UCLA

This dissertation combines the development of infrared instrumentation with the application of infrared imaging and spectroscopy to studies of the highest and lowest mass products of the star formation process. I supported the development and commissioning of FLITECAM, a ~1-5 μm imager and spectrograph for SOFIA (Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy), as the UCLA FLITECAM Instrument Scientist, and used FLITECAM to probe high-mass star formation. In parallel, I used the NIRSPEC spectrograph at the W.M. Keck Observatory to study the lowest mass products of star formation, brown dwarfs. Here, I present my FLITECAM development work and an overview of FLITECAM's in-flight performance in both imaging and spectroscopy modes. I also discuss early science with FLITECAM, including an imaging survey of the NGC 2024 and W3 star-forming regions using FLITECAM's Paschen-α (1.87 μm) and Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon (PAH; 3.3 μm) filters. Additionally, I present the results of a Keck/NIRSPEC spectroscopic follow-up survey of 13 late-type T dwarfs (T6-T9) with unusually red or blue J-H colors. Previous work suggests that J-H color outliers may represent the high-gravity, low-metallicity (old) and low-gravity, high-metallicity (young) extremes of the late-T dwarf population. I find that the T dwarf color outliers in this sample are more homogenous than expected, though three objects stand out as potentially old and a fourth object stands out as potentially young. To characterize the physical properties of the sample, I compare the target spectra to both spectral standards and publicly available atmospheric model grids.