• DOI:10.3847/1538-4357/833/1/96
• Corpus ID: 119192984

THE HAWAII INFRARED PARALLAX PROGRAM. II. YOUNG ULTRACOOL FIELD DWARFS

@article{Liu2016THEHI,
  title={THE HAWAII INFRARED PARALLAX PROGRAM. II. YOUNG ULTRACOOL FIELD DWARFS},
  author={Michael C. Liu and Trent J. Dupuy and Katelyn Allers},
  journal={The Astrophysical Journal},
  year={2016},
  volume={833},
  pages={96}
}

• Michael C. Liu, T. Dupuy, K. Allers
• Published 7 December 2016
• Physics, Geology
• The Astrophysical Journal

(Abridged) We present a large, uniform analysis of young (~10-150 Myr) ultracool dwarfs, based on new high-precision IR parallaxes for 68 objects. We find that low-gravity (VL-G) late-M and L dwarfs form a continuous sequence in IR color-magnitude diagrams, separate from field objects and current theoretical models. VL-G objects also appear distinct from young substellar (brown dwarf and exoplanet) companions, suggesting the two populations have a different range of physical properties. In contrast, at the L/T transition, young, old, and peculiar objects all span a narrow range in near-IR absolute magnitudes. At a given spectral type, the IR absolute magnitudes of young objects can be offset from ordinary field dwarfs, with the largest offsets occurring in the Y and J bands for late-M dwarfs (brighter than the field) and mid/late-L dwarfs (fainter than the field). Overall, low-gravity (VL-G) objects have the most uniform photometric behavior while intermediate-gravity (INT-G) objects are more diverse, suggesting a third governing parameter beyond spectral type and gravity class. We examine the moving group memberships for all young ultracool dwarfs with parallaxes, changing/refuting the status of 23 objects and fortifying the status of another 28 objects. We use our resulting age-calibrated sample to establish empirical young isochrones and find a declining frequency of VL-G objects relative to INT-G objects with increasing age. Notable objects in our sample include high-velocity INT-G objects; very red, late-L dwarfs with high surface gravities; candidate disk-bearing members of the MBM20 cloud and beta Pic moving group; and very young distant interlopers. Finally, we provide a comprehensive summary of the absolute magnitudes and spectral classifications of 102 young ultracool dwarfs, found in the field and as substellar companions to young stars.