English

Multiple Patchy Cloud Layers in the Planetary Mass Object SIMP0136+0933

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics 2024-02-27 v2 Solar and Stellar Astrophysics

Abstract

Multi-wavelength photometry of brown dwarfs and planetary-mass objects provides insight into their atmospheres and cloud layers. We present near-simultaneous JJ- and KsK_s-band multi-wavelength observations of the highly variable T2.5 planetary-mass object, SIMP J013656.5+093347. We reanalyze observations acquired over a single night in 2015 using a recently developed data reduction pipeline. For the first time, we detect a phase shift between JJ- and KsK_s-band light curves, which we measure to be 39.91.1+3.639.9^{\circ +3.6}_{ -1.1}. Previously, phase shifts between near-infrared and mid-infrared observations of this object were detected and attributed to probing different depths of the atmosphere, and thus different cloud layers. Using the Sonora Bobcat models, we expand on this idea to show that at least two different patchy cloud layers must be present to explain the measured phase shift. Our results are generally consistent with recent atmospheric retrievals of this object and other similar L/T transition objects.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2402.15001,
  title  = {Multiple Patchy Cloud Layers in the Planetary Mass Object SIMP0136+0933},
  author = {Allison M. McCarthy and Philip S. Muirhead and Patrick Tamburo and Johanna M. Vos and Caroline V. Morley and Jacqueline Faherty and Daniella C. Bardalez Gagliuffi and Eric Agol and Christopher Theissen},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2402.15001},
  year   = {2024}
}

Comments

15 pages, 8 figures, Accepted for publication in ApJ

R2 v1 2026-06-28T14:57:50.585Z