Events in Physics
Mari Cruz Galvez Ortiz (CAB)
Title: Search for Pleiades T dwarfs
Abstract: We will present our on-going project aimed at identifying Pleiades T-type planetary-mass members. An area of 0.82 deg2 was explored photometric and astrometrically with deep images taken in the J and H filters and separated by 9 yr. The survey limiting magnitude is J, H = 21mag. The long time baseline allowed us to measure proper motions since the cluster motion is quite distinctive. According to substellar evolutionary models, our exploration is sensitive to T-type Pleiads with masses in the interval 9-15 times the mass of Jupiter. These observations allowed us to study the planetary mass function in the Pleiades cluster. Confirmed Pleiades T-type dwarfs have an age of 120 Myr and a well-defined solar metallicity; they will thus become benchmark objects for our understanding of the ultracool dwarf population (both single and orbiting stars, including
massive planets) of the solar vicinity.