Abstract
The number of stars in the spheroid of our Galaxy appears to increase steeply for smaller masses, with no evidence of a turnover in a simple power-law distribution down to 0.14⊙, the limit of detectability. The measured rotation curve of the Galaxy at the Sun suggests that the mass function cannot be extended beyond 0.05 ⊙, in which case low-mass stars fall an order of magnitude short of being able to supply the galactic dark matter.
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Richer, H., Fahlman, G. Low-mass stars in the spheroid of our Galaxy. Nature 358, 383–386 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1038/358383a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/358383a0
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