New Windows into the Substellar Mass Function

这个项目是通过表征亚恒星物体的初始质量分布函数来研究棕矮星的形成。为了了解亚恒星群的特性并检验棕矮星和恒星形成的理论，两个基本问题正在得到解决：(1)可以单独形成的最低质量物体是什么；(2)亚恒星的初始质量分布如何随环境变化？根据亚恒星天体独特的光谱特征，对这些问题进行了两次分光光度测量。这些调查寻找的是甲烷吸收的存在，这是0.2木星质量的年轻褐矮星的典型特征，以及所有年轻褐矮星的红外光谱中存在的水吸收，他们利用了新一代宽视场红外相机，它具有前所未有的灵敏度和视野组合。因此，与以前的工作相比，确定了恒星下初始质量函数的质量要低得多，并且环境范围要宽得多。该项目还将为后续研究提供大量年轻褐矮星样本。

This project is studying the formation of brown dwarfs by characterizing the initial mass distribution function of substellar objects. In order to understand the properties of the substellar population and to test theories of brown dwarf and star formation, two fundamental questions are being addressed: (1) what is the lowest mass object which can form in isolation, and (2) how does the substellar initial mass distribution vary with environment? Two spectrophotometric surveys are tailored to these questions on the basis of the unique spectral characteristics of substellar objects. The surveys look for the presence of methane absorption, typical of young brown dwarfs of 0.2 Jupiter masses, and for water absorption, present in the infrared spectra of all young brown dwarfs, and they take advantage of a new generation of wide-field infrared cameras with an unprecedented combination of sensitivity and field of view. Thus the substellar initial mass function is determined to much lower masses and over a much wider range of environments compared to previous work. The program will also produce a very populous sample of young brown dwarfs amenable for follow-up studies.