Open AccessSSSPM J0829–1309: a new nearby L dwarf detected in SuperCOSMOS Sky Surveys
Author(s) -
Scholz R.D.,
Meusinger H.
Publication year - 2002
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.1365-8711.2002.05998.x
Subject(s) - physics , proper motion , sky , astrophysics , brown dwarf , observatory , astronomy , stars , luminosity , stellar classification , galaxy
The SuperCOSMOS Sky Surveys provide a complete coverage of the southern sky in three passbands (photographic B J , R and I ) and at different epochs. These data are the basis for a new high proper motion survey that aims to find extremely red nearby dwarf stars and brown dwarfs. One of the first candidates, which is relatively bright ( I = 16) but very red R − I = 2.8, B J − R = 3.6) , was detected in the equatorial zone by its large proper motion of 0.56 arcsec yr −1 . Spectroscopic follow‐up observations with the 2.2‐m telescope of the Calar Alto Observatory classified this object as an L2 dwarf very similar to the first free‐floating L dwarf Kelu 1 also discovered in a proper motion survey by Ruiz, Leggett & Allard. If we assume SSSPM J0829–1309 to have the same luminosity as Kelu 1, we get a distance estimate for the new L dwarf of about 12 pc since it is about one magnitude brighter than Kelu 1 in the SSS I and R bands. This makes SSSPM J0829−1309 one of the nearest objects of its class, well suited for detailed investigations. We present a brief overview of all known nearby ( d < 20 pc) southern L dwarfs and give first proper motion values for DENIS‐P J0255–47 and SDSSp J1326–00 and an improved proper motion for LHS 102B.