Between Cool Stars and Hot Planets: Origins of Brown Dwarfs
Abstract
Description
Brown dwarfs, which straddle the mass range between stars and planets, appear to be common both in the solar neighborhood and in star-forming regions. Their ubiquity makes the question of their origin an important one both for our understanding of brown dwarfs themselves as well as for theories on the formation of stars and planets. Studies of young sub-stellar objects could provide valuable insight into their formation and early evolution. Here I report on the latest results from our observational programs at Keck, VLT and Magellan on the disk and accretion properties of young brown dwarfs. We find compelling evidence that they undergo a T Tauri phase analogous to that of their stellar counterparts.
to appear in proceedings of IAU Symposium 219: "Stars as Suns: Activity, Evolution, Planets"
to appear in proceedings of IAU Symposium 219: "Stars as Suns: Activity, Evolution, Planets"