Physical Studies of Brown Dwarfs and Extrasolar Planets

The primary activities supported under this grant included research into the mid-infrared spectral properties of brown dwarfs, with particular emphasis on the 3-4 micron region, the L band. Several observing trips were made to use facilities on Mauna Kea. The primary discovery was the detection of absorption due to CH4 in several L dwarfs, including one classified as an L5. This is significant since CH4 is usually considered to be the defining characteristic of T dwarfs. The stronger fundamental band at 3.3um, however, makes it possible to observe the emergence of CH4 at hotter temperatures. A secondary result of this work is the surprising weakness of the CH4 nu3 band. This can be interpreted as either an indication that derived effective temperatures are too low, or perhaps, that the equilibrium abundance of CH4 is suppressed due to non-equilibrium processes at work in the atmosphere.