New neighbours: IV. 30 DENIS late-M dwarfs between 15 and 30 parsecs

Abstract

We present 30 new nearby ( 30 pc) red dwarf candidates, with estimated spectral types M 6 to M 8. 26 were directly selected from the DENIS database, and another 4 were first extracted from the LHS catalogue and cross-identified with a DENIS counterpart. Their proper motions were measured on the MAMA measuring machine from plates spanning 13 to 48 years, and are larger than 0.1 yr-1, ruling out the possibility that they are giants. Their distances were estimated from the DENIS colours and IR colour-magnitude relations and range between 15 and 30 pc.