Detection of H Alpha Emission in a Methane (T-Type) Brown Dwarf

Details Detection of H Alpha Emission in a Methane (T-Type) Brown Dwarf Detection of H Alpha Emission in a Methane (T-Type) Brown Dwarf

2000-03-20

arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0003291v1

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

14 pages, 3 figures, accepted by AJ

Scientific paper

10.1086/301423

We report the detection of H{$\alpha$} emission in the T dwarf (methane brown dwarf) 2MASSW J1237392+652615 over three days using the Keck Low Resolution Imaging Spectrograph. The measured line flux, log(L$_{H{\alpha}}$/L$_{bol}$) = $-$4.3, is roughly consistent with early M dwarf activity levels and inconsistent with decreasing activity trends in late M and L dwarfs. Similar emission is not seen in two other T dwarfs. We speculate on several mechanisms that may be responsible for emission, including a strong magnetic field, continuous flaring, acoustic heat generation, and a close ($a$ $\sim$ 4 - 20 R$_{Jup}$) interacting binary, with the cooler component overflowing its Roche lobe. We suggest that the M9.5Ve PC 0025+0447 could be a warm analogue to 2MASS J1237+65, and may be powered by the latter mechanism.

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