Phase-resolved Hubble Space Telescope WFC3 Spectroscopy of Weakly-Irradiated Brown Dwarf GD 1400 and Energy Redistribution-Irradiation Trends in Six WD$-$BD Binaries

Fuente: arXiv
Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Amaro, Rachael C., Apai, Dániel, Zhou, Yifan, Lothringer, Joshua D., Casewell, Sarah L., Tan, Xianyu, Lew, Ben W. P., Barman, Travis, Marley, Mark S., Mayorga, L. C., Parmentier, Vivien
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
Subjects:
Online Access:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1866917888247463936
author Amaro, Rachael C.
Apai, Dániel
Zhou, Yifan
Lothringer, Joshua D.
Casewell, Sarah L.
Tan, Xianyu
Lew, Ben W. P.
Barman, Travis
Marley, Mark S.
Mayorga, L. C.
Parmentier, Vivien
author_facet Amaro, Rachael C.
Apai, Dániel
Zhou, Yifan
Lothringer, Joshua D.
Casewell, Sarah L.
Tan, Xianyu
Lew, Ben W. P.
Barman, Travis
Marley, Mark S.
Mayorga, L. C.
Parmentier, Vivien
contents Irradiated brown dwarfs offer a unique opportunity to bridge the gap between stellar and planetary atmospheres. We present high-quality $\mathit{HST}$/WFC3/G141 phase-resolved spectra of the white dwarf + brown dwarf binary GD 1400, covering more than one full rotation of the brown dwarf. Accounting for brightness variations caused by ZZ Ceti pulsations, we revealed weak ($\sim$1\%) phase curve amplitude modulations originating from the brown dwarf. Sub-band light curve exploration in various bands showed no significant wavelength dependence on amplitude or phase shift. Extracted day- and night-side spectra indicated chemically similar hemispheres, with slightly higher day-side temperatures, suggesting efficient heat redistribution or dominance of radiative escape over atmospheric circulation. A simple radiative and energy redistribution model reproduced observed temperatures well. Cloud-inclusive models fit the day and night spectra better than cloudless models, indicating global cloud coverage. We also begin qualitatively exploring atmospheric trends across six irradiated brown dwarfs, from the now complete "Dancing with Dwarfs" WD$-$BD sample. The trend we find in the day-side/night-side temperature and irradiation levels is consistent with efficient heat redistribution for irradiation levels less than $\sim$10$^9$ ergs/s/cm$^2$ and decreasing efficiency above that level.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2501_05609
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Phase-resolved Hubble Space Telescope WFC3 Spectroscopy of Weakly-Irradiated Brown Dwarf GD 1400 and Energy Redistribution-Irradiation Trends in Six WD$-$BD Binaries
Amaro, Rachael C.
Apai, Dániel
Zhou, Yifan
Lothringer, Joshua D.
Casewell, Sarah L.
Tan, Xianyu
Lew, Ben W. P.
Barman, Travis
Marley, Mark S.
Mayorga, L. C.
Parmentier, Vivien
Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
Irradiated brown dwarfs offer a unique opportunity to bridge the gap between stellar and planetary atmospheres. We present high-quality $\mathit{HST}$/WFC3/G141 phase-resolved spectra of the white dwarf + brown dwarf binary GD 1400, covering more than one full rotation of the brown dwarf. Accounting for brightness variations caused by ZZ Ceti pulsations, we revealed weak ($\sim$1\%) phase curve amplitude modulations originating from the brown dwarf. Sub-band light curve exploration in various bands showed no significant wavelength dependence on amplitude or phase shift. Extracted day- and night-side spectra indicated chemically similar hemispheres, with slightly higher day-side temperatures, suggesting efficient heat redistribution or dominance of radiative escape over atmospheric circulation. A simple radiative and energy redistribution model reproduced observed temperatures well. Cloud-inclusive models fit the day and night spectra better than cloudless models, indicating global cloud coverage. We also begin qualitatively exploring atmospheric trends across six irradiated brown dwarfs, from the now complete "Dancing with Dwarfs" WD$-$BD sample. The trend we find in the day-side/night-side temperature and irradiation levels is consistent with efficient heat redistribution for irradiation levels less than $\sim$10$^9$ ergs/s/cm$^2$ and decreasing efficiency above that level.
title Phase-resolved Hubble Space Telescope WFC3 Spectroscopy of Weakly-Irradiated Brown Dwarf GD 1400 and Energy Redistribution-Irradiation Trends in Six WD$-$BD Binaries
topic Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2501.05609