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Abstract A star's spin–orbit angle can give us insight into a system's formation and dynamical history. In this paper, we use MAROON-X observations of the Rossiter–McLaughlin effect to measure the projected obliquity of the LP 261-75 (also known as TOI-1779) system, focusing on the fully convective M dwarf LP 261-75A and the transiting brown dwarf LP 261-75C. This is the first obliquity constraint of a brown dwarf orbiting an M dwarf and the seventh obliquity constraint of a brown dwarf overall. We measure a projected obliquity of degrees and a true obliquity of degrees for the system, meaning that the system is well aligned and that the star is rotating very nearly edge-on, with an inclination of 90° ± 11°. The system thus follows along with the trends observed in transiting brown dwarfs around hotter stars, which typically have low obliquities. The tendency for brown dwarfs to be aligned may point to some enhanced obliquity damping in brown dwarf systems, but there is also a possibility that the LP 261-75 system was simply formed aligned. In addition, we note that the brown dwarf's radius (RC = 0.9RJ) is not consistent with the youth of the system or radius trends observed in other brown dwarfs, indicating that LP 261-75C may have an unusual formation history.
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Brown Dwarf Retrievals on FIRE!: Atmospheric Constraints and Lessons Learned from High Signal-to-noise Medium-resolution Spectroscopy of a T9 Dwarf
Abstract Brown dwarf spectra offer vital testbeds for our understanding of the chemical and physical processes that sculpt substellar atmospheres. Recently, atmospheric retrieval approaches have been successfully applied to low-resolution (R∼ 100) spectra of L, T, and Y dwarfs, yielding constraints on the chemical abundances and temperature structures of these atmospheres. Medium-resolution (R∼ 103) spectra of brown dwarfs offer additional insight, as molecular features are more easily disentangled and the thermal structure of the upper atmosphere is better probed. We present results from a GPU-based retrieval analysis of a high signal-to-noise, medium-resolution (R∼ 6000) FIRE spectrum from 0.85 to 2.5μm of the T9 dwarf UGPS J072227.51–054031.2. At 60× higher spectral resolution than previous brown dwarf retrievals, a number of novel challenges arise. We examine the effect of different opacity sources, in particular for CH4. Furthermore, we find that flaws in the data like errors from order stitching can bias our constraints. We compare these retrieval results to those for anR∼ 100 spectrum of the same object, revealing how constraints on atmospheric abundances and temperatures improve by an order of magnitude or more with increased spectral resolution. In particular, we can constrain the abundance of H2S, which is undetectable at lower spectral resolution. While these medium-resolution retrievals offer the potential of precise, stellar-like constraints on atmospheric abundances (∼0.02 dex), our retrieved radius is unphysically small ( RJup), indicating shortcomings with our modeling framework. This work is an initial investigation into brown dwarf retrievals at medium spectral resolution, offering guidance for future ground-based studies and JWST observations.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1909776
- PAR ID:
- 10442210
- Publisher / Repository:
- DOI PREFIX: 10.3847
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- The Astrophysical Journal
- Volume:
- 953
- Issue:
- 2
- ISSN:
- 0004-637X
- Format(s):
- Medium: X Size: Article No. 170
- Size(s):
- Article No. 170
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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