Ultracool dwarfs in deep extragalactic surveys using the virtual observatory: ALHAMBRA and COSMOS

ABSTRACT Ultracool dwarfs (UCDs) encompass a wide variety of compact stellar-like objects with spectra classified as late-M, L, T, and Y. Most of them have been discovered using wide-field imaging surveys. The Virtual Observatory (VO) has proven to be of great utility to efficiently exploit these astronomical resources. We aim to validate a VO methodology designed to discover and characterize UCDs in deep extragalactic surveys like Advance Large Homogeneous Area Medium-Band Redshift Astronomical (ALHAMBRA) and Cosmological Evolution Survey (COSMOS). Three complimentary searches based on parallaxes, proper motions and colours, respectively, were carried out. A total of 897 candidate UCDs were found, with only 16 previously reported in SIMBAD. Most of the new UCDs reported here are likely late-M and L dwarfs because of the limitations imposed by the utilization of optical (Gaia DR2 and r-band) data. We complement ALHAMBRA and COSMOS photometry with other catalogues in the optical and infrared using VOSA, a VO tool that estimates effective temperatures from the spectral energy distribution fitting to collections of theoretical models. The agreement between the number of UCDs found in the COSMOS field and theoretical estimations together with the low false-negative rate (known UCDs not discovered in our search) validates the methodology proposed in this work, which will be used in the forthcoming wide and deep surveys provided by the Euclid space mission. Simulations of Euclid number counts for UCDs detectable in different photometric passbands are presented for a wide survey area of 15 000 deg2, and the limitations of applicability of Euclid data to detect UCDs using the methods employed in this paper are discussed.

Increasing the census of ultracool dwarfs in wide binary and multiple systems using Dark Energy Survey DR1 and Gaia DR2 data

ABSTRACT We present the discovery of 255 binary and 6 multiple system candidates with wide (> 5 arcsec) separation composed by ultracool dwarfs (UCDs) companions to stars, plus nine double ultracool dwarf systems. These systems were selected based on common distance criteria. About 90 per cent of the total sample has proper motions available and 73 per cent of the systems also satisfy a common proper motion criterion. The sample of ultracool candidates was taken from the Dark Energy Survey (DES) and the candidate stellar primaries are from Gaia DR2 and DES data. We compute chance alignment probabilities in order to assess the physical nature of each pair. We find that 174 candidate pairs with Gaia DR2 primaries and 81 pairs with a DES star as a primary have chance alignment probabilities $\lt 5{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$. Only nine candidate systems composed of two UCDs were identified. The sample of candidate multiple systems is made up of five triple systems and one quadruple system. The majority of the UCDs found in binaries and multiples are of early L type and the typical wide binary fraction over the L spectral types is $2\!-\!4{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$. Our sample of candidate wide binaries with UCDs as secondaries constitutes a substantial increase over the known number of such systems, which are very useful to constrain the formation and evolution of UCDs.

Occurrence rate of exoplanets orbiting ultracool dwarfs as probed by K2

Context. With the discovery of a planetary system around the ultracool dwarf TRAPPIST-1, there has been a surge of interest in such stars as potential planet hosts. Planetary systems around ultracool dwarfs represent our best chance of characterising temperate rocky-planet atmospheres with the James Webb Space Telescope. However, TRAPPIST-1 remains the only known system of its kind and the occurrence rate of planets around ultracool dwarfs is still poorly constrained. Aims. We seek to perform a complete transit search on the ultracool dwarfs observed by NASA’s K2 mission, and use the results to constrain the occurrence rate of planets around these stars. Methods. We filter and characterise the sample of ultracool dwarfs observed by K2 by fitting their spectral energy distributions and using parallaxes from Gaia. We build an automatic pipeline to perform photometry, detrend the light curves, and search for transit signals. Using extensive injection-recovery tests of our pipeline, we compute the detection sensitivity of our search, and thus the completeness of our sample. We infer the planetary occurrence rates within a hierarchical Bayesian model (HBM) to treat uncertain planetary parameters. With the occurrence rate parametrised by a step-wise function, we present a convenient way to directly marginalise over the second level of our HBM (the planetary parameters). Our method is applicable generally and can greatly speed up inference with larger catalogues of detected planets. Results. We detect one planet in our sample of 702 ultracool dwarfs: a previously validated mini-Neptune. We thus infer a mini-Neptune (2−4 R⊕) occurrence rate of η = 0.20−0.11+0.16 within orbital periods of 1−20 days. For super-Earths (1−2 R⊕) and ice or gas giants (4−6 R⊕) within 1−20 days, we place 95% credible intervals of η < 1.14 and η < 0.29, respectively. If TRAPPIST-1-like systems were ubiquitous, we would have a ~96% chance of finding at least one.