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[43.01] Spectroscopic Calibrations for the SDSS/2MASS Low Mass Luminosity Function

K. R. Covey, S. L. Hawley (Univ. of Washington, Astronomy Dept.), Sloan Digital Sky Survey Collaboration

The photometric precision and overwhelming size of the SDSS and 2MASS databases lend themselves to large statistical studies of astronomical objects. One such project is currently underway, correlating detections of low mass stars in both databases and making use of photometric parallax relations to construct a luminosity function for late type stars. However, a sample constructed from photometric identifications alone must be carefully corrected for bias, incompleteness, and contamination. We describe an ongoing observational campaign to calibrate the extent of these effects, and present early indications of the reliability of the relationships with which low mass dwarfs can be targeted from photometric detections in the SDSS and 2MASS databases.

The authors gratefully acknowledge support of this work from NASA ADP grant NAG5-13111.

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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 35#5
© 2003. The American Astronomical Soceity.