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Stellar Multiplicity and the Initial Mass Function: Most Stars Are Single
Open accessAbstract
In this Letter I compare recent findings suggesting a low binary star fraction for late-type stars with knowledge concerning the forms of the stellar initial and present-day mass functions for masses down to the hydrogen-burning limit. This comparison indicates that most stellar systems formed in the Galaxy are likely single and not binary, as has been often asserted. Indeed, in the current epoch two-thirds of all main-sequence stellar systems in the Galactic disk are composed of single stars. Some implications of this realization for understanding the star and planet formation process are briefly mentioned.
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Citations
Cited by
Conroy, C., Gunn, J. E., & White, M. (2009) · The Astrophysical Journal · doi:10.1088/0004-637x/699/1/486 · Cited by 1,891
THE SPITZER c2d LEGACY RESULTS: STAR-FORMATION RATES AND EFFICIENCIES; EVOLUTION AND LIFETIMES
Evans, N. J., Dunham, M. M., Jørgensen, J. K., Enoch, M. L., Merín, B., van Dishoeck, E. F., Alcalá, J. M., Myers, P. C., Stapelfeldt, K. R., Huard, T. L., et al. (2009) · The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series · doi:10.1088/0067-0049/181/2/321 · Cited by 1,649
Mann, A. W., Feiden, G. A., Gaidos, E., Boyajian, T., & Braun, K. V. (2015) · The Astrophysical Journal · doi:10.1088/0004-637x/804/1/64 · Cited by 717
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Debris Disks in Main‐Sequence Binary Systems
Trilling, D. E., Stansberry, J. A., Stapelfeldt, K. R., Rieke, G. H., Su, K. Y. L., Gray, R. O., Corbally, C. J., Bryden, G., Chen, C. H., Boden, A., et al. (2007) · The Astrophysical Journal · doi:10.1086/511668 · Cited by 368
Metadata
- Authors
- Lada, C. J.
- Venue
- The Astrophysical Journal
- Publisher
- American Astronomical Society
- Published
- 2006-02-23
- Volume
- 640
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- L63-L66
- ISSN
- 0004-637X (ISSN-L)
- 1538-4357
- OpenAlex
- W2162460629
- Cited by
- 321
- References
- 0
- FWCI
- 14.85
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
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