Related papers: A Patchy Cloud Model for the L to T Dwarf Transiti…

Clouds of metal-bearing condensates play a critical role in shaping the emergent spectral energy distributions of the coolest classes of low-mass stars and brown dwarfs, L and T dwarfs. Because condensate clouds in planetary atmospheres…

We present a new suite of atmosphere models with flexible cloud parameters to investigate the effects of clouds on brown dwarfs across the L/T transition. We fit these models to a sample of 13 objects with well-known masses, distances, and…

Context: L-type ultra-cool dwarfs and brown dwarfs have cloudy atmospheres that could host weather-like phenomena. The detection of photometric or spectral variability would provide insight into unresolved atmospheric heterogeneities, such…

Recent discoveries of variable brown dwarfs have provided us with a new window into their three-dimensional cloud structure. The highest variables are found at the L/T transition, where the cloud cover is thought to break up, but…

Brown dwarfs of a variety of spectral types have been observed to be photometrically variable. Previous studies have focused on objects at the L/T transition, where the iron and silicate clouds in L dwarfs break up or dissipate. However,…

The color-magnitude (CM) diagram of cool dwarfs and brown dwarfs based on the recent astrometry data is compared with the CM diagram transformed from the theoretical evolutionary tracks via the unified cloudy models (UCMs) of L and T…

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…

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…

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…

Using a model for refractory clouds, a novel algorithm for handling them, and the latest gas-phase molecular opacities, we have produced a new series of L and T dwarf spectral and atmosphere models as a function of gravity and metallicity,…

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…

While the precise mechanism responsible for the L to T dwarf transition remains unclear, it is clearly caused by changing cloud characteristics. Here we briefly review data relevant to understanding the nature of the transition and argue…

Condensate clouds strongly impact the spectra of brown dwarfs and exoplanets. Recent discoveries of variable L/T transition dwarfs argued for patchy clouds in at least some ultracool atmospheres. This study aims to measure the frequency and…

The transition between the L dwarf and T dwarf spectral classes is one of the most remarkable along the stellar/brown dwarf Main Sequence, separating sources with photospheres containing mineral condensate clouds from those containing…

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…

A sophisticated approach to condensate opacity is required to properly model the atmospheres of L and T dwarfs. Here we review different models for the treatment of condensates in brown dwarf atmospheres. We conclude that models which…

[ABRIDGED] We report the results of a $J$ band search for cloud-related variability in the atmospheres of 62 L4-T9 dwarfs using the Du Pont 2.5-m telescope at Las Campanas Observatory and the Canada France Hawaii Telescope on Mauna Kea. We…

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…

A number of brown dwarfs are now known to be variable with observed amplitudes as large as 10-30% at some wavelengths. While spatial inhomogeneities in cloud coverage and thickness are likely responsible for much of the observed…

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…