Faint Star Counts in NGC 6397
Abstract
Star counts in the globular cluster NGC 6397, obtained in the Cousins I band, are presented. A mass-luminosity law is used to derive a mass function which extends to a mass of about 0.12 solar, just short of the hydrogen-burning limit. The dynamic range of this mass function exceeds by about a factor of four that achieved from the visual band observations typical of most other clusters. There is no evidence for a cutoff at the low-mass limit, strongly suggesting that the mass spectrum in the cluster extends into the brown dwarf regime.
- Publication:
-
The Astrophysical Journal
- Pub Date:
- August 1989
- DOI:
- 10.1086/185508
- Bibcode:
- 1989ApJ...343L..49F
- Keywords:
-
- Faint Objects;
- Globular Clusters;
- Star Distribution;
- Stellar Luminosity;
- Subdwarf Stars;
- Astronomical Photometry;
- Brown Dwarf Stars;
- Mass To Light Ratios;
- Metallicity;
- Stellar Mass;
- Astrophysics;
- CLUSTERS: GLOBULAR;
- STARS: LUMINOSITIES