Four brown dwarfs in the Taurus star-forming region

We have identified four brown dwarfs in the Taurus star-forming region. They were first selected from R and I CCD photometry of 2.29 deg(2) obtained at the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope. Subsequently, they were recovered in the Two Micron All Sky Survey second incremental data release point source catalog. Low-resolution optical spectra obtained at the William Herschel Telescope allow us to derive spectral types in the range M7-M9. One of the brown dwarfs has very strong H alpha emission (EW = -340 Angstrom). It also displays Br gamma emission in an infrared spectrum obtained with the Infrared Camera and Spectrograph on the Subaru telescope, suggesting that it is accreting matter from a disk. The K I resonance doublet and the Na I subordinate doublet at 818.3 and 819.5 nm in these Taurus objects are weaker than in field dwarfs of similar spectral type, consistent with low surface gravities as expected for young brown dwarfs. Two of the objects are cooler and fainter than GG Tau Bb, the lowest mass known member of the Taurus association. We estimate masses of only 0.03 M-circle dot for them. The spatial distribution of brown dwarfs in Taurus hints at a possible anticorrelation between the density of stars and the density of brown dwarfs.