How do brown dwarfs form? Some theories point to a star-like birth, accreting material from a molecular cloud, while some others point to a planet-like formation from a pre-stellar disk. Either way, the essential mechanisms for brown dwarf formation remain under debate by theorists. Given the astronomical timelines of star formation (1-10 million years), we cannot witness the formation process in action, but we can study its consequences on the statistical properties of the systems created.
Spectral binaries of brown dwarfs
October 13, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Carl Melis’s Precision Distance Measurement of the Pleiades Makes the Cover of Science
August 29, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Carl Melis and collaborators have just published the most accurate distance measurement to the Pleiades Star Cluster – reported on the cover of Science magazine – and one conclusion stands out: Hipparcos was wrong.
2014 Summer Undergraduate Research Conference
August 25, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Cool Star Lab undergraduates participated en masse at the 2014 Summer Undergraduate Research Conference (SURC) on August 14th. Christian Aganze, Mike Lopez, Rosalinda Lopez, Caleb Choban, and Kieran Berton each presented their summer’s work in the Astrophysics session, moderated by PI Adam Burgasser. Morehouse-UCSD Physics Bridge Fellows Jeremy Ariche and Saidou Ngaide also presented in this session. Melisa Tallis and Morehouse Fellow Julian Pilate-Hutcherson, who worked in the Shpyrko Lab this summer, presented in the parallel Physics & Engineering session; Jarrhett Butler, another Morehouse Fellow, presented in the Biophysics session. This was the first time Astrophysics had its own session at the SURC, and the room was filled with astronomy fans and proud mentors.
Congratulations to everyone on a successful summer of research!
Cool Star Lab Presents at Cool Stars Conference
June 16, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Adam Burgasser and Daniella Bardalez Gagliuffi were among hundreds of attendees at the 18th Cambridge Workshop on Cool Stars, Stellar Systems and the Sun, held in Flagstaff, AZ, June 8-13. This biennial conference highlights the latest research in low-temperature, low-mass stars and brown dwarfs, and this year had its fair share of exciting results in both observation and theory.
Cool Star Lab Undergraduates Present Research at Research Symposium
May 31, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Undergraduate researchers in the Cool Star Lab presented their year’s work on May 28th, during the UCSD Faculty Mentor Program Undergraduate Research Symposium. This was the first Symposium to feature poster presentations by undergraduates.
