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Issue A&A
Volume 409, Number 1, October I 2003
Page(s) 147 - 158
Section Formation, structure and evolution of stars
DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361:20030973



A&A 409, 147-158 (2003)
DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361:20030973

Constraints on the IMF and the brown dwarf population of the young cluster IC 348

T. Preibisch1, T. Stanke1 and H. Zinnecker2

1  Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie, Auf dem Hügel 69, 53121 Bonn, Germany
2  Astrophysikalisches Institut Potsdam, An der Sternwarte 16, 14482 Potsdam, Germany

(Received 28 January 2003 / Accepted 10 June 2003)

Abstract
We use a deep near-infrared census of the young stellar cluster IC 348 to construct and analyze its luminosity function. Our mosaic image of IC 348 covers the full extent of the cluster with a completeness limit of $J \sim 19.5$ and is therefore sensitive for 2 Myr old cluster members with masses as low as $M \ge 0.005\,M_\odot$ for the mean extinction of the known cluster members ( $A_V \sim 3.5$ mag). By using information on stellar ages, extinctions, and the binary population in IC 348 from several recent studies, we can derive statistical constraints on the stellar and sub-stellar mass function of the cluster by modeling the observed luminosity function. We find that the stellar part of the mass function in IC 348 is well described by the galactic field star IMF. While several brown dwarfs have recently been identified in IC 348, our data show that the cluster harbors only a relatively small population of sub-stellar objects. We find that brown dwarfs in the mass range $0.02{-}0.075~M_\odot$ constitute at most ~ $10\%$ of the total cluster population, in contrast to recent results suggesting much larger brown dwarf populations in other young clusters and also the galactic field. Our results suggest that IC 348 has ~ $2 \times$ fewer brown dwarfs than the Orion Trapezium cluster. A similar brown dwarf "deficit" was recently found in the Taurus star forming region. We speculate about the possible causes for this result, including the presence or absence of nearby massive stars and their influence on the formation of low-mass young stellar objects.


Key words: stars: pre-main sequence -- stars: low-mass, brown dwarfs -- stars: luminosity function, mass function -- open clusters and associations: general

Offprint request: T. Preibisch, preib@mpifr-bonn.mpg.de

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© ESO 2003


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