Related papers: A Panchromatic View of Brown Dwarf Aurorae
Aurorae are detected from all the magnetized planets in our Solar System, including Earth. They are powered by magnetospheric current systems that lead to the precipitation of energetic electrons into the high-latitude regions of the upper…
Photometric variability attributed to cloud phenomena is common in L/T transition brown dwarfs. Recent studies show that such variability may also trace aurorae, suggesting that localized magnetic heating may contribute to observed brown…
Recent observations have demonstrated that very-low mass stars and brown dwarfs are capable of sustaining strong magnetic fields despite their cool and neutral atmospheres. These kG field strengths are inferred based on strong highly…
Over two decades ago, the first detection of electron cyclotron maser instability (ECMI) radio emission from a brown dwarf confirmed the presence of aurorally precipitating electrons on these objects. This detection established that brown…
Brown dwarfs emit bursts of Halpha, white light flares, and show radio flares and quiescent radio emission. They are suggested to form Aurorae, similar to planets in the solar system but much more energetic. All these processes require a…
A variety of observations provide evidence for vigorous motion in the atmospheres of brown dwarfs and directly imaged giant planets. Motivated by these observations, we examine the dynamical regime of the circulation in the atmospheres and…
Context: Observations of auroral emissions are powerful means to remotely sense the space plasma environment around planetary bodies and ultracool dwarfs. Therefore successful searches and characterization of aurorae outside the Solar…
Radio and X-ray emission from brown dwarfs suggest that an ionised gas and a magnetic field with a sufficient flux density must be present. We perform a reference study for late M-dwarfs, brown dwarfs and giant gas planet to identify which…
Brown dwarfs are classified as objects which are not massive enough to sustain nuclear fusion of hydrogen, and are distinguished from planets by their ability to burn deuterium. Old (>10 Myr) brown dwarfs are expected to possess short-lived…
For main-sequence stars beyond spectral type M5 the characteristics of magnetic activity common to warmer solar-like stars change into the brown-dwarf domain: the surface magnetic field becomes more dipolar and the evolution of the field…
Ground-based and spacecraft telescopic observations, combined with an intensive modeling effort, have greatly enhanced our understanding of hot giant planets and brown dwarfs over the past ten years. Although these objects are all fluid,…
Three brown dwarfs in different evolutionary stages have been observed with the Chandra X-ray Observatory. Combining the new observations with previous studies presented in the literature yields a brown dwarf sample that reaches well down…
We present the first simultaneous, multi-wavelength observations of an L dwarf, the L3.5 candidate brown dwarf 2MASS J00361617+1821104, conducted with the Very Large Array, the Chandra X-ray Observatory, and the Kitt Peak 4-m telescope. We…
A number of fast-rotating ultra cool dwarfs (UCDs) emit pulsed coherent radiation, attributed to the electron cyclotron maser instability, a phenomenon that occurs in the solar system at planets with strong auroral emission. In this paper…
A number of ultra-cool dwarfs emit circularly polarised radio waves generated by the electron cyclotron maser instability. In the solar system such radio is emitted from regions of strong auroral magnetic field-aligned currents. We thus…
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…
I present the results of a multiyear survey of very low mass stars and brown dwarfs, at high spectral resolution. The spectra were gathered with the HIRES echelle at the Keck Observatory. Some of these objects are stellar and others are…
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…
Recently, studies of brown dwarfs have demonstrated that they possess strong magnetic fields and have the potential to produce radio and optical auroral emissions powered by magnetospheric currents. This emission provides the only window on…
We propose that the 2.7 micron H_2O, 3.3 micron CH_4 and 4.6 micron CO absorption bands can be good tracers of chromospheric activity in brown dwarfs. In our previous study, we found that there are difficulties in explaining entire spectra…