The $\texttt{MSG}$ model for cloudy substellar atmospheres: A grid of self-consistent substellar atmosphere models with microphysical cloud formation

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Hauptverfasser: Estrada, Beatriz Campos, Lewis, David A., Helling, Christiane, Booth, Richard A., Martínez, Francisco Ardévol, Jørgensen, Uffe G.
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2025
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author Estrada, Beatriz Campos
Lewis, David A.
Helling, Christiane
Booth, Richard A.
Martínez, Francisco Ardévol
Jørgensen, Uffe G.
author_facet Estrada, Beatriz Campos
Lewis, David A.
Helling, Christiane
Booth, Richard A.
Martínez, Francisco Ardévol
Jørgensen, Uffe G.
contents State-of-the-art JWST observations are unveiling unprecedented views into the atmospheres of substellar objects in the infrared, further highlighting the importance of clouds. Current forward models struggle to fit the silicate clouds absorption feature at ~$10\,μ$m observed in substellar atmospheres. In the MSG model, we aim to couple the MARCS 1D radiative-convective equilibrium atmosphere model with the 1D kinetic, stationary, non-equilibrium, cloud formation model DRIFT, to create a new grid of self-consistent cloudy substellar atmosphere models with microphysical cloud formation. We aim to test if this new grid is able to reproduce the silicate cloud absorption feature at ~$10\,μ$m. We model substellar atmospheres with effective temperatures in the range 1200-2500 K and with $\log(g)=4.0$. We compute atmospheric structures that self-consistently account for condensate cloud opacities based on microphysical properties. We present an algorithm based on control theory to help converge such self-consistent models. Synthetic atmosphere spectra are computed for each model to explore the observable impact of the cloud microphysics. We additionally explore the impact of choosing different nucleation species (TiO$_2$ or SiO) and the effect of less efficient atmospheric mixing on these spectra. The new MSG cloudy grid using TiO$_2$ nucleation shows spectra which are redder in the near-infrared compared to the currently known population of substellar atmospheres. We find the models with SiO nucleation, and models with reduced mixing efficiency are less red in the near-infrared. The grid is unable to reproduce the silicate features similar to those found in recent JWST observations and Spitzer archival data. We thoroughly discuss further work that may better approximate the impact of convection in cloud-forming regions and steps that may help resolve the silicate cloud feature.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2501_05521
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle The $\texttt{MSG}$ model for cloudy substellar atmospheres: A grid of self-consistent substellar atmosphere models with microphysical cloud formation
Estrada, Beatriz Campos
Lewis, David A.
Helling, Christiane
Booth, Richard A.
Martínez, Francisco Ardévol
Jørgensen, Uffe G.
Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
State-of-the-art JWST observations are unveiling unprecedented views into the atmospheres of substellar objects in the infrared, further highlighting the importance of clouds. Current forward models struggle to fit the silicate clouds absorption feature at ~$10\,μ$m observed in substellar atmospheres. In the MSG model, we aim to couple the MARCS 1D radiative-convective equilibrium atmosphere model with the 1D kinetic, stationary, non-equilibrium, cloud formation model DRIFT, to create a new grid of self-consistent cloudy substellar atmosphere models with microphysical cloud formation. We aim to test if this new grid is able to reproduce the silicate cloud absorption feature at ~$10\,μ$m. We model substellar atmospheres with effective temperatures in the range 1200-2500 K and with $\log(g)=4.0$. We compute atmospheric structures that self-consistently account for condensate cloud opacities based on microphysical properties. We present an algorithm based on control theory to help converge such self-consistent models. Synthetic atmosphere spectra are computed for each model to explore the observable impact of the cloud microphysics. We additionally explore the impact of choosing different nucleation species (TiO$_2$ or SiO) and the effect of less efficient atmospheric mixing on these spectra. The new MSG cloudy grid using TiO$_2$ nucleation shows spectra which are redder in the near-infrared compared to the currently known population of substellar atmospheres. We find the models with SiO nucleation, and models with reduced mixing efficiency are less red in the near-infrared. The grid is unable to reproduce the silicate features similar to those found in recent JWST observations and Spitzer archival data. We thoroughly discuss further work that may better approximate the impact of convection in cloud-forming regions and steps that may help resolve the silicate cloud feature.
title The $\texttt{MSG}$ model for cloudy substellar atmospheres: A grid of self-consistent substellar atmosphere models with microphysical cloud formation
topic Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2501.05521