TY - JOUR
T1 - Spectral Variability of Two Rapidly Rotating Brown Dwarfs
T2 - 2MASS J08354256-0819237 and 2MASS J18212815+1414010
AU - Schlawin, E.
AU - Burgasser, Adam J.
AU - Karalidi, T.
AU - Gizis, J. E.
AU - Teske, J.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2017. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.
PY - 2017/11/10
Y1 - 2017/11/10
N2 - L dwarfs exhibit low-level, rotationally modulated photometric variability generally associated with heterogeneous, cloud-covered atmospheres. The spectral character of these variations yields insight into the particle sizes and vertical structure of the clouds. Here, we present the results of a high-precision, ground-based, near-infrared, spectral monitoring study of two mid-type L dwarfs that have variability reported in the literature, 2MASS J08354256-0819237 and 2MASS J18212815+1414010, using the SpeX instrument on the Infrared Telescope Facility. By simultaneously observing a nearby reference star, we achieve <0.15% per-band sensitivity in relative brightness changes across the 0.9-2.4 μm bandwidth. We find that 2MASS J0835-0819 exhibits marginal (≲0.5% per band) variability with no clear spectral dependence, while 2MASS J1821+1414 varies by up to ±1.5% at 0.9 μm, with the variability amplitude declining toward longer wavelengths. The latter result extends the variability trend observed in prior HST/WFC3 spectral monitoring of 2MASS J1821+1414, and we show that the full 0.9-2.4 μm variability amplitude spectrum can be reproduced by Mie extinction from dust particles with a log-normal particle size distribution with a median radius of 0.24 ∼m. We do not detect statistically significant phase variations with wavelength. The different variability behavior of 2MASS J0835-0819 and 2MASS J1821 +1414 suggests dependencies on viewing angle and/or overall cloud content, underlying factors that can be examined through a broader survey.
AB - L dwarfs exhibit low-level, rotationally modulated photometric variability generally associated with heterogeneous, cloud-covered atmospheres. The spectral character of these variations yields insight into the particle sizes and vertical structure of the clouds. Here, we present the results of a high-precision, ground-based, near-infrared, spectral monitoring study of two mid-type L dwarfs that have variability reported in the literature, 2MASS J08354256-0819237 and 2MASS J18212815+1414010, using the SpeX instrument on the Infrared Telescope Facility. By simultaneously observing a nearby reference star, we achieve <0.15% per-band sensitivity in relative brightness changes across the 0.9-2.4 μm bandwidth. We find that 2MASS J0835-0819 exhibits marginal (≲0.5% per band) variability with no clear spectral dependence, while 2MASS J1821+1414 varies by up to ±1.5% at 0.9 μm, with the variability amplitude declining toward longer wavelengths. The latter result extends the variability trend observed in prior HST/WFC3 spectral monitoring of 2MASS J1821+1414, and we show that the full 0.9-2.4 μm variability amplitude spectrum can be reproduced by Mie extinction from dust particles with a log-normal particle size distribution with a median radius of 0.24 ∼m. We do not detect statistically significant phase variations with wavelength. The different variability behavior of 2MASS J0835-0819 and 2MASS J1821 +1414 suggests dependencies on viewing angle and/or overall cloud content, underlying factors that can be examined through a broader survey.
KW - brown dwarfs
KW - stars: atmospheres
KW - stars: individual (2MASS J08354256-0819237, 2MASS J18212815+1414010)
KW - stars: late-type
KW - techniques: spectroscopic
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U2 - 10.3847/1538-4357/aa90b8
DO - 10.3847/1538-4357/aa90b8
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85034588919
SN - 0004-637X
VL - 849
JO - Astrophysical Journal
JF - Astrophysical Journal
IS - 2
M1 - 163
ER -