Low-mass stars in the spheroid of our Galaxy
Abstract
The number of stars in the spheroid of our Galaxy appears to increase steeply for smaller masses, with no evidence of a turnover in a simple power-law distribution down to 0.14solar, the limit of detectability. The measured rotation curve of the Galaxy at the Sun suggests that the mass function cannot be extended beyond 0.05 solar, in which case low-mass stars fall an order of magnitude short of being able to supply the galactic dark matter.
- Publication:
-
Nature
- Pub Date:
- July 1992
- DOI:
- 10.1038/358383a0
- Bibcode:
- 1992Natur.358..383R
- Keywords:
-
- Brown Dwarf Stars;
- Dark Matter;
- Galactic Rotation;
- Star Distribution;
- Stellar Mass;
- Astronomical Photometry;
- Mass Distribution;
- Missing Mass (Astrophysics);
- Stellar Luminosity;
- Astrophysics