4 research outputs found
Companions of Stars: From Other Stars to Brown Dwarfs to Planets: The Discovery of the First Methane Brown Dwarf
The discovery of the first methane brown dwarf provides a framework for
describing the important advances in both fundamental physics and astrophysics
that are due to the study of companions of stars. I present a few highlights of
the history of this subject along with details of the discovery of the brown
dwarf Gliese 229B. The nature of companions of stars is discussed with an
attempt to avoid biases induced by anthropocentric nomenclature. With the newer
types of remote reconnaissance of nearby stars and their systems of companions,
an exciting and perhaps even more profound set of contributions to science is
within reach in the near future. This includes an exploration of the diversity
of planets in the universe and perhaps soon the first solid evidence for
biological activity outside our Solar System.Comment: 31 pages, 13 figure
The Theory of Brown Dwarfs and Extrasolar Giant Planets
Straddling the traditional realms of the planets and the stars, objects below
the edge of the main sequence have such unique properties, and are being
discovered in such quantities, that one can rightly claim that a new field at
the interface of planetary science and and astronomy is being born. In this
review, we explore the essential elements of the theory of brown dwarfs and
giant planets, as well as of the new spectroscopic classes L and T. To this
end, we describe their evolution, spectra, atmospheric compositions, chemistry,
physics, and nuclear phases and explain the basic systematics of
substellar-mass objects across three orders of magnitude in both mass and age
and a factor of 30 in effective temperature. Moreover, we discuss the
distinctive features of those extrasolar giant planets that are irradiated by a
central primary, in particular their reflection spectra, albedos, and transits.
Aspects of the latest theory of Jupiter and Saturn are also presented.
Throughout, we highlight the effects of condensates, clouds, molecular
abundances, and molecular/atomic opacities in brown dwarf and giant planet
atmospheres and summarize the resulting spectral diagnostics. Where possible,
the theory is put in its current observational context.Comment: 67 pages (including 36 figures), RMP RevTeX LaTeX, accepted for
publication in the Reviews of Modern Physics. 30 figures are color. Most of
the figures are in GIF format to reduce the overall size. The full version
with figures can also be found at:
http://jupiter.as.arizona.edu/~burrows/papers/rm