Related papers: Methane Emission From a Cool Brown Dwarf
Recent JWST/NIRSpec observations have revealed strong methane emission at 3.326 microns in the $\approx$482 K brown dwarf CWISEP J193518.59$-$154620.3 (W1935). Atmospheric modeling suggests the presence of a $\approx$300 K thermal inversion…
Brown dwarfs display Jupiter-like auroral phenomena, such as rotationally modulated electron cyclotron maser radio emission. Radio observations of cyclotron maser emission can be used to measure their magnetic field strength, topology, and…
SIMP-0136 is a T2.5 brown dwarf whose young age ($200\pm50$~Myr) and low mass ($15\pm3$~M$_{\rm Jup}$) make it an ideal analogue for the directly imaged exoplanet population. With a 2.4 hour period, it is known to be variable in both the…
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,…
Irradiated brown dwarfs (BDs) provide natural laboratories to test our understanding of substellar and irradiated atmospheres. A handful of short-period BDs around white dwarfs (WDs) have been observed, but the uniquely intense UV-dominated…
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…
We present new optical and near-infrared spectra of WD0137-349; a close white dwarf - brown dwarf non-interacting binary system with a period of $\approx$114 minutes. We have confirmed the presence of H$\alpha$ emission and discovered He,…
Observations of auroras on exoplanets would provide numerous insights into planet-star systems, including potential detections of the planetary magnetic fields, constraints on host-star wind properties, and information on the thermal…
Planets orbiting close to hot stars experience intense extreme-ultraviolet radiation, potentially leading to atmosphere evaporation and to thermal dissociation of molecules. However, this extreme regime remains mainly unexplored due to…
The molecular ion H$_3^+$ is a potentially powerful tracer of the ionospheres and thermal structures of Jovian planets, but has never been detected in a planetary mass object outside of the solar system. Models predict that H$_3^+$ emission…
We present evolutionary models for cool brown dwarfs and extra-solar giant planets. The models reproduce the main trends of observed methane dwarfs in near-IR color-magnitude diagrams. We also present evolutionary models for irradiated…
We report the detection of H{$\alpha$} emission in the T dwarf (methane brown dwarf) 2MASSW J1237392+652615 over three days using the Keck Low Resolution Imaging Spectrograph. The measured line flux, log(L$_{H{\alpha}}$/L$_{bol}$) = $-$4.3,…
Isolated planetary-mass objects share their mass range with planets but do not orbit a star. They lack the necessary mass to support fusion in their cores and thermally radiate their heat from formation as they cool, primarily at infrared…
H$_3^+$ emission is the dominant cooling mechanism in Jupiter's thermosphere and a useful probe of temperature and ion densities. The H$_3^+$ ion is predicted to form in the thermospheres of close-in `hot Jupiters' where its emission would…
Cold brown dwarf atmospheres are good training grounds for analyzing temperate giant planets. WISEP J173835.52+273258.9 (WISE 1738) is an isolated Y0 brown dwarf with a temperature between 350-400 K, at the T-Y transition. While its…
The abundances of major carbon and oxygen bearing gases in the atmospheres of giant exoplanets provide insights into atmospheric chemistry and planet formation processes. Thermochemistry suggests that methane should be the dominant…
Brown dwarfs and giant planets orbiting close to a host star are subjected to significant irradiation that can modify the properties of their atmospheres. In order to test the atmospheric models that are used to describe these systems, it…
We report detection of thermal emission from the exoplanet WASP-19b at 3.6, 4.5, 5.8 and 8.0 micron. We used the InfraRed Array Camera on the Spitzer Space Telescope to observe two occultations of WASP-19b by its host star. We combine our…
The last few years has seen a dramatic increase in the number of exoplanets known and in the range of methods for characterising their atmospheric properties. At the same time, new discoveries of increasingly cooler brown dwarfs have pushed…
An interesting question about ultracool dwarfs recently raised in the literature is whether their emission is purely internally driven or partially powered by external processes similar to planetary aurora known from the solar system. In…