SIMP: A Near-Infrared Proper Motion Survey

TL;DR

SIMP is a near-infrared proper motion survey that uses multi-year data to identify and measure the motions of brown dwarfs and other objects at high galactic latitudes, covering 28% of the sky.

Contribution

It introduces a new near-infrared proper motion survey with a 4-10 year baseline, improving detection of brown dwarfs at various distances.

Findings

Detected T dwarfs up to ~25 pc away.

L dwarfs may be found as far as 100 pc.

Achieved a proper motion sensitivity of 0.125-0.250"/yr.

Abstract

SIMP is a proper motion (PM) survey made with the Observatoire du Mont Megantic (OMM) wide-field near-infrared camera CPAPIR at the CTIO 1.5 m and OMM 1.6 m telescopes. The SIMP observations were initiated in early 2005, are still ongoing and, to date, have covered 28% of the sky at high galactic latitudes. The PMs of the sources detected are determined by comparing their measured positions with those listed in the 2MASS point source catalog, giving a time baseline of 4 to 10 years. The 5 sigma uncertainty on the relative SIMP and 2MASS astrometry is 1", equivalent to a PM lower limit of 0.125-0.250"/yr, or a tangential velocity limit of 15-30 km/s at 25 pc. Up to the 2MASS magnitude limit (J~16.5), T dwarfs are found out to ~25 pc, while L dwarfs may be found as far as 100 pc away.