Related papers: CLOUDS search for variability in brown dwarf atmos…

I present the results of a program to spectrophotometrically monitor the L1.5 dwarf 2MASSW J1145572+231730 to identify the cause of photospheric variability in ultra cool dwarfs. Plausible candidates are magnetically-induced star spots and…

Brown dwarfs constitute a missing link between low-mass stars and giant planets. Their atmospheres display chemical species typical of planets, and one could wonder whether they also have weather-like patterns. While brown dwarf surface…

We have monitored the photometric variability of nine field L and T brown dwarfs for 10 nights during the course of one month with the Palomar 60 inch Telescope Near-Infrared Camera. Results of statistical analyses indicate that at least…

Observations of variability can provide valuable information about the processes of cloud formation and dissipation in brown dwarf atmospheres. Here we report the results of an independent analysis of archival data from the Brown dwarf…

Most directly imaged giant exoplanets are fainter than brown dwarfs with similar spectra. To explain their relative underluminosity unusually cloudy atmospheres have been proposed. However, with multiple parameters varying between any two…

We present a photometric variability survey of young planetary-mass objects using the New Technology Telescope in the Js and Ks bands. Surface gravity plays an important role in the atmospheric structure of brown dwarfs, as young low…

Current atmospheric models cannot reproduce some of the characteristics of the transition between the L dwarfs with cloudy atmospheres and the T dwarfs with dust-depleted photospheres. It has been proposed that a majority of the L/T…

Many brown dwarfs exhibit photometric variability at levels from tenths to tens of percents. The photometric variability is related to magnetic activity or patchy cloud coverage, characteristic of brown dwarfs near the L-T transition.…

Only a handful of late-T brown dwarfs have been monitored for spectro-photometric variability, leaving incomplete the study of the atmospheric cloud structures of the coldest brown dwarfs, that share temperatures with some cold,…

We report the discovery of a photometric variability in the bright T2.5 brown dwarf SIMP J013656.5+093347. Continuous J-band photometry has been obtained for several hours on four different nights. The light curves show a periodic…

We have undertaken a differential photometric I band search for variability in three Pleiades brown dwarfs and three very low mass field L dwarfs. Analysis of the resultant time series for the Pleiades brown dwarfs (Teide 1, Calar 3, Roque…

The re-emergence of the 0.99 $\mu$m FeH feature in brown dwarfs of early- to mid-T spectral type has been suggested as evidence for cloud disruption where flux from deep, hot regions below the Fe cloud deck can emerge. The same mechanism…

Numerous observational evidence has suggested the presence of active meteorology in the atmospheres of brown dwarfs. A near-infrared brightness variability has been observed. Clouds have a major role in shaping the thermal structure and…

We have used an innovative tuneable filter technique to carry out a search for the variability signatures of meterological processes in the atmospheres of two nearby brown dwarfs. We find no evidence for variability in the L-type brown…

Brown dwarfs are massive, giant exoplanet analogues subject to variability and colour changes, known as the L/T transition, fundamental for their thermal evolution. The drivers of the L/T transition remain elusive, with atmospheric…

Brown dwarfs are compact objects that do not reach temperatures high enough to produce sustained hydrogen fusion. Consequently, they cool over time, gradually evolving through later spectral types. In fact, three new spectral types (L, T,…

We present new evolution sequences for very low mass stars, brown dwarfs and giant planets and use them to explore a variety of influences on the evolution of these objects. We compare our results with previous work and discuss the causes…

Recent monitoring programs of ultra cool field M and L dwarfs (low mass stars or brown dwarfs) have uncovered low amplitude photometric I-band variations which may be associated with an inhomogeneous distribution of photospheric…

The transition between the two lowest-luminosity spectral classes of brown dwarfs--the L dwarfs and T dwarfs--is traversed by nearly all brown dwarfs as they cool over time. Yet distinct features of this transition, such as the "J-band…

As brown dwarfs cool, a variety of species condense in their atmospheres, forming clouds. Iron and silicate clouds shape the emergent spectra of L dwarfs, but these clouds dissipate at the L/T transition. A variety of other condensates are…