Temporal Spectral Variations in Brown Dwarf Atmospheric Fluxes

Details Temporal Spectral Variations in Brown Dwarf Atmospheric Fluxes Temporal Spectral Variations in Brown Dwarf Atmospheric Fluxes

May 2006

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2006sptz.prop30092h&link_type=abstract

Spitzer Proposal ID #30092

Computer Science

Scientific paper

In general, low-mass Main Sequence and Brown Dwarf (BD) objects are rapid rotators, with rotational periods averaging approximately 4 hours. If there are any longitudinal spatial variations in the flux emitted from their atmospheres, either due to star spot-like patches or cloud features, the total flux should show some periodic variability on these time scales, assuming that the view angle is not pole-on. There may also be longer time- scale non-periodic variability if the star-spots or clouds change in size over time. We are proposing here to use the IRS instrument on Spitzer to further investigate the question of temporal variability in the mid-infrared flux from Brown Dwarfs. Although there have been earlier attempts with mixed success to see temporal variations in BD photometric fluxes, there are certain advantages to looking for temporal variations in the spectrum of an object rather than photometrically. We are proposing to re-observe four L or T-type Brown Dwarfs that have been previously observed with the IRS instrument and whose mid-infrared spectra are well-characterized, but with greatly increased observing time and at multiple epochs. Each target will be observed for almost 4 hours at a time over three different epochs spaced a few days apart within one IRS campaign. Observations over these time bases will allow studies both at typical BD rotation periods of hours, as well as checking for longer-period changes over periods of days. Finally, by comparing our results with our previous observation data we can check for variability on time scales of years.

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