Burgasser et al. 2002
Burgasser, A.J., M.S. Marley, A.S. Ackerman, D. Saumon, K. Lodders, C.C. Dahn, H.C. Harris, and J.D. Kirkpatrick, 2002: Evidence of cloud disruption in the L/T dwarf transition. Astrophys. J., 571, L151-L154, doi:10.1086/341343.
Clouds of metal-bearing condensates play a critical role in shaping the emergent spectral energy distributions of the coolest classes of low-mass stars and brown dwarfs, L and T dwarfs. Because condensate clouds in planetary atmospheres show distinct horizontal structure, we have explored a model for partly cloudy atmospheres in brown dwarfs. Our model successfully reproduces the colors and magnitudes of both L and T dwarfs for the first time, including the unexpected brightening of the early- and mid-type T dwarfs at the J band, provided that clouds are rapidly removed from the photosphere at Teff ≈ 1200 K. The clearing of cloud layers also explains the surprising persistence and strengthening of gaseous FeH bands in early- and mid-type T dwarfs. The breakup of cloud layers is likely driven by convection in the troposphere, analogous to phenomena observed on Jupiter. Our results demonstrate that planetary-like atmospheric dynamics must be considered when examining the evolution of free-floating brown dwarfs.
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Burgasser, A.J., Marley, M.S., Ackerman, A.S., Saumon, D., Lodders, K., Dahn, C.C., Harris, H.C., and Kirkpatrick, J.D.: Evidence of cloud disruption in the L/T dwarf transition, Astrophys. J., 571, L151-L154, doi:10.1086/341343, 2002.
Burgasser, A.J., M.S. Marley, A.S. Ackerman, D. Saumon, K. Lodders, C.C. Dahn, H.C. Harris, and J.D. Kirkpatrick (2002), Evidence of cloud disruption in the L/T dwarf transition, Astrophys. J., 571, L151-L154, doi:10.1086/341343.
Burgasser, A.J., M.S. Marley, A.S. Ackerman, D. Saumon, K. Lodders, C.C. Dahn, H.C. Harris, and J.D. Kirkpatrick, 2002: Evidence of cloud disruption in the L/T dwarf transition. Astrophys. J., 571, L151-L154, doi:10.1086/341343.
Burgasser, A.J., Marley, M.S., Ackerman, A.S., Saumon, D., Lodders, K., Dahn, C.C., Harris, H.C., & Kirkpatrick, J.D. 2002, Astrophys. J., 571, L151, doi:10.1086/341343.
Burgasser AJ, Marley MS, Ackerman AS, Saumon D, Lodders K, Dahn CC, Harris HC, Kirkpatrick JD. Evidence of cloud disruption in the L/T dwarf transition, Astrophys J 2002;571:L151-L154. doi:10.1086/341343.
A.J. Burgasser, M.S. Marley, A.S. Ackerman, D. Saumon, K. Lodders, C.C. Dahn, H.C. Harris, J.D. Kirkpatrick, Astrophys. J. 571, L151-L154, doi:10.1086/341343 (2002).
