Cloud structure of brown dwarfs from spectroscopic variability observations
arXiv:1406.0210
Abstract
Recent discoveries of variable brown dwarfs have provided us with a new window into their three-dimensional cloud structure. The highest variables are found at the L/T transition, where the cloud cover is thought to break up, but variability has been found to occur also for both cloudy L dwarfs and (mostly) cloud-free mid T dwarfs. We summarize results from recent HST programs measuring the spectral variability of brown dwarfs in the near-infrared and compare to results from ground-based programs. We discuss the patchy cloud structure of L/T transition objects, for which it is becoming increasingly certain that the variability does not arise from cloud holes into the deep hot regions but from varying cloud thickness. We present a new patchy cloud model to explain the spectral variability of 2MASSJ21392676+0220226. We also discuss the curious multi-wavelength variability behavior of the recently discovered very nearby early T dwarf WISE J104915.57-531906.1B (Luhman 16B) and the mid T dwarf 2MASS J22282889-431026.
4 pages, 1 figure, submitted to the proceedings of "Gaia and the unseen - the brown dwarf question", Torino, 24-26 March 2014, to be published in Memorie della Societa' Astronomica Italiana (SAIt), eds Ricky Smart, David Barrado, Jackie Faherty