Open AccessIZ photometry of L dwarfs and the implications for brown dwarf surveys
Author(s) -
Steele I. A.,
Howells L.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
monthly notices of the royal astronomical society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.058
H-Index - 383
eISSN - 1365-2966
pISSN - 0035-8711
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-8711.2000.03433.x
Subject(s) - physics , brown dwarf , photometry (optics) , astrophysics , astronomy , stars
The I − Z colour has recently been shown to be a good temperature indicator for M dwarfs. We present the first IZ photometry of a small sample of L dwarfs ranging in spectral type from L0.5V to L6.0V. We find that the I − Z colour is not a good temperature indicator for objects between L1V and L5V, such objects having colours that overlap with mid M dwarfs. We attribute this to the reduction in the strength of the TiO and VO bands in the L dwarfs, which are the dominant opacity source in the I band for late M dwarfs. Beyond L5V, I − Z appears to be a reasonable indicator. This has important implications for the planning of optical surveys for cool objects in clusters and the field. For example, I − Z will cease to be a good method of identifying brown dwarfs in the Pleiades below around 0.04 M ⊙ , and at around 0.075 M ⊙ in the Hyades and Praesepe.