Welcome to the new version of CaltechAUTHORS. Login is currently restricted to library staff. If you notice any issues, please email coda@library.caltech.edu
Published November 2012 | Published + Submitted
Journal Article Open

Spitzer Photometry of WISE-selected Brown Dwarf and Hyper-luminous Infrared Galaxy Candidates

Abstract

We present Spitzer 3.6 and 4.5 μm photometry and positions for a sample of 1510 brown dwarf candidates identified by the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) all-sky survey. Of these, 166 have been spectroscopically classified as objects with spectral types M(1), L(7), T(146), and Y(12). Sixteen other objects are non-(sub)stellar in nature. The remainder are most likely distant L and T dwarfs lacking spectroscopic verification, other Y dwarf candidates still awaiting follow-up, and assorted other objects whose Spitzer photometry reveals them to be background sources. We present a catalog of Spitzer photometry for all astrophysical sources identified in these fields and use this catalog to identify seven fainter (4.5 μm ~ 17.0 mag) brown dwarf candidates, which are possibly wide-field companions to the original WISE sources. To test this hypothesis, we use a sample of 919 Spitzer observations around WISE-selected high-redshift hyper-luminous infrared galaxy candidates. For this control sample, we find another six brown dwarf candidates, suggesting that the seven companion candidates are not physically associated. In fact, only one of these seven Spitzer brown dwarf candidates has a photometric distance estimate consistent with being a companion to the WISE brown dwarf candidate. Other than this, there is no evidence for any widely separated (>20 AU) ultra-cool binaries. As an adjunct to this paper, we make available a source catalog of ~7.33 × 10^5 objects detected in all of these Spitzer follow-up fields for use by the astronomical community. The complete catalog includes the Spitzer 3.6 and 4.5 μm photometry, along with positionally matched B and R photometry from USNO-B; J, H, and K_s photometry from Two Micron All-Sky Survey; and W1, W2, W3, and W4 photometry from the WISE all-sky catalog.

Additional Information

© 2012 American Astronomical Society. Received 2012 August 2; accepted 2012 September 8; published 2012 October 11. This publication makes use of data products from the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer, which is a joint project of the University of California, Los Angeles, and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory/California Institute of Technology, funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). This publication also makes use of observations made with the Spitzer Space Telescope, which is operated by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with NASA. This work is also based in part on observations made with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, obtained at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-26555. Some of the spectroscopic classifications presented herein were obtained at the W. M. Keck Observatory, which is operated as a scientific partnership among the California Institute of Technology, the University of California and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. This publication also makes use of data products from 2MASS. 2MASS is a joint project of the University of Massachusetts and the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center/California Institute of Technology, funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the National Science Foundation. This research has made use of the NASA/IPAC Infrared Science Archive (IRSA), which is operated by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under contract with NASA.

Attached Files

Published - 1538-3881_144_5_148.pdf

Submitted - 1209.1855v1.pdf

Files

1538-3881_144_5_148.pdf
Files (2.2 MB)
Name Size Download all
md5:0872b7b3d6cacf4180c5365a35c08064
1.2 MB Preview Download
md5:4155a3cb598bed1afd8b8a4645a7dd82
1.0 MB Preview Download

Additional details

Created:
September 14, 2023
Modified:
October 23, 2023