Abstract: The intrinsically faint M dwarfs are the most numerous stars in the Galaxy, have main-sequence lifetimes longer than the Hubble time, and host some of the most interesting planetary systems known to date. Their identification and classification throughout the Galaxy is crucial to unraveling the processes involved in the formation of planets, stars and the Milky Way. The ESO Public Survey VISTA Variables in the Vía Láctea is a deep near-IR survey mapping the Galactic bulge and southern plane. The VVV b201 tile, located in the border of the bulge, was specifically selected for the characterisation of M dwarfs.
We identified 23,345 objects in VVV b201 with colours consistent with M dwarf stars. We provided M spectral types (modulo 1 subtype) and expected distances from photometry for all M dwarf candidates. In the range 12<Ks<16, we identified 753 stars as possible giant contaminants out of 9,232 M dwarf candidates. Considering only 25 out of the first 26 epochs of VVV, we found transit-like signals in the light curves of 95 M dwarf candidates and of 12 possible giants.
Bárbara Rojas-Ayala (CAUP - U. Porto)
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This seminar is supported by Portuguese Funds through the CIDMA - Centre for Research and Development in Mathematics and Applications, and the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology ("FCT" - Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia), within the project UID/MAT/04106/2013.
