, L, and T Dwarfs

We present the first mid-infrared spectra of brown dwarfs, together with observations of a low-mass star. Our targets are the M3.5 dwarf GJ 1001A, the L8 dwarf DENIS-P J0255-4700, and the T1/T6 binary system epsilon Indi Ba/Bb. As expected, the mid-infrared spectral morphology of these objects changes rapidly with spectral class due to the changes in atmospheric chemistry resulting from their differing effective temperatures and atmospheric structures. By taking advantage of the unprecedented sensitivity of the Infrared Spectrograph on the Spitzer Space Telescope we have detected the 7.8 micron methane and 10 micron ammonia bands for the first time in brown dwarf spectra.

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arXiv2004

Meeting the Cool Neighbors VIII: A preliminary 20-parsec census from the NLTT catalogue

Continuing our census of late-type dwarfs in the Solar Neighbourhood, we present BVRI photometry and optical spectroscopy of 800 mid-type M dwarfs drawn from the NLTT proper motion catalogue. The targets are taken from both our own cross-referencing of the NLTT catalogue and the 2MASS Second Incremental release, and from the revised NLTT compiled by Salim & Gould (2003). All are identified as nearby-star candidates based on their location in the (m_r, (m_r-K_S)) diagram. Three hundred stars discussed here have previous astrometric, photometric or spectroscopic observations. We present new BVRI photometry for 101 stars, together with low resolution spectroscopy of a further 400 dwarfs. In total, we find that 241 stars are within 20 parsecs of the Sun, while a further 70 lie within 1-sigma of our distance limit. Combining the present results with previous analyses, we have quantitative observations for 1910 of the 1913 candidates in our NLTT nearby-star samples. Eight hundred and fifteen of those stars have distance estimates of 20 parsecs or less, including 312 additions to the local census. With our NLTT follow-up observations essentially complete, we have searched the literature for K and early-type M dwarfs within the sampling volume covered by the 2MASS Second Release. Comparing the resultant 20-parsec census against predicted numbers, derived from the 8-parsec luminosity function, shows an overall deficit of ~20% for stellar systems and ~35% for individual stars. Almost all are likely to be fainter than M_J=7, and at least half are probably companions of known nearby stars. Our results suggest that there are relatively few missing systems at the lowest luminosities, M_J > 8.5. We discuss possible means of identifying the missing stars.

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arXiv2003

Serendipitous Discovery and Parallax of a Nearby L Dwarf

A field star serendipitously observed in a parallax program proved to have a proper motion of 562 mas/yr and a parallax of 82 +- 2 mas. The star is identified with 2MASS J07003664+3157266. A Keck LRIS spectrum shows its spectral type to be L3.5, as expected from its infrared and optical colors and absolute magnitude. This object had not been previously recognized as an L dwarf, perhaps because of crowding at its relatively low Galactic latitude (b = +15.8 degrees).

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arXiv2003

Hubble Space Telescope Observations of Binary Very-Low-Mass Stars and Brown Dwarfs

We present analysis of Hubble Space Telescope images of 82 nearby field late-M and L dwarfs. We resolve 13 of these systems into double M/L dwarf systems and identify an additional possible binary. Combined with previous observations of 20 L dwarfs, we derive an observed binary fraction for ultracool dwarfs of 17+4-3%, where the statistics included systems with separations in the range 1.6-16 A.U. We argue that accounting for biases and incompleteness leads to an estimated binary fraction 15+-5% in the range 1.6-16 A.U. No systems wider than 16 A.U. are seen, implying that the wide companion frequency is less than 1.7%; the distribution of orbital separation is peaked at ~2-4 A.U. and differs greatly from the G dwarf binary distribution. Indirect evidence suggests that the binary fraction is ~5+-3% for separations less than 1.6 A.U. We find no evidence for differences in the binary fraction between stellar late-M and L dwarfs and substellar L dwarfs. We note, however, that the widest (>10 A.U.) systems in our sample are all of earlier (M8-L0) spectral type; a larger sample is needed determine if this is a real effect. One system with a spectral type of L7 has a secondary that is fainter in the HST F814W filter but brighter in F1042M; we argue that this secondary is an early-T dwarf.

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arXiv2002

Astrometry and Photometry for Cool Dwarfs and Brown Dwarfs

Trigonometric parallax determinations are presented for 28 late type dwarfs and brown dwarfs, including eight M dwarfs with spectral types between M7 and M9.5, 17 L dwarfs with spectral types between L0 and L8, and three T dwarfs. Broadband photometry at CCD wavelengths (VRIz) and/or near-IR wavelengths (JHK) are presented for these objects and for 24 additional late-type dwarfs. Supplemented with astrometry and photometry from the literature, including ten L and two T dwarfs with parallaxes established by association with bright, usually HIPPARCOS primaries, this material forms the basis for studying various color-color and color-absolute magnitude relations. The I-J color is a good predictor of absolute magnitude for late-M and L dwarfs. M_J becomes monotonically fainter with I-J color and with spectral type through late-L dwarfs, then brightens for early-T dwarfs. The combination of zJK colors alone can be used to classify late-M, early-L, and T dwarfs accurately, and to predict their absolute magnitudes, but is less effective at untangling the scatter among mid- and late-L dwarfs. The mean tangential velocity of these objects is found to be slightly less than that for dM stars in the solar neighborhood, consistent with a sample with a mean age of several Gyr. Using colors to estimate bolometric corrections, and models to estimate stellar radii, effective temperatures are derived. The latest L dwarfs are found to have T_eff ~ 1360 K.

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arXiv2002

A Near-Infrared Wide-Field Proper Motion Search for Brown Dwarfs

A common proper motion survey of M dwarf stars within 8 pc of the Sun reveals no new stellar or brown dwarf companions at wide separations (~100-1400 AU). This survey tests whether the brown dwarf ``desert'' extends to large separations around M dwarf stars and further explores the census of the solar neighborhood. The sample includes 66 stars north of -30 degrees and within 8 pc of the Sun. Existing first epoch images are compared to new J-band images of the same fields an average of 7 years later to reveal proper motion companions within a ~4 arcminute radius of the primary star. No new companions are detected to a J-band limiting magnitude of ~16.5, corresponding to a companion mass of ~40 Jupiter masses for an assumed age of 5 Gyr at the mean distance of the objects in the survey, 5.8 pc.

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