48 research outputs found
WISE J064336.71-022315.4: A Thick Disk L8 Gaia DR2-Discovered Brown Dwarf at 13.9 Parsecs
While spectroscopically characterizing nearby ultracool dwarfs discovered in
the Gaia Second Data Release with the TripleSpec spectrograph on the Palomar
200'' telescope, we encountered a particularly cool, nearby, new member of the
solar neighborhood: Gaia DR2 3106548406384807680 = WISE J064336.71-022315.4 =
2MASS J06433670-0223130. The parallax corresponds to a distance of
13.9 0.3 pc. Using our TripleSpec spectrum we classify W0643 as spectral
type L8, and measured a heliocentric radial velocity of 142 12 km
s. When combined with astrometry, we determine a Galactic
velocity (heliocentric; towards Galactic center) of = -109, -91,
-12 (10, 5, 3) km s. We estimate that W0643 passed within 1.4
pc away from the Sun 100,000 years ago
The Classification of T Dwarfs
We discuss methods for classifying T dwarfs based on spectral morphological
features and indices. T dwarfs are brown dwarfs which exhibit methane
absorption bands at 1.6 and 2.2 . Spectra at red optical (6300--10100
{\AA}) and near-infrared (1--2.5 ) wavelengths are presented, and
differences between objects are noted and discussed. Spectral indices useful
for classification schemes are presented. We conclude that near-infrared
spectral classification is generally preferable for these cool objects, with
data sufficient to resolve the 1.17 and 1.25 K I doublets lines being
most valuable. Spectral features sensitive to gravity are discussed, with the
strength of the K-band peak used as an example. Such features may be used to
derive a two-dimensional scheme based on temperature and mass, in analogy to
the MK temperature and luminosity classes.Comment: 15 pages, 6 figures, conference proceedings for IAU Ultracool Dwarf
Stars session, ed. I. Steele & H. Jone
The HST large programme on NGC 6752 – III. Detection of the peak of the white dwarf luminosity function
We report on the white dwarf (WD) cooling sequence of the old globular cluster NGC 6752, which is chemically complex and hosts a blue horizontal branch. This is one of the last globular cluster WD cooling sequences accessible to imaging by the Hubble Space Telescope. Our photometry and completeness tests show that we have reached the peak of the luminosity function of the WD cooling sequence, at a magnitude mF606W = 29.4 ± 0.1, which is consistent with a formal age of ∼14 Gyr. This age is also consistent with the age from fits to the main-sequence turn-off (13–14 Gyr), reinforcing our conclusion that we observe the expected accumulation of WDs along the cooling sequence. © 2019 The Author(s) Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Societ
Thermo-compositional diabatic convection in the atmospheres of brown dwarfs and in Earth's atmosphere and oceans
This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from the American Astronomical Society / IOP Publishing via the DOI in this record.The simulation outputs are available at http://opendata.erc-atmo.euBy generalizing the theory of convection to any type of thermal and compositional source terms (diabatic processes), we show that thermohaline convection in Earth oceans, fingering convection in stellar atmospheres, and moist convection in Earth atmosphere are deriving from the same general diabatic convective instability. We show also that "radiative convection" triggered by CO/CH4 transition with radiative transfer in the atmospheres of brown dwarfs is analog to moist and thermohaline convection. We derive a generalization of the mixing length theory to include the effect of source terms in 1D codes. We show that CO/CH4 radiative convection could significantly reduce the temperature gradient in the atmospheres of brown dwarfs similarly to moist convection in Earth atmosphere thus possibly explaining the reddening in brown-dwarf spectra. By using idealized two-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations in the Ledoux unstable regime, we show that compositional source terms can indeed provoke a reduction of the temperature gradient. The L/T transition could be explained by a bifurcation between the adiabatic and diabatic convective transports and could be seen as a giant cooling crisis: an analog of the boiling crisis in liquid/steam-water convective flows. This mechanism with other chemical transitions could be present in many giant and earth-like exoplanets. The study of the impact of different parameters (effective temperature, compositional changes) on CO/CH4 radiative convection and the analogy with Earth moist and thermohaline convection is opening the possibility to use brown dwarfs to better understand some aspects of the physics at play in the climate of our own planet.Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC
The HST Large Program on ω Centauri. V. Exploring the Ultracool Dwarf Population with Stellar Atmosphere and Evolutionary Modeling
Brown dwarfs can serve as both clocks and chemical tracers of the evolutionary history of the Milky Way due to their continuous cooling and high sensitivity of spectra to composition. We focus on brown dwarfs in globular clusters that host some of the oldest coeval populations in the galaxy. Currently, no brown dwarfs in globular clusters have been confirmed, but they are expected to be uncovered with advanced observational facilities such as the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). In this paper we present a new set of stellar models specifically designed to investigate low-mass stars and brown dwarfs in ω Centauri - the largest known globular cluster. The parameters of our models were derived from iterative fits to Hubble Space Telescope photometry of the main-sequence members of the cluster. Despite the complex distribution of abundances and the presence of multiple main sequences in ω Centauri, we find that the modal color-magnitude distribution can be represented by a single stellar population with parameters determined in this study. The observed luminosity function is well represented by two distinct stellar populations having solar and enhanced helium mass fractions and a common initial mass function, in agreement with previous studies. Our analysis confirms that the abundances of individual chemical elements play a key role in determining the physical properties of low-mass cluster members. We use our models to draw predictions of brown dwarf colors and magnitudes in anticipated JWST NIRCam data, confirming that the beginning of the substellar sequence should be detected in ω Centauri in forthcoming observations
A powerful bursting radio source towards the Galactic Centre
Transient astronomical sources are typically powered by compact objects and
usually signify highly explosive or dynamic events. While radio astronomy has
an impressive record of obtaining high time resolution observations, usually it
is achieved in quite narrow fields-of-view. Consequently, the dynamic radio sky
is poorly sampled, in contrast to the situation in the X- and gamma-ray bands
in which wide-field instruments routinely detect transient sources. Here we
report a new transient source, GCRT J1745-3009, detected in 2002 during a
moderately wide-field radio transient monitoring program of the Galactic center
(GC) region at 0.33 GHz. The characteristics of its bursts are unlike those
known for any other class of radio transient. If located in or near the GC, its
brightness temperature (~10^16 K) and the implied energy density within GCRT
J1745-3009 vastly exceeds that observed in most other classes of radio
astronomical sources, and is consistent with coherent emission processes rarely
observed. We conclude that GCRT J1745-3009 is the first member of a new class
of radio transient sources, the first of possibly many new classes to be
identified through current and upcoming radio surveys.Comment: 16 pages including 3 figures. Appears in Nature, 3 March 200
Radio Emission from Ultra-Cool Dwarfs
The 2001 discovery of radio emission from ultra-cool dwarfs (UCDs), the very
low-mass stars and brown dwarfs with spectral types of ~M7 and later, revealed
that these objects can generate and dissipate powerful magnetic fields. Radio
observations provide unparalleled insight into UCD magnetism: detections extend
to brown dwarfs with temperatures <1000 K, where no other observational probes
are effective. The data reveal that UCDs can generate strong (kG) fields,
sometimes with a stable dipolar structure; that they can produce and retain
nonthermal plasmas with electron acceleration extending to MeV energies; and
that they can drive auroral current systems resulting in significant
atmospheric energy deposition and powerful, coherent radio bursts. Still to be
understood are the underlying dynamo processes, the precise means by which
particles are accelerated around these objects, the observed diversity of
magnetic phenomenologies, and how all of these factors change as the mass of
the central object approaches that of Jupiter. The answers to these questions
are doubly important because UCDs are both potential exoplanet hosts, as in the
TRAPPIST-1 system, and analogues of extrasolar giant planets themselves.Comment: 19 pages; submitted chapter to the Handbook of Exoplanets, eds. Hans
J. Deeg and Juan Antonio Belmonte (Springer-Verlag
Large Scale Searches for Brown Dwarfs and Free-Floating Planets
Searches of large scale surveys have resulted in the discovery of over 1000
brown dwarfs in the Solar neighbourhood. In this chapter we review the progress
in finding brown dwarfs in large datasets, highlighting the key science goals,
and summarising the surveys that have contributed most significantly to the
current sample.Comment: Accepted to appear in the Handbook of Exoplanets (Springer); Editors:
Hans J. Deeg & Juan Antonio Belmont
An eclipsing substellar binary in a young triple system discovered by SPECULOOS
Mass, radius, and age are three of the most fundamental parameters for
celestial objects, enabling studies of the evolution and internal physics of
stars, brown dwarfs, and planets. Brown dwarfs are hydrogen-rich objects that
are unable to sustain core fusion reactions but are supported from collapse by
electron degeneracy pressure. As they age, brown dwarfs cool, reducing their
radius and luminosity. Young exoplanets follow a similar behaviour. Brown dwarf
evolutionary models are relied upon to infer the masses, radii and ages of
these objects. Similar models are used to infer the mass and radius of directly
imaged exoplanets. Unfortunately, only sparse empirical mass, radius and age
measurements are currently available, and the models remain mostly unvalidated.
Double-line eclipsing binaries provide the most direct route for the absolute
determination of the masses and radii of stars. Here, we report the SPECULOOS
discovery of 2M1510A, a nearby, eclipsing, double-line brown dwarf binary, with
a widely-separated tertiary brown dwarf companion. We also find that the system
is a member of the Myr-old moving group, Argus. The system's age
matches those of currently known directly-imaged exoplanets. 2M1510A provides
an opportunity to benchmark evolutionary models of brown dwarfs and young
planets. We find that widely-used evolutionary models do reproduce the mass,
radius and age of the binary components remarkably well, but overestimate the
luminosity by up to 0.65 magnitudes, which could result in underestimated
photometric masses for directly-imaged exoplanets and young field brown dwarfs
by 20 to 35%
An absolute sodium abundance for a cloud-free 'hot Saturn' exoplanet.
Broad absorption signatures from alkali metals, such as the sodium (Na I) and potassium (K I) resonance doublets, have long been predicted in the optical atmospheric spectra of cloud-free irradiated gas giant exoplanets1-3. However, observations have revealed only the narrow cores of these features rather than the full pressure-broadened profiles4-6. Cloud and haze opacity at the day-night planetary terminator are considered to be responsible for obscuring the absorption-line wings, which hinders constraints on absolute atmospheric abundances7-9. Here we report an optical transmission spectrum for the 'hot Saturn' exoplanet WASP-96b obtained with the Very Large Telescope, which exhibits the complete pressure-broadened profile of the sodium absorption feature. The spectrum is in excellent agreement with cloud-free, solar-abundance models assuming chemical equilibrium. We are able to measure a precise, absolute sodium abundance of logεNa = [Formula: see text], and use it as a proxy for the planet's atmospheric metallicity relative to the solar value (Zp/Zʘ = [Formula: see text]). This result is consistent with the mass-metallicity trend observed for Solar System planets and exoplanets10-12