Classification of elusive astronomical objects

Here, we have used three methods, the neural network and two variants of k-nearest neighbour, to identify brown dwarf candidates using the photometric colours of known brown dwarfs. We initially check the efficiencies of these three classification techniques, both individually and collectively, on known objects.

This is followed by their application to three regions in the sky, namely Hercules (2{deg}x2{deg}), Serpens (9{deg}x4{deg}), and Lyra (2{deg}x2{deg}). Testing these algorithms on sets of objects that include known brown dwarfs show a high level of completeness. This includes the Hercules and Serpens regions where brown dwarfs have been detected.