A SPITZER SEARCH FOR PLANETARY-MASS BROWN DWARFS WITH CIRCUMSTELLAR DISKS: CANDIDATE SELECTION

We report on initial results from a Spitzer program to search for very low mass brown dwarfs in Ophiuchus. This program is an extension of an earlier study by Allers et al. which had resulted in an extraordinary success rate, 18 confirmed out of 19 candidates. Their program combined near-infrared and Spitzer photometry to identify objects with very cool photospheres together with circumstellar disk emission to indicate youth. Our new program has obtained deep IRAC photometry of a 0.5 deg2 field that was part of the original Allers et al. study. We report 18 new candidates whose luminosities extend down to 10-4 Lsun, which suggests masses down to ∼2 MJ if confirmed. We describe our selection techniques, likely contamination issues, and follow-on photometry and spectroscopy that are in progress.