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In order to map the core of the Orion Nebula Cluster with
unprecedented sensitivity and high spatial resolution,
we obtained very deep near-infrared images of the Trapezium
Cluster with the Multi-Conjugate Adaptive Optics Demonstrator
(MAD) instrument at the VLT. The goal of these observations
has been to study the very low-mass end of the IMF down to the
planetary-mass regime in the most dense part of the ONC, i.e.
in the Trapezium Cluster core.
An area of ~3.5 arcmin^2 has been surveyed at 1.65 mic and 2.2i mic
and several new candidate planetary mass objects with potential
masses < 13 M_Jup have been detected. Furthermore, the final
data has a spatial resolution of <0.1arcsec over most of the
area covered, enabling us to study the brown dwarf binary
fraction, which is tighly linked to the brown dwarf formation
process in dense stellar clusters.
The MAD instrument was built in the framework of a feasibility
study of multi-conjugate adaptive optics techniques that are planned
to be used at the E-ELT. Related to this, the spectroscopic confirmation
of those extremely faint objects detected in our observations
(potentially 3-10 M_Jup) must await the completion of a >30m telescope.
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