VERTICAL ATMOSPHERIC STRUCTURE IN A VARIABLE BROWN DWARF: PRESSURE-DEPENDENT PHASE SHIFTS IN SIMULTANEOUS HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE-SPITZER LIGHT CURVES
Heterogeneous clouds or temperature perturbations in rotating brown dwarfs produce variability in the observed flux. We report time-resolved simultaneous observations of the variable T6.5 brown dwarf 2MASS J22282889–431026 over the wavelength ranges 1.1-1.7 μm and broadband 4.5 μm. Spectroscopic obs...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | en_US |
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IOP Publishing
2015
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/95642 |
| _version_ | 1811089839768993792 |
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| author | Buenzli, Esther Apai, Dániel Morley, Caroline V. Flateau, Davin Showman, Adam P. Burrows, Adam Marley, Mark S. Reid, I. Neill Lewis, Nikole |
| author2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences |
| author_facet | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences Buenzli, Esther Apai, Dániel Morley, Caroline V. Flateau, Davin Showman, Adam P. Burrows, Adam Marley, Mark S. Reid, I. Neill Lewis, Nikole |
| author_sort | Buenzli, Esther |
| collection | MIT |
| description | Heterogeneous clouds or temperature perturbations in rotating brown dwarfs produce variability in the observed flux. We report time-resolved simultaneous observations of the variable T6.5 brown dwarf 2MASS J22282889–431026 over the wavelength ranges 1.1-1.7 μm and broadband 4.5 μm. Spectroscopic observations were taken with Wide Field Camera 3 on board the Hubble Space Telescope and photometry with the Spitzer Space Telescope. The object shows sinusoidal infrared variability with a period of 1.4 hr at most wavelengths with peak-to-peak amplitudes between 1.45% and 5.3% of the mean flux. While the light curve shapes are similar at all wavelengths, their phases differ from wavelength to wavelength with a maximum difference of more than half of a rotational period. We compare the spectra with atmospheric models of different cloud prescriptions, from which we determine the pressure levels probed at different wavelengths. We find that the phase lag increases with decreasing pressure level, or higher altitude. We discuss a number of plausible scenarios that could cause this trend of light curve phase with probed pressure level. These observations are the first to probe heterogeneity in an ultracool atmosphere in both horizontal and vertical directions, and thus are an ideal test case for realistic three-dimensional simulations of the atmospheric structure with clouds in brown dwarfs and extrasolar planets. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T14:25:29Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/95642 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | en_US |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T14:25:29Z |
| publishDate | 2015 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/956422022-10-01T21:14:46Z VERTICAL ATMOSPHERIC STRUCTURE IN A VARIABLE BROWN DWARF: PRESSURE-DEPENDENT PHASE SHIFTS IN SIMULTANEOUS HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE-SPITZER LIGHT CURVES Buenzli, Esther Apai, Dániel Morley, Caroline V. Flateau, Davin Showman, Adam P. Burrows, Adam Marley, Mark S. Reid, I. Neill Lewis, Nikole Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences Lewis, Nikole Heterogeneous clouds or temperature perturbations in rotating brown dwarfs produce variability in the observed flux. We report time-resolved simultaneous observations of the variable T6.5 brown dwarf 2MASS J22282889–431026 over the wavelength ranges 1.1-1.7 μm and broadband 4.5 μm. Spectroscopic observations were taken with Wide Field Camera 3 on board the Hubble Space Telescope and photometry with the Spitzer Space Telescope. The object shows sinusoidal infrared variability with a period of 1.4 hr at most wavelengths with peak-to-peak amplitudes between 1.45% and 5.3% of the mean flux. While the light curve shapes are similar at all wavelengths, their phases differ from wavelength to wavelength with a maximum difference of more than half of a rotational period. We compare the spectra with atmospheric models of different cloud prescriptions, from which we determine the pressure levels probed at different wavelengths. We find that the phase lag increases with decreasing pressure level, or higher altitude. We discuss a number of plausible scenarios that could cause this trend of light curve phase with probed pressure level. These observations are the first to probe heterogeneity in an ultracool atmosphere in both horizontal and vertical directions, and thus are an ideal test case for realistic three-dimensional simulations of the atmospheric structure with clouds in brown dwarfs and extrasolar planets. United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Jet Propulsion Laboratory (U.S.). Award 1439915) 2015-02-25T22:16:38Z 2015-02-25T22:16:38Z 2012-11 2012-10 Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 2041-8205 2041-8213 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/95642 Buenzli, Esther, Dániel Apai, Caroline V. Morley, Davin Flateau, Adam P. Showman, Adam Burrows, Mark S. Marley, Nikole K. Lewis, and I. Neill Reid. “ VERTICAL ATMOSPHERIC STRUCTURE IN A VARIABLE BROWN DWARF: PRESSURE-DEPENDENT PHASE SHIFTS IN SIMULTANEOUS HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE - SPITZER LIGHT CURVES .” The Astrophysical Journal 760, no. 2 (November 8, 2012): L31. © 2012 The American Astronomical Society en_US http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/2041-8205/760/2/l31 Astrophysical Journal. Letters Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use. application/pdf IOP Publishing American Astronomical Society |
| spellingShingle | Buenzli, Esther Apai, Dániel Morley, Caroline V. Flateau, Davin Showman, Adam P. Burrows, Adam Marley, Mark S. Reid, I. Neill Lewis, Nikole VERTICAL ATMOSPHERIC STRUCTURE IN A VARIABLE BROWN DWARF: PRESSURE-DEPENDENT PHASE SHIFTS IN SIMULTANEOUS HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE-SPITZER LIGHT CURVES |
| title | VERTICAL ATMOSPHERIC STRUCTURE IN A VARIABLE BROWN DWARF: PRESSURE-DEPENDENT PHASE SHIFTS IN SIMULTANEOUS HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE-SPITZER LIGHT CURVES |
| title_full | VERTICAL ATMOSPHERIC STRUCTURE IN A VARIABLE BROWN DWARF: PRESSURE-DEPENDENT PHASE SHIFTS IN SIMULTANEOUS HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE-SPITZER LIGHT CURVES |
| title_fullStr | VERTICAL ATMOSPHERIC STRUCTURE IN A VARIABLE BROWN DWARF: PRESSURE-DEPENDENT PHASE SHIFTS IN SIMULTANEOUS HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE-SPITZER LIGHT CURVES |
| title_full_unstemmed | VERTICAL ATMOSPHERIC STRUCTURE IN A VARIABLE BROWN DWARF: PRESSURE-DEPENDENT PHASE SHIFTS IN SIMULTANEOUS HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE-SPITZER LIGHT CURVES |
| title_short | VERTICAL ATMOSPHERIC STRUCTURE IN A VARIABLE BROWN DWARF: PRESSURE-DEPENDENT PHASE SHIFTS IN SIMULTANEOUS HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE-SPITZER LIGHT CURVES |
| title_sort | vertical atmospheric structure in a variable brown dwarf pressure dependent phase shifts in simultaneous hubble space telescope spitzer light curves |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/95642 |
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