Published May 30, 1997
| public
Journal Article
Brown Dwarfs: A Possible Missing Link Between Stars and Planets
- Creators
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Kulkarni, S. R.
Abstract
Brown dwarfs are objects with masses between that of stars and planets. Postulated some three decades ago, they remained elusive until recently. Unlike stars, these objects have no sustained energy source and cool as they age. One such cool brown dwarf has been discovered as a companion to a nearby star. The spectrum of this object is similar to that of Jupiter. Single brown dwarfs have been detected in stellar nurseries. Ongoing and planned efforts, from both ground and space, will enable astronomers to decisively determine the population of these elusive and dim objects.
Additional Information
© 1997 American Association for the Advancement of Science. I thank J. Gizis, T. Nakajima and T. Padmanabhan for constructive comments on the text. I am grateful to F. Allard, G. Basri, A. Burrows, C. Koresko and B. Oppenheimer for a thorough reading and comments. I have benefitted (and hopefully it shows up in this review) by attending the Tenerife meeting on Brown Dwarfs and Extrasolar Planets (5). I thank E. Martin and R. Rebolo for defraying some costs associated with my attendance of this meeting. My research in brown dwarfs has been done in collaboration with S. Durrance, D. Golimowski, K. Matthews T. Nakajima and B. Oppenheimer. I particularly wish to thank T. Nakajima for getting me interested in brown dwarfs during his postdoctoral stay at Caltech and the Flintridge Foundation for providing the seed money to pursue high-dynamic range imaging at optical and IR wavelengths.Additional details
- Eprint ID
- 52097
- Resolver ID
- CaltechAUTHORS:20141124-110437116
- Flintridge Foundation
- Created
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2014-11-24Created from EPrint's datestamp field
- Updated
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2021-11-10Created from EPrint's last_modified field
- Caltech groups
- Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences