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P.J. Lowrance (SSC), J.D. Kirkpatrick (IPAC), I.N. Reid (STScI)
The comparison of optical and 2MASS near-infrared photometry for large samples of cataloged proper motion stars has the potential to discover previously unrecognized nearby objects of rare type. We have obtained classification spectra for carbon dwarf candidates which lie in a sparsely populated part of optical/near-IR color-color space within a cross-reference of the New Luytens Two-Tenths (NLTT) catalogue and 2MASS 2nd Release. We present the discovery of nine of the coolest and nearest carbon dwarfs, whose optical spectra, exhibiting absorptions by C2 and/or CN is displayed.
The only known discriminator between carbon giants and dwarfs is luminosity, which can be gained through distance or inferred from proper motion. Therefore, we have also observed most known dwarfs and giants to fully explore spectroscopic diagnostics that can be used to differentiate between carbon dwarfs and giants including many published in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey papers. We also plan to continue to merge the NLTT with the 2MASS ALL-Sky Release and obtain classification spectra for candidates for the rest of the sky not covered in the first merge.
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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 36 5
© 2004. The American Astronomical Society.