arXiv subjects

K. W. Hodapp

Publications and source records attributed to K. W. Hodapp.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2014

A search for planetary eclipses of white dwarfs in the Pan-STARRS1 medium-deep fields

We present a search for eclipses of $\sim$1700 white dwarfs in the Pan-STARRS1 medium-deep fields. Candidate eclipse events are selected by identifying low outliers in over 4.3 million light curve measurements. We find no short-duration eclipses consistent with being caused by a planetary size companion. This large dataset enables us to place strong constraints on the close-in planet occurrence rates around white dwarfs for planets as small as 2 R$_\oplus$. Our results indicate that gas giant planets orbiting just outside the Roche limit are rare, occurring around less than 0.5% of white dwarfs. Habitable-zone super-Earths and hot super-Earths are less abundant than similar classes of planets around main-sequence stars. These constraints give important insight into the ultimate fate of the large population of exoplanets orbiting main sequence stars.

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arXiv2014

A Statistical Analysis of SEEDS and Other High-Contrast Exoplanet Surveys: Massive Planets or Low-Mass Brown Dwarfs?

We conduct a statistical analysis of a combined sample of direct imaging data, totalling nearly 250 stars. The stars cover a wide range of ages and spectral types, and include five detections ($κ$ And b, two $\sim$60 M$_{\rm J}$ brown dwarf companions in the Pleiades, PZ Tel B, and CD$-$35 2722B). For some analyses we add a currently unpublished set of SEEDS observations, including the detections GJ 504b and GJ 758B. We conduct a uniform, Bayesian analysis of all stellar ages using both membership in a kinematic moving group and activity/rotation age indicators. We then present a new statistical method for computing the likelihood of a substellar distribution function. By performing most of the integrals analytically, we achieve an enormous speedup over brute-force Monte Carlo. We use this method to place upper limits on the maximum semimajor axis of the distribution function derived from radial-velocity planets, finding model-dependent values of $\sim$30--100 AU. Finally, we model the entire substellar sample, from massive brown dwarfs to a theoretically motivated cutoff at $\sim$5 M$_{\rm Jup}$, with a single power law distribution. We find that $p(M, a) \propto M^{-0.65\pm0.60} a^{-0.85\pm0.39}$ (1$σ$ errors) provides an adequate fit to our data, with 1.0--3.1\% (68\% confidence) of stars hosting 5--70 $M_{\rm Jup}$ companions between 10 and 100 AU. This suggests that many of the directly imaged exoplanets known, including most (if not all) of the low-mass companions in our sample, formed by fragmentation in a cloud or disk, and represent the low-mass tail of the brown dwarfs.

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arXiv2014

Systematic Uncertainties Associated with the Cosmological Analysis of the First Pan-STARRS1 Type Ia Supernova Sample

We probe the systematic uncertainties from 113 Type Ia supernovae (SNIa) in the Pan-STARRS1 (PS1) sample along with 197 SN Ia from a combination of low-redshift surveys. The companion paper by Rest et al. (2013) describes the photometric measurements and cosmological inferences from the PS1 sample. The largest systematic uncertainty stems from the photometric calibration of the PS1 and low-z samples. We increase the sample of observed Calspec standards from 7 to 10 used to define the PS1 calibration system. The PS1 and SDSS-II calibration systems are compared and discrepancies up to ~0.02 mag are recovered. We find uncertainties in the proper way to treat intrinsic colors and reddening produce differences in the recovered value of w up to 3%. We estimate masses of host galaxies of PS1 supernovae and detect an insignificant difference in distance residuals of the full sample of 0.037\pm0.031 mag for host galaxies with high and low masses. Assuming flatness in our analysis of only SNe measurements, we find $w = {-1.120^{+0.360}_{-0.206}\textrm{(Stat)} ^{+0.269}_{-0.291}\textrm{(Sys)}}$. With additional constraints from BAO, CMB(Planck) and H0 measurements, we find $w = -1.166^{+0.072}_{-0.069}$ and $Ω_M=0.280^{+0.013}_{-0.012}$ (statistical and systematic errors added in quadrature). Significance of the inconsistency with $w=-1$ depends on whether we use Planck or WMAP measurements of the CMB: $w_{\textrm{BAO+H0+SN+WMAP}}=-1.124^{+0.083}_{-0.065}$.

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arXiv2014

Cosmological Constraints from Measurements of Type Ia Supernovae discovered during the first 1.5 years of the Pan-STARRS1 Survey

We present griz light curves of 146 spectroscopically confirmed Type Ia Supernovae ($0.03 < z <0.65$) discovered during the first 1.5 years of the Pan-STARRS1 Medium Deep Survey. The Pan-STARRS1 natural photometric system is determined by a combination of on-site measurements of the instrument response function and observations of spectrophotometric standard stars. We find that the systematic uncertainties in the photometric system are currently 1.2\% without accounting for the uncertainty in the HST Calspec definition of the AB system. A Hubble diagram is constructed with a subset of 113 out of 146 SNe Ia that pass our light curve quality cuts. The cosmological fit to 310 SNe Ia (113 PS1 SNe Ia + 222 light curves from 197 low-z SNe Ia), using only SNe and assuming a constant dark energy equation of state and flatness, yields $w=-1.120^{+0.360}_{-0.206}\textrm{(Stat)} ^{+0.269}_{-0.291}\textrm{(Sys)}$. When combined with BAO+CMB(Planck)+$H_0$, the analysis yields $Ω_{\rm M}=0.280^{+0.013}_{-0.012}$ and $w=-1.166^{+0.072}_{-0.069}$ including all identified systematics (see also Scolnic et al. 2014). The value of $w$ is inconsistent with the cosmological constant value of $-1$ at the 2.3$σ$ level. Tension endures after removing either the BAO or the $H_0$ constraint, though it is strongest when including the $H_0$ constraint. If we include WMAP9 CMB constraints instead of those from Planck, we find $w=-1.124^{+0.083}_{-0.065}$, which diminishes the discord to $<2σ$. We cannot conclude whether the tension with flat $Λ$CDM is a feature of dark energy, new physics, or a combination of chance and systematic errors. The full Pan-STARRS1 supernova sample with $\sim\!\!$3 times as many SNe should provide more conclusive results.

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arXiv2014

Rapidly-Evolving and Luminous Transients from Pan-STARRS1

In the past decade, several rapidly-evolving transients have been discovered whose timescales and luminosities are not easily explained by traditional supernovae (SN) models. The sample size of these objects has remained small due, at least in part, to the challenge of detecting short timescale transients with traditional survey cadences. Here we present the results from a search within the Pan-STARRS1 Medium Deep Survey (PS1-MDS) for rapidly-evolving and luminous transients. We identify 10 new transients with a time above half-maximum of less than 12 days and -16.5 > M > -20 mag. This increases the number of known events in this region of SN phase space by roughly a factor of three. The median redshift of the PS1-MDS sample is z=0.275 and they all exploded in star forming galaxies. In general, the transients possess faster rise than decline timescale and blue colors at maximum light (g - r < -0.2). Best fit blackbodies reveal photospheric temperatures/radii that expand/cool with time and explosion spectra taken near maximum light are dominated by a blue continuum, consistent with a hot, optically thick, ejecta. We find it difficult to reconcile the short timescale, high peak luminosity (L > 10^43 erg/s), and lack of UV line blanketing observed in many of these transients with an explosion powered mainly by the radioactive decay of Ni-56. Rather, we find that many are consistent with either (1) cooling envelope emission from the explosion of a star with a low-mass extended envelope which ejected very little (<0.03 M_sun) radioactive material, or (2) a shock breakout within a dense, optically thick, wind surrounding the progenitor star. After calculating the detection efficiency for objects with rapid timescales in the PS1-MDS we find a volumetric rate of 4800 - 8000 events/yr/Gpc^3 (4-7% of the core-collapse SN rate at z=0.2).

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arXiv2014

Hydrogen-Poor Superluminous Supernovae and Long-Duration Gamma-Ray Bursts Have Similar Host Galaxies

We present optical spectroscopy and optical/near-IR photometry of 31 host galaxies of hydrogen-poor superluminous supernovae (SLSNe), including 15 events from the Pan-STARRS1 Medium Deep Survey. Our sample spans the redshift range 0.1 < z < 1.6 and is the first comprehensive host galaxy study of this specific subclass of cosmic explosions. Combining the multi-band photometry and emission-line measurements, we determine the luminosities, stellar masses, star formation rates and metallicities. We find that as a whole, the hosts of SLSNe are a low-luminosity ( ~ -17.3 mag), low stellar mass ( ~ 2 x 10^8 M_sun) population, with a high median specific star formation rate ( ~ 2 Gyr^-1). The median metallicity of our spectroscopic sample is low, 12 + log(O/H}) ~ 8.35 ~ 0.45 Z_sun, although at least one host galaxy has solar metallicity. The host galaxies of H-poor SLSNe are statistically distinct from the hosts of GOODS core-collapse SNe (which cover a similar redshift range), but resemble the host galaxies of long-duration gamma-ray bursts (LGRBs) in terms of stellar mass, SFR, sSFR and metallicity. This result indicates that the environmental causes leading to massive stars forming either SLSNe or LGRBs are similar, and in particular that SLSNe are more effectively formed in low metallicity environments. We speculate that the key ingredient is large core angular momentum, leading to a rapidly-spinning magnetar in SLSNe and an accreting black hole in LGRBs.

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arXiv2014

A Map of Dust Reddening to 4.5 kpc from Pan-STARRS1

We present a map of the dust reddening to 4.5 kpc derived from Pan-STARRS1 stellar photometry. The map covers almost the entire sky north of declination -30 degrees at a resolution of 7' to 14', and is based on the estimated distances and reddenings to more than 500 million stars. The technique is designed to map dust in the Galactic plane, where many other techniques are stymied by the presence of multiple dust clouds at different distances along each line of sight. This reddening-based dust map agrees closely with the Schlegel, Finkbeiner, and Davis (SFD; 1998) far-infrared emission-based dust map away from the Galactic plane, and the most prominent differences between the two maps stem from known limitations of SFD in the plane. We also compare the map with Planck, finding likewise good agreement in general at high latitudes. The use of optical data from Pan-STARRS1 yields reddening uncertainty as low as 25 mmag E(B-V).

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arXiv2014

The Moving Group Targets of the SEEDS High-Contrast Imaging Survey of Exoplanets and Disks: Results and Observations from the First Three Years

We present results from the first three years of observations of moving group targets in the SEEDS high-contrast imaging survey of exoplanets and disks using the Subaru telescope. We achieve typical contrasts of ~10^5 at 1" and ~10^6 beyond 2" around 63 proposed members of nearby kinematic moving groups. We review each of the kinematic associations to which our targets belong, concluding that five, βPictoris (~20 Myr), AB Doradus (~100 Myr), Columba (~30 Myr), Tucana-Horogium (~30 Myr), TW Hydrae (~10 Myr), are sufficiently well-defined to constrain the ages of individual targets. Somewhat less than half of our targets are high-probability members of one of these moving groups. For all of our targets, we combine proposed moving group membership with other age indicators where available, including Ca II HK emission, X-ray activity, and rotation period, to produce a posterior probability distribution of age. SEEDS observations discovered a substellar companion to one of our targets, κAnd, a late B star. We do not detect any other substellar companions, but do find seven new close binary systems, of which one still needs to be confirmed. A detailed analysis of the statistics of this sample, and of the companion mass constraints given our age probability distributions and exoplanet cooling models, will be presented in a forthcoming paper.

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arXiv2014

A Large Catalog of Accurate Distances to Molecular Clouds from PS1 Photometry

Distance measurements to molecular clouds are important, but are often made separately for each cloud of interest, employing very different different data and techniques. We present a large, homogeneous catalog of distances to molecular clouds, most of which are of unprecedented accuracy. We determine distances using optical photometry of stars along lines of sight toward these clouds, obtained from PanSTARRS-1. We simultaneously infer the reddenings and distances to these stars, tracking the full probability distribution function using a technique presented in Green et al. (2014). We fit these star-by-star measurements using a simple dust screen model to find the distance to each cloud. We thus estimate the distances to almost all of the clouds in the Magnani et al. (1985) catalog, as well as many other well-studied clouds, including Orion, Perseus, Taurus, Cepheus, Polaris, California, and Monoceros R2, avoiding only the inner Galaxy. Typical statistical uncertainties in the distances are 5%, though the systematic uncertainty stemming from the quality of our stellar models is about 10%. The resulting catalog is the largest catalog of accurate, directly-measured distances to molecular clouds. Our distance estimates are generally consistent with available distance estimates from the literature, though in some cases the literature estimates are off by a factor of more than two.

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arXiv2014

Pre-outburst observations of Nova Del 2013 from Pan-STARRS 1

Nova Delphini 2013 was identified on the 14th of August 2013 and eventually rose to be a naked eye object. We sought to study the behaviour of the object in the run-up to outburst and to compare it to the pre-outburst photometric characteristics of other novae. We searched the Pan-STARRS 1 datastore to identify pre-outburst photometry of Nova Del 2013 and identified twenty-four observations in the 1.2 years before outburst. The progenitor of Nova Delphini showed variability of a few tenths of a magnitude but did not brighten significantly in comparison with archival plate photometry. We also found that the object did not vary significantly on the approximately half hour timescale between pairs of Pan-STARRS 1 observations.

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arXiv2014

Characterization of the Praesepe Star Cluster by Photometry and Proper Motions with 2MASS, PPMXL, and Pan-STARRS

Membership identification is the first step to determine the properties of a star cluster. Low-mass members in particular could be used to trace the dynamical history, such as mass segregation, stellar evaporation, or tidal stripping, of a star cluster in its Galactic environment. We identified member candidates with stellar masses $\sim$0.11--2.4 Msun of the intermediate-age Praesepe cluster (M44), by using Pan-STARRS and 2MASS photometry, and PPMXL proper motions. Within a sky area of 3 deg radius, 1040 candidates are identified, of which 96 are new inclusions. Using the same set of selection criteria on field stars led to an estimate of a false positive rate 16%, suggesting 872 of the candidates being true members. This most complete and reliable membership list allows us to favor the BT-Settl model in comparison with other stellar models. The cluster shows a distinct binary track above the main sequence, with a binary frequency of 20--40%, and a high occurrence rate of similar mass pairs. The mass function is consistent with that of the disk population but shows a deficit of members below 0.3 solar masses. A clear mass segregation is evidenced, with the lowest-mass members in our sample being evaporated from this disintegrating cluster.

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arXiv2013

The Pan-STARRS1 Medium-Deep Survey: The role of galaxy group environment in the star formation rate versus stellar mass relation and quiescent fraction out to $z \sim 0.8$

Using a large sample of field and group galaxies drawn from the Pan-STARRS1 Medium-Deep Survey, we present the specific star formation rate (SSFR) - stellar mass (M*) relation, as well as the quiescent fraction versus M* relation in different environments. We confirm that the fraction of quiescent galaxies is strongly dependent on environment at a fixed stellar mass, but that the amplitude and the slope of the star-forming sequence is similar between the field and groups: in other words, the SSFR-density relation at a fixed stellar mass is primarily driven by the change in the star-forming and quiescent fractions between different environments rather than a global suppression in the star formation rate for the star-forming population. However, when we restrict our sample to the cluster-scale environments ($M>10^{14}M_{solar}$), we find a global reduction in the SSFR of the star forming sequence of $17\%$ at 4$σ$ confidence as opposed to its field counterpart. After removing the stellar mass dependence of the quiescent fraction seen in field galaxies, the excess in the quiescent fraction due to the environment quenching in groups and clusters is found to increase with stellar mass. We argue that these results are in favor of galaxy mergers to be the primary environment quenching mechanism operating in galaxy groups whereas strangulation is able to reproduce the observed trend in the environment quenching efficiency and stellar mass relation seen in clusters. Our results also suggest that the relative importance between mass quenching and environment quenching depends on stellar mass -- the mass quenching plays a dominant role in producing quiescent galaxies for more massive galaxies, while less massive galaxies are quenched mostly through the environmental effect, with the transition mass around $1-2\times10^{10}M_{solar}$ in the group/cluster environment. (abridged)

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arXiv2013

Detection of an outburst one year prior to the explosion of SN 2011ht

Using imaging from the Pan-STARRS1 survey, we identify a precursor outburst at epochs 287 and 170 days prior to the reported explosion of the purported Type IIn supernova (SN) 2011ht. In the Pan-STARRS data, a source coincident with SN 2011ht is detected exclusively in the \zps\ and \yps-bands. An absolute magnitude of M$_z\simeq$-11.8 suggests that this was an outburst of the progenitor star. Unfiltered, archival Catalina Real Time Transient survey images also reveal a coincident source from at least 258 to 138 days before the main event. We suggest that the outburst is likely to be an intrinsically red eruption, although we cannot conclusively exclude a series of erratic outbursts which were observed only in the redder bands by chance. This is only the fourth detection of an outburst prior to a claimed SN, and lends credence to the possibility that many more interacting transients have pre-explosion outbursts, which have been missed by current surveys.

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arXiv2013

The Extremely Red, Young L Dwarf PSO J318-22: A Free-Floating Planetary-Mass Analog to Directly Imaged Young Gas-Giant Planets

We have used Pan-STARRS1 to discover an extremely red late-L dwarf, which has (J-K)_MKO = 2.84 and (J-K)_2MASS = 2.78, making it the reddest known field dwarf and second only to 2MASS J1207-39b among substellar companions. Near-IR spectroscopy shows a spectral type of L7 and reveals a triangular H-band continuum and weak alkali (K I and Na I) lines, hallmarks of low surface gravity. Near-IR astrometry from the Hawaii Infrared Parallax Program gives a distance of 24.6+/-1.4 pc and indicates a much fainter J-band absolute magnitude than field L dwarfs. The position and kinematics of PSO J318-22 point to membership in the beta Pictoris moving group. Evolutionary models give a temperature of 1160 (-40,+30) K and a mass of 6.5 (-1.0, +1.3) Mjup, making PSO J318-22 one of the lowest mass free-floating objects in the solar neighborhood. This object adds to the growing list of low-gravity field L dwarfs and is the first to be strongly deficient in methane relative to its estimated temperature. Comparing their spectra suggests that young L dwarfs with similar ages and temperatures can have different spectral signatures of youth. For the two objects with well constrained ages (PSO J318-22 and 2MASS J0355+11), we find their temperatures are ~400 K cooler than field objects of similar spectral type but their luminosities are comparable, i.e., these young L dwarfs are very red and unusually cool but not "underluminous." Altogether, PSO J318-22 is the first free-floating object with the colors, magnitudes, spectrum, luminosity, and mass that overlap the young dusty planets around HR 8799 and 2MASS J1207-39.

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arXiv2013

The superluminous supernova PS1-11ap: bridging the gap between low and high redshift

We present optical photometric and spectroscopic coverage of the superluminous supernova (SLSN) PS1-11ap, discovered with the Pan-STARRS1 Medium Deep Survey at z = 0.524. This intrinsically blue transient rose slowly to reach a peak magnitude of M_u = -21.4 mag and bolometric luminosity of 8 x 10^43 ergs^-1 before settling onto a relatively shallow gradient of decline. The observed decline is significantly slower than those of the superluminous type Ic SNe which have been the focus of much recent attention. Spectroscopic similarities with the lower redshift SN2007bi and a decline rate similar to 56Co decay timescale initially indicated that this transient could be a candidate for a pair instability supernova (PISN) explosion. Overall the transient appears quite similar to SN2007bi and the lower redshift object PTF12dam. The extensive data set, from 30 days before peak to 230 days after, allows a detailed and quantitative comparison with published models of PISN explosions. We find that the PS1-11ap data do not match these model explosion parameters well, supporting the recent claim that these SNe are not pair instability explosions. We show that PS1-11ap has many features in common with the faster declining superluminous Ic supernovae and the lightcurve evolution can also be quantitatively explained by the magnetar spin down model. At a redshift of z = 0.524 the observer frame optical coverage provides comprehensive restframe UV data and allows us to compare it with the superluminous SNe recently found at high redshifts between z = 2-4. While these high-z explosions are still plausible PISN candidates, they match the photometric evolution of PS1-11ap and hence could be counterparts to this lower redshift transient.

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arXiv2013

Properties of M31. III: Candidate Beat Cepheids from PS1 PAndromeda Data and Their Implication on Metallicity Gradient

We present a sample of M31 beat Cepheids from the Pan-STARRS 1 PAndromeda campaign. By analyzing three years of PAndromeda data, we identify seventeen beat Cepheids, spreading from a galactocentric distance of 10 to 16 kpc. Since the relation between fundamental mode period and the ratio of fundamental to the first overtone period puts a tight constraint on metallicity we are able to derive the metallicity at the position of the beat Cepheids using the relations from the model of Buchler (2008). Our metallicity estimates show subsolar values within 15 kpc, similar to the metallicities from HII regions (Zurita & Bresolin 2012). We then use the metallicity estimates to calculate the metallicity gradient of the M31 disk, which we find to be closer to the metallicity gradient derived from planetary nebulae (Kwitter et al. 2012) than the metallicity gradient from HII regions (Zurita & Bresolin 2012).

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arXiv2013

The UV-bright, Slowly Declining Transient PS1-11af as a Partial Tidal Disruption Event

We present the Pan-STARRS1 discovery of the long-lived and blue transient PS1-11af, which was also detected by GALEX with coordinated observations in the near-ultraviolet (NUV) band. PS1-11af is associated with the nucleus of an early-type galaxy at redshift z=0.4046 that exhibits no evidence for star formation or AGN activity. Four epochs of spectroscopy reveal a pair of transient broad absorption features in the UV on otherwise featureless spectra. Despite the superficial similarity of these features to P-Cygni absorptions of supernovae (SNe), we conclude that PS1-11af is not consistent with the properties of known types of SNe. Blackbody fits to the spectral energy distribution are inconsistent with the cooling, expanding ejecta of a SN, and the velocities of the absorption features are too high to represent material in homologous expansion near a SN photosphere. However, the constant blue colors and slow evolution of the luminosity are similar to previous optically-selected tidal disruption events (TDEs). The shape of the optical light curve is consistent with models for TDEs, but the minimum accreted mass necessary to power the observed luminosity is only ~0.002M_sun, which points to a partial disruption model. A full disruption model predicts higher bolometric luminosities, which would require most of the radiation to be emitted in a separate component at high energies where we lack observations. In addition, the observed temperature is lower than that predicted by pure accretion disk models for TDEs and requires reprocessing to a constant, lower temperature. Three deep non-detections in the radio with the VLA over the first two years after the event set strict limits on the production of any relativistic outflow comparable to Swift J1644+57, even if off-axis.

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arXiv2013

A Search for L/T Transition Dwarfs With Pan-STARRS1 and WISE: Discovery of Seven Nearby Objects Including Two Candidate Spectroscopic Variables

We present initial results from a wide-field (30,000 deg^2) search for L/T transition brown dwarfs within 25 pc using the Pan-STARRS1 and WISE surveys. Previous large-area searches have been incomplete for L/T transition dwarfs, because these objects are faint in optical bands and have near-infrared colors that are difficult to distinguish from background stars. To overcome these obstacles, we have cross-matched the Pan-STARRS1 (optical) and WISE (mid-IR) catalogs to produce a unique multi-wavelength database for finding ultracool dwarfs. As part of our initial discoveries, we have identified seven brown dwarfs in the L/T transition within 9-15 pc of the Sun. The L9.5 dwarf PSO J140.2308+45.6487 and the T1.5 dwarf PSO J307.6784+07.8263 (both independently discovered by Mace et al. 2013) show possible spectroscopic variability at the Y- and J-bands. Two more objects in our sample show evidence of photometric J-band variability, and two others are candidate unresolved binaries based on their spectra. We expect our full search to yield a well-defined, volume-limited sample of L/T transition dwarfs that will include many new targets for study of this complex regime. PSO J307.6784+07.8263 in particular may be an excellent candidate for in-depth study of variability, given its brightness (J = 14.2 mag) and proximity (11 pc).

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