New brown dwarfs in the south part of the Upper Scorpius Association

Abstract

This paper presents the results of a search for brown dwarfs in the Upper Scorpius Association using data from the UKIRT Infrared Deep Sky Survey (UKIDSS) Galactic Cluster Survey. Candidate young brown dwarfs were first chosen by their position in colour magnitude diagrams with further selection based on proper motions to ensure Upper Scorpius membership. Proper motions were derived by comparing UKIDSS and 2MASS data. Using that method we identify 19 new brown dwarfs in the southern part of the association. In addition there are up to 8 likely members with slightly higher dispersion velocity. The ratio of brown dwarfs to stars was found to be consistent with other areas in Upper Scorpius. It was also found to be similar to other results from young clusters with OB associations, and lower than those without, suggesting the brown dwarf formation rate may be a function of environment.