45,594 research outputs found

    High resolution infrared measurements

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    Sample ground based cloud radiance data from a high resolution infrared sensor are shown and the sensor characteristics are presented in detail. The purpose of the Infrared Analysis Measurement and Modeling Program (IRAMMP) is to establish a deterministic radiometric data base of cloud, sea, and littoral terrain clutter to be used to advance the design and development of Infrared Search and Track (IRST) systems as well as other infrared devices. The sensor is a dual band radiometric sensor and its description, together with that of the Data Acquisition System (DAS), are given. A schematic diagram of the sensor optics is shown

    HST Spectral Mapping of L/T Transition Brown Dwarfs Reveals Cloud Thickness Variations

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    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 objects, it remained difficult to observationally test this idea. We present a new method, sensitive time-resolved Hubble Space Telescope near-infrared spectroscopy, to study two rotating L/T transition brown dwarfs (2M2139 and SIMP0136). The observations provide spatially and spectrally resolved mapping of the cloud decks of the brown dwarfs. The data allow the study of cloud structure variations while other parameters are unchanged. We find that both brown dwarfs display variations of identical nature: J- and H-band brightness variations with minimal color and spectral changes. Our light curve models show that even the simplest surface brightness distributions require at least three elliptical spots. We show that for each source the spectral changes can be reproduced with a linear combination of only two different spectra, i.e. the entire surface is covered by two distinct types of regions. Modeling the color changes and spectral variations together reveal patchy cloud covers consisting of a spatially heterogenous mix of low-brightness, low-temperature thick clouds and brighter, thin and warm clouds. We show that the same thick cloud patches seen in our varying brown dwarf targets, if extended to the entire photosphere, predict near-infrared colors/magnitudes matching the range occupied by the directly imaged exoplanets that are cooler and less luminous than brown dwarfs with similar spectral types. This supports the models in which thick clouds are responsible for the near infrared properties of these underluminous exoplanets.Comment: Astrophysical Journal, in pres

    Analysis of Neptune's 2017 Bright Equatorial Storm

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    We report the discovery of a large (\sim8500 km diameter) infrared-bright storm at Neptune's equator in June 2017. We tracked the storm over a period of 7 months with high-cadence infrared snapshot imaging, carried out on 14 nights at the 10 meter Keck II telescope and 17 nights at the Shane 120 inch reflector at Lick Observatory. The cloud feature was larger and more persistent than any equatorial clouds seen before on Neptune, remaining intermittently active from at least 10 June to 31 December 2017. Our Keck and Lick observations were augmented by very high-cadence images from the amateur community, which permitted the determination of accurate drift rates for the cloud feature. Its zonal drift speed was variable from 10 June to at least 25 July, but remained a constant 237.4±0.2237.4 \pm 0.2 m s1^{-1} from 30 September until at least 15 November. The pressure of the cloud top was determined from radiative transfer calculations to be 0.3-0.6 bar; this value remained constant over the course of the observations. Multiple cloud break-up events, in which a bright cloud band wrapped around Neptune's equator, were observed over the course of our observations. No "dark spot" vortices were seen near the equator in HST imaging on 6 and 7 October. The size and pressure of the storm are consistent with moist convection or a planetary-scale wave as the energy source of convective upwelling, but more modeling is required to determine the driver of this equatorial disturbance as well as the triggers for and dynamics of the observed cloud break-up events.Comment: 42 pages, 14 figures, 6 tables; Accepted to Icaru

    Seeing Double at Neptune's South Pole

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    Keck near-infrared images of Neptune from UT 26 July 2007 show that the cloud feature typically observed within a few degrees of Neptune's south pole had split into a pair of bright spots. A careful determination of disk center places the cloud centers at -89.07 +/- 0 .06 and -87.84 +/- 0.06 degrees planetocentric latitude. If modeled as optically thick, perfectly reflecting layers, we find the pair of features to be constrained to the troposphere, at pressures greater than 0.4 bar. By UT 28 July 2007, images with comparable resolution reveal only a single feature near the south pole. The changing morphology of these circumpolar clouds suggests they may form in a region of strong convection surrounding a Neptunian south polar vortex.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures; accepted to Icaru

    Directly Imaged L-T Transition Exoplanets in the Mid-Infrared

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    Gas-giant planets emit a large fraction of their light in the mid-infrared (\gtrsim3μ\mum), where photometry and spectroscopy are critical to our understanding of the bulk properties of extrasolar planets. Of particular importance are the L and M-band atmospheric windows (3-5μ\mum), which are the longest wavelengths currently accessible to ground-based, high-contrast imagers. We present binocular LBT AO images of the HR 8799 planetary system in six narrow-band filters from 3-4μ\mum, and a Magellan AO image of the 2M1207 planetary system in a broader 3.3μ\mum band. These systems encompass the five known exoplanets with luminosities consistent with L\rightarrowT transition brown dwarfs. Our results show that the exoplanets are brighter and have shallower spectral slopes than equivalent temperature brown dwarfs in a wavelength range that contains the methane fundamental absorption feature (spanned by the narrowband filters and encompassed by the broader 3.3μ\mum filter). For 2M1207 b, we find that thick clouds and non-equilibrium chemistry caused by vertical mixing can explain the object's appearance. For the HR 8799 planets, we present new models that suggest the atmospheres must have patchy clouds, along with non-equilibrium chemistry. Together, the presence of a heterogeneous surface and vertical mixing presents a picture of dynamic planetary atmospheres in which both horizontal and vertical motions influence the chemical and condensate profiles.Comment: Accepted to Ap

    Dust in the Photospheric Environment: Unified Cloudy Models of M, L, and T Dwarfs

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    We address the problem of how dust forms and how it could be sustained in the static photospheres of cool dwarfs for a long time. In the cool and dense gas, dust forms easily at the condensation temperature, T_cond, and the dust can be in detailed balance with the ambient gas so long as it remains smaller than the critical radius, r_cr. However, dust will grow larger and segregate from the gas when it will be larger than r_cr somewhere at the lower temperature, which we refer to as the critical temperature, T_cr. Then, the large dust grains will precipitate below the photosphere and only the small dust grains in the region of T_cr < T < T_cond can be sustained in the photosphere. Thus a dust cloud is formed. Incorporating the dust cloud, non-grey model photo- spheres in radiative-convective equilibrium are extended to T_eff as low as 800K. Observed colors and spectra of cool dwarfs can consistently be accounted for by a single grid of our cloudy models. This fact in turn can be regarded as supporting evidence for our basic assumption on the cloud formation.Comment: 50 pages with 14 postscript figures, to be published in Astrophys.

    Masses, Radii, and Cloud Properties of the HR 8799 Planets

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    The near-infrared colors of the planets directly imaged around the A star HR 8799 are much redder than most field brown dwarfs of the same effective temperature. Previous theoretical studies of these objects have concluded that the atmospheres of planets b, c, and d are unusually cloudy or have unusual cloud properties. Some studies have also found that the inferred radii of some or all of the planets disagree with expectations of standard giant planet evolution models. Here we compare the available data to the predictions of our own set of atmospheric and evolution models that have been extensively tested against observations of field L and T dwarfs, including the reddest L dwarfs. Unlike some previous studies we require mutually consistent choices for effective temperature, gravity, cloud properties, and planetary radius. This procedure thus yields plausible values for the masses, effective temperatures, and cloud properties of all three planets. We find that the cloud properties of the HR 8799 planets are not unusual but rather follow previously recognized trends, including a gravity dependence on the temperature of the L to T spectral transition--some reasons for which we discuss. We find the inferred mass of planet b is highly sensitive to whether or not we include the H and K band spectrum in our analysis. Solutions for planets c and d are consistent with the generally accepted constraints on the age of the primary star and orbital dynamics. We also confirm that, like in L and T dwarfs and solar system giant planets, non-equilibrium chemistry driven by atmospheric mixing is also important for these objects. Given the preponderance of data suggesting that the L to T spectral type transition is gravity dependent, we present an exploratory evolution calculation that accounts for this effect. Finally we recompute the the bolometric luminosity of all three planets.Comment: 52 pages, 12 figures, Astrophysical Journal, in press. v2 features minor editorial updates and correction

    An L Band Spectrum of the Coldest Brown Dwarf

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    The coldest brown dwarf, WISE 0855, is the closest known planetary-mass, free-floating object and has a temperature nearly as cold as the solar system gas giants. Like Jupiter, it is predicted to have an atmosphere rich in methane, water, and ammonia, with clouds of volatile ices. WISE 0855 is faint at near-infrared wavelengths and emits almost all its energy in the mid-infrared. Skemer et al. 2016 presented a spectrum of WISE 0855 from 4.5-5.1 micron (M band), revealing water vapor features. Here, we present a spectrum of WISE 0855 in L band, from 3.4-4.14 micron. We present a set of atmosphere models that include a range of compositions (metallicities and C/O ratios) and water ice clouds. Methane absorption is clearly present in the spectrum. The mid-infrared color can be better matched with a methane abundance that is depleted relative to solar abundance. We find that there is evidence for water ice clouds in the M band spectrum, and we find a lack of phosphine spectral features in both the L and M band spectra. We suggest that a deep continuum opacity source may be obscuring the near-infrared flux, possibly a deep phosphorous-bearing cloud, ammonium dihyrogen phosphate. Observations of WISE 0855 provide critical constraints for cold planetary atmospheres, bridging the temperature range between the long-studied solar system planets and accessible exoplanets. JWST will soon revolutionize our understanding of cold brown dwarfs with high-precision spectroscopy across the infrared, allowing us to study their compositions and cloud properties, and to infer their atmospheric dynamics and formation processes.Comment: 19 pages, 21 figures. Accepted for publication in Ap

    The Luminosity & Mass Function of the Trapezium Cluster: From B stars to the Deuterium Burning Limit

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    We use the results of a new, multi-epoch, multi-wavelength, near-infrared census of the Trapezium Cluster in Orion to construct and to analyze the structure of its infrared (K band) luminosity function. Specifically, we employ an improved set of model luminosity functions to derive this cluster's underlying Initial Mass Function (IMF) across the entire range of mass from OB stars to sub-stellar objects down to near the deuterium burning limit. We derive an IMF for the Trapezium Cluster that rises with decreasing mass, having a Salpeter-like IMF slope until near ~0.6 M_sun where the IMF flattens and forms a broad peak extending to the hydrogen burning limit, below which the IMF declines into the sub-stellar regime. Independent of the details, we find that sub-stellar objects account for no more than ~22% of the total number of likely cluster members. Further, the sub-stellar Trapezium IMF breaks from a steady power-law decline and forms a significant secondary peak at the lowest masses (10-20 times the mass of Jupiter). This secondary peak may contain as many as \~30% of the sub-stellar objects in the cluster. Below this sub-stellar IMF peak, our KLF modeling requires a subsequent sharp decline toward the planetary mass regime. Lastly, we investigate the robustness of pre-main sequence luminosity evolution as predicted by current evolutionary models, and we discuss possible origins for the IMF of brown dwarfs.Comment: 74 pages, 30 figures, AASTeX5.0. To be published in the 01 July 2002 ApJ. For color version of figure 1 and online data table see http://www.astro.ufl.edu/~muench/PUB/publications.htm

    Theoretical Spectra and Atmospheres of Extrasolar Giant Planets

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    We present a comprehensive theory of the spectra and atmospheres of irradiated extrasolar giant planets. We explore the dependences on stellar type, orbital distance, cloud characteristics, planet mass, and surface gravity. Phase-averaged spectra for specific known extrasolar giant planets that span a wide range of the relevant parameters are calculated, plotted, and discussed. The connection between atmospheric composition and emergent spectrum is explored in detail. Furthermore, we calculate the effect of stellar insolation on brown dwarfs. We review a variety of representative observational techniques and programs for their potential for direct detection, in light of our theoretical expectations, and we calculate planet-to-star flux ratios as a function of wavelength. Our results suggest which spectral features are most diagnostic of giant planet atmospheres and reveal the best bands in which to image planets of whatever physical or orbital characteristics.Comment: 47 pages, plus 36 postscript figures; with minor revisions, accepted to the Astrophysical Journal, May 10, 2003 issu
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