Related papers: Methane Opacities in T Dwarf Atmospheres
We present new 5.2-14.5 micron low-resolution spectra of 14 mid-L to mid-T dwarfs, as well as 3.0-4.1 micron spectra for five of these dwarfs. These data are supplemented by existing red and near-infrared spectra (0.6-2.5 micron), as well…
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 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,…
One of the mechanisms suggested for the L to T dwarf spectral type transition is the appearance of relatively cloud-free regions across the disk of brown dwarfs as they cool. The existence of partly cloudy regions has been supported by…
We report final results from our 2.5 year infrared parallax program carried out with the European Southern Observatory 3.5m New Technology Telescope and the SOFI infrared camera. Our program targeted precision astrometric observations of…
We present preliminary non-grey model atmospheres and interiors for cool brown dwarfs. The resulting synthetic spectra are compared to available spectroscopic and photometric observations of the coolest brown dwarf yet discovered, Gl229B…
We present 6300--10100 {\AA} spectra for a sample of 13 T dwarfs observed using LRIS mounted on the Keck I 10m Telescope. A variety of features are identified and analyzed, including pressure-broadened K I and Na I doublets; narrow Cs I and…
We calculate new line lists and opacities for the $F^4\Delta_i-X^4\Delta_i$ transition of FeH. The 0-0 band of this transition is responsible for the Wing-Ford band seen in M-type stars, sunspots and brown dwarfs. The new Einstein A values…
We determine the effective temperature, surface gravity and projected rotational velocity of nine T dwarfs from the comparison of high-resolution near-infrared spectra and synthetic models, and estimate the mass and age of the objects from…
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…
Isolated brown dwarfs provide remarkable laboratories for understanding atmospheric physics in the low-irradiation regime, and can be observed more precisely than exoplanets. As such, they provide a glimpse into the future of high-SNR…
We present Spitzer observations at [3.6] and [4.5] microns together with the methane short (1.58\,\mic)-methane long (1.69\,\mic) colour for 3 cool dwarfs in the Pleiades, PLZJ23, PLZJ93 and PLZJ100. We determine the effective temperatures…
We describe a method for accurately determining M dwarf metallicities with spectral synthesis based on abundance analyses of visual binary stars. We obtained high resolution, high signal-to-noise spectra of each component of five visual…
Growing observations of brown dwarfs have provided evidence for strong atmospheric circulation on these objects. Directly imaged planets share similar observations, and can be viewed as low-gravity versions of brown dwarfs. Vigorous…
We test state-of-the-art model atmospheres for young very low-mass stars and brown dwarfs in the infrared, by comparing the predicted synthetic photometry over 1.2-24 {\mu}m to the observed photometry of M-type spectral templates in…
We present detections of methane in R of $\sim$1300, L band spectra of VHS 1256 b and PSO 318.5, two low gravity, red, late L dwarfs that share the same colors as the HR 8799 planets. These spectra reveal shallow methane features, which…
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 fit archival near-infrared spectra of 305 brown dwarfs with atmosphere models from the Sonora and Phoenix groups. Using the parameters of the best-fit models as estimates for the physical properties of the brown dwarfs in our sample, 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…
We address disequilibrum abundances of some simple molecules in the atmospheres of solar composition brown dwarfs and self-luminous extrasolar giant planets using a kinetics-based 1D atmospheric chemistry model. Our approach is to use the…