Brown Dwarfs and Extrasolar Planets

(Jones, Lucas, Napiwotzki, Pinfield)

We are leaders in a wide range of programmes to detect and characterise brown dwarfs and extrasolar planets. We have discovered a variety of record breaking low-temperature brown dwarfs and examples with unusual properties, and are one of only a few groups worldwide to discover nearby extrasolar planets. We are leading a number of major brown dwarf and extrasolar planet projects including; the detection and follow-up of brown dwarfs from the UKIDSS, VISTA and WISE surveys, an infrared planet transit survey with over 100 nights worth of UKIRT observations, new techniques to find extrasolar planets using our own polarimeter to observe their reflected light, and red-optical spectra to push radial velocity surveys to later spectral types. We have a variety of scientific objectives, with long-term ones being; a proper understanding of ultracool atmospheres (spanning the brown dwarf and giant planet regime), a full characterisation of Galactic brown dwarf populations (mass function, birth-rate, multiplicity and kinematics), and the discovery and characterisation of the full range of multiple planet systems and Earth analogues around different types of star.

• Revealing the nature of brown dwarfs from population studies
• Understanding ultracool atmospheres using benchmark brown dwarfs
• Brown dwarfs in star formation regions
• Brown-dwarf Disk Surveys 
• Hunting for "extrasolar earths" via the near infrared transit method
• Radial Velocity Planet Searches
• Direct spectroscopic detection of extrasolar planets
• Direct Observation of Extrasolar Planets with PLANETPOL