Predicting Cloud Conditions in Substellar Mass Objects Using Ultracool Dwarf Companions

We present results from conducting a theoretical chemical analysis of a sample of benchmark companion brown dwarfs whose primary star is of type F, G, or K. We summarize the entire known sample of these types of companion systems, termed “compositional benchmarks,” that are present in the literature...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Astrophysical journal 2024-03, Vol.963 (1), p.67
Main Authors: Calamari, Emily, Faherty, Jacqueline K., Visscher, Channon, Gemma, Marina E., Burningham, Ben, Rothermich, Austin
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Astrochemistry
Atmosphere
Atmospheres
Atmospheric clouds
Atmospheric oxygen
Benchmarks
Brown dwarf stars
Brown dwarfs
Chemical analysis
Clouds
Enstatite
Exoplanet atmospheres
Forsterite
Magnesium
Main sequence stars
Mass balance
Oxygen
Silicon dioxide
Solar neighborhood
Wide binary stars
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Summary:We present results from conducting a theoretical chemical analysis of a sample of benchmark companion brown dwarfs whose primary star is of type F, G, or K. We summarize the entire known sample of these types of companion systems, termed “compositional benchmarks,” that are present in the literature or recently published as key systems of study in order to best understand brown dwarf chemistry and condensate formation. Via mass balance and stoichiometric calculations, we predict a median brown dwarf atmospheric oxygen sink of 17.8 − 2.3 + 1.7 % by utilizing published stellar abundances in the local solar neighborhood. Additionally, we predict a silicate condensation sequence such that atmospheres with bulk Mg/Si ≲0.9 will form enstatite (MgSiO 3 ) and quartz (SiO 2 ) clouds, and atmospheres with bulk Mg/Si ≳0.9 will form enstatite and forsterite (Mg 2 SiO 4 ) clouds. The implications of these results on C/O ratio trends in substellar-mass objects and the utility of these predictions in future modeling work are discussed.
ISSN:0004-637X
1538-4357
DOI:10.3847/1538-4357/ad1f6d