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AR 17561 (Archival Research)

Mon Nov 11 04:54:47 GMT 2024

Principal Investigator: Daniella Bardalez Gagliuffi
PI Institution: Amherst College
Investigators (xml)

Title: The largest high angular resolution survey of ultracool dwarfs using the HST archive
Cycle: 31

Abstract
We propose to leverage the HST archive in search for faint, close-in companions to all known ultracool dwarfs (UCD) previously imaged with HST with a post-processing technique. Our scientific goals are to (1) measure a robust close-in UCD multiplicity fraction at high angular resolution, (2) constrain the true peak of the UCD binary separation distribution, and (3) estimate the mass ratio distribution of the UCD population. To achieve unprecedented angular resolution The double-PSF technique has a proven record of detecting sub-pixel binaries, and it is adaptable and flexible across different instruments, pixel scales, and exposure times since it uses an empirical PSF from the image itself. Our proposal will effectively amount to be the largest high angular resolution survey ever carried out for UCD and revisit crucial measurements to piece together our understanding of brown dwarf formation.