The Discovery of Two Nearby Carbon Dwarfs
Abstract
The comparison of optical and Two Micron All Sky Survey near-infrared photometry for large samples of cataloged proper-motion stars has given us the potential to discover previously unrecognized nearby objects of rare type. In this Letter we present the discovery of two new carbon dwarfs, LSR 2105+2514 and LP 758-43, which were drawn from proper-motion lists and which lie in a sparsely populated part of optical/near-IR color-color space. Their optical spectra, exhibiting absorptions by C2 and/or CN, are discussed. LSR 2105+2514 is believed to lie within 200 pc and would have MKs>=6.7, making it lower in luminosity than any carbon dwarf with a measured trigonometric parallax. LP 758-43, which is not as red but still probably cooler than the best studied carbon dwarfs, is believed to lie within 360 pc. Using our optical/near-infrared selection technique on published lists of proper-motion stars, we hope in the near future to expand further the current sample of carbon dwarfs, which numbers only 31 objects at this writing.
- Publication:
-
The Astrophysical Journal
- Pub Date:
- February 2003
- DOI:
- 10.1086/373986
- arXiv:
- arXiv:astro-ph/0301376
- Bibcode:
- 2003ApJ...584L..95L
- Keywords:
-
- Stars: Atmospheres;
- Stars: Carbon;
- Techniques: Photometric;
- Astrophysics
- E-Print:
- 6 pages, 4 figs, Accepted by ApJ Letters