Bertrand Goldman, Sascha Quanz, Wolfgang Brandner, and Thomas Henning
A DEEP NEAR INFRARED SURVEY FOR BROWN DWARFS TOWARDS TAURUS (Poster)

A DEEP NEAR INFRARED SURVEY FOR BROWN DWARFS TOWARDS TAURUS

Bertrand Goldman, Sascha Quanz, Wolfgang Brandner, and Thomas Henning
MPIA

We used the Omega2000 wide-camera on the 3.5m at Calar Alto, to perform a deep J, H, and Ks survey of the Taurus star formation region. Our deep imaging allows us to detect brown dwarfs down to $\sim$ ten Jupiter masses, over 2 square degrees (assuming evolutionary models). We conduct an ongoing campaign to confirm candidates using the multi-slit spectrograph MOSCA, on the same telescope. This program will allow the preliminary determination of the initial mass function (IMF) down to the end of the brown dwarf regime and planetary masses in the Taurus region. The determination of the IMF in various star forming regions and its variations with respect to the location within the regions will shed light on the brown dwarf formation mechanisms and evolution of stellar clusters.
In this paper we will report on our preliminary brown dwarf candidate sample.