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K. R. Covey, S. L. Hawley, J. J. Bochanski (University of Washington), SDSS Collaboration
We present an initial measurement of the luminosity and mass functions of low mass stars as constructed from a catalog of matched Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and 2 Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS) point sources. We have assembled a photometric catalog of 25,000+ matched SDSS and 2MASS point sources, spanning over 30 square degrees on the sky. We have also obtained follow-up spectroscopy, complete to J=16, of 500+ low mass dwarf candidates within a 1 square degree sub-sample, and thousands of additional dwarf candidates in the remaining 29 square degrees. We have used this spectroscopic sample to assess the impact of, and correct for, photometric biases and contamination by distinct classes of astronomical objects found in nearby regions of color space (e.g. hi-z QSOs). Having validated this method to generate a low mass luminosity function from matched SDSS/2MASS datasets, future studies will enable extending this technique to the entirety of the SDSS/2MASS overlap.
The authors gratefully acknowledge the NASA ADP and GSRP programs for funding which enabled this work.
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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 37 #4
© 2005. The American Astronomical Soceity.