The very low-mass main sequence in the Galactic cluster Praesepe

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Abstract
We present a detailed analysis of the very low-mass main-sequence membership of the Galactic cluster Praesepe. Spectra of a small sample of the membership list show them to be M dwarfs, as inferred from the photometry and proper motions. When combined with data from higher mass stars, mass segregation is clearly indicated. Luminosity and mass functions, corrected for incomplete spatial sampling, are generated and shown to be similar to those of the Pleiades and field. The mass function is rising at the lowest masses - extrapolation of this rising mass function implies a large population of brown dwarfs.