Brown dwarf number density in the JWST COSMOS-Web field

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Chen, Amos Y. -A., Goto, Tomotsugu, Wu, Cossas K. -W., Ling, Chih-Teng, Kim, Seong Jin, Ho, Simon C. -C., Kilerci, Ece, Uno, Yuri, Phan, Terry Long, Lin, Yu-Wei, Yang, Tsung-Ching, Hashimoto, Tetsuya
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Chen, Amos Y. -A.
Goto, Tomotsugu
Wu, Cossas K. -W.
Ling, Chih-Teng
Kim, Seong Jin
Ho, Simon C. -C.
Kilerci, Ece
Uno, Yuri
Phan, Terry Long
Lin, Yu-Wei
Yang, Tsung-Ching
Hashimoto, Tetsuya
author_facet Chen, Amos Y. -A.
Goto, Tomotsugu
Wu, Cossas K. -W.
Ling, Chih-Teng
Kim, Seong Jin
Ho, Simon C. -C.
Kilerci, Ece
Uno, Yuri
Phan, Terry Long
Lin, Yu-Wei
Yang, Tsung-Ching
Hashimoto, Tetsuya
contents Brown dwarfs are failed stars with very low mass (13 to 75 $M_J$), and an effective temperature lower than 2500 K. Thus, they play a key role in understanding the gap in the mass function between stars and planets. However, due to their faint nature, previous searches are inevitably limited to the solar neighbourhood (20 pc). To improve our knowledge of the low mass part of the initial stellar mass function and the star formation history of the Milky Way, it is crucial to find more distant brown dwarfs. Using James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) COSMOS-Web data, this study seeks to enhance our comprehension of the physical characteristics of brown dwarfs situated at a distance of kpc scale. The exceptional sensitivity of the JWST enables the detection of brown dwarfs that are up to 100 times more distant than those discovered in the earlier all-sky infrared surveys. The large area coverage of the JWST COSMOS-Web survey allows us to find more distant brown dwarfs than earlier JWST studies with smaller area coverages. To capture prominent water absorption features around 2.7 $μ$m, we apply two colour criteria, F115W-F277W+1<F277W-F444W and F277W-F444W>0.9. We then select point sources by CLASS_STAR, FLUX_RADIUS, and SPREAD_MODEL criteria. Faint sources are visually checked to exclude possibly extended sources. We conduct SED fitting and MCMC simulations to determine their physical properties and associated uncertainties. Our search reveals 25 T-dwarf and 2 Y-dwarf candidates, more than any previous JWST brown dwarf searches. They are located from 0.3 kpc to 4 kpc away from the Earth. The cumulative number count of our brown dwarf candidates is consistent with the prediction from a standard double exponential model. Three of our brown dwarf candidates were detected by HST, with transverse velocities $12\pm5$ km s$^{-1}$, $12\pm4$ km s$^{-1}$, and $17\pm6$ km s$^{-1}$.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2503_18510
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Brown dwarf number density in the JWST COSMOS-Web field
Chen, Amos Y. -A.
Goto, Tomotsugu
Wu, Cossas K. -W.
Ling, Chih-Teng
Kim, Seong Jin
Ho, Simon C. -C.
Kilerci, Ece
Uno, Yuri
Phan, Terry Long
Lin, Yu-Wei
Yang, Tsung-Ching
Hashimoto, Tetsuya
Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
Astrophysics of Galaxies
Brown dwarfs are failed stars with very low mass (13 to 75 $M_J$), and an effective temperature lower than 2500 K. Thus, they play a key role in understanding the gap in the mass function between stars and planets. However, due to their faint nature, previous searches are inevitably limited to the solar neighbourhood (20 pc). To improve our knowledge of the low mass part of the initial stellar mass function and the star formation history of the Milky Way, it is crucial to find more distant brown dwarfs. Using James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) COSMOS-Web data, this study seeks to enhance our comprehension of the physical characteristics of brown dwarfs situated at a distance of kpc scale. The exceptional sensitivity of the JWST enables the detection of brown dwarfs that are up to 100 times more distant than those discovered in the earlier all-sky infrared surveys. The large area coverage of the JWST COSMOS-Web survey allows us to find more distant brown dwarfs than earlier JWST studies with smaller area coverages. To capture prominent water absorption features around 2.7 $μ$m, we apply two colour criteria, F115W-F277W+1<F277W-F444W and F277W-F444W>0.9. We then select point sources by CLASS_STAR, FLUX_RADIUS, and SPREAD_MODEL criteria. Faint sources are visually checked to exclude possibly extended sources. We conduct SED fitting and MCMC simulations to determine their physical properties and associated uncertainties. Our search reveals 25 T-dwarf and 2 Y-dwarf candidates, more than any previous JWST brown dwarf searches. They are located from 0.3 kpc to 4 kpc away from the Earth. The cumulative number count of our brown dwarf candidates is consistent with the prediction from a standard double exponential model. Three of our brown dwarf candidates were detected by HST, with transverse velocities $12\pm5$ km s$^{-1}$, $12\pm4$ km s$^{-1}$, and $17\pm6$ km s$^{-1}$.
title Brown dwarf number density in the JWST COSMOS-Web field
topic Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
Astrophysics of Galaxies
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.18510