Spitzer Spectroscopy of low-mass stars and brown dwarfs

M. C. Cushing, M. S. Marley, T. L. Roellig

Research output: Contribution to journalConference articlepeer-review

Abstract

We present the first results of a spectroscopic survey of M, L, and T dwarfs being conducted with the Infrared Spectrograph onboard the Spitzer Space Telescope. We observed GJ 1001 A (M3.5 V), DENIS 0255-4700 (L8.0 V), and ε Ind Ba/Bb (T1/T6 V). As expected from the predictions of model atmospheres, the spectra show absorption features of H 2O, CH 4 at 7.8 μm, and NH 3 at 10.5 μm. This is the first detection of the 7.8 μm CH 4 band and the first secure detection of NH 3 in the spectra of brown dwarfs. Finally, we compute the bolometric luminosities of three of the dwarfs in our sample by combining 0.6-4.1 μm spectra with the Spitzer spectra and find good agreement with previous results that use L′-and M′-band photometry to account for the flux emitted between 2.5 and 5 μm.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)245-248
Number of pages4
JournalEuropean Space Agency, (Special Publication) ESA SP
Issue number560 I
StatePublished - 2005
Externally publishedYes
Event13th Cambridge Workshop on Cool Stars, Stellar Systems and the Sun - Hamburg, Germany
Duration: Jul 5 2004Jul 9 2004

Keywords

  • Infrared: stars
  • Stars: late-type
  • Stars: low-mass, brown dwarfs

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Aerospace Engineering
  • Space and Planetary Science

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