Abstract

We present a deep, wide-field optical survey of the young stellar cluster Alpha Per, in which we have discovered a large population of candidate brown dwarfs. Subsequent infrared photometric follow-up shows that the majority of them are probable or possible members of the cluster, reaching to a minimum mass of 0.035 M_⊙. We have used this list of members to derive the luminosity and mass functions of the substellar population of the cluster (α = 0.59 ± 0.05, when expressed in the mass spectrum form ø ∝ M^(-α)) and compared its slope to the value measure for the Pleiades. This comparison indicates that the two cluster mass functions are, indeed, very similar.

Keywords

PleiadesBrown dwarfPhysicsAstrophysicsLuminosityCluster (spacecraft)PopulationStellar massLuminosity functionAstronomyStarsStar formationMedicineComputer science

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Publication Info

Year
2002
Type
article
Volume
395
Issue
3
Pages
813-821
Citations
70
Access
Closed

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D. Barrado, J. Bouvier, J. R. Stauffer et al. (2002). A substellar mass function for Alpha Persei. Astronomy and Astrophysics , 395 (3) , 813-821. https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361:20021262

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DOI
10.1051/0004-6361:20021262