* Astronomy

Title: WISEP J180026.60+013453.1: A Nearby Late L Dwarf Near the Galactic Plane
Authors: John E. Gizis, Adam J. Burgasser, Jacqueline K. Faherty, Philip J. Castro, Michael M. Shara

We report a nearby L7.5 dwarf discovered using the Preliminary Data Release of the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) and the Two Micron All-Sky Survey (2MASS). WISEP J180026.60+013453.1 has a motion of 0.42 arcsec/yr and an estimated distance of 8.8 ±1.0 pc. With this distance, it currently ranks as the sixth closest known L dwarf, although a trigonometric parallax is needed to confirm this distance. It was previously overlooked because it lies near the Galactic Plane (b=12). As a relatively bright and nearby late L dwarf with normal near-infrared colours, W1800+0134 will serve as a benchmark for studies of cloud-related phenomena in cool substellar atmospheres.

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