2004/02/07 by Kelle L. Cruz, Adam J. Burgasser, I. Neill Reid +1 · 9 citations
Chemistry · Physics and Astronomy · #Absorption (acoustics) #Astronomy #Astrophysics #Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies #Binary number #Brown dwarf #Infrared #Optics #Physics #Sky #Spectroscopy and Laser Applications #Stars #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1086/383415
published as Astrophys.J. 604 (2004) L61-L64 · 4 pages, 4 figures (2 color), accepted to ApJ Letters
arxiv created 2004/02/07 · openalex publication_date 2004/02/23 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
We present the peculiar near-infrared spectrum of the newly discovered brown dwarf 2MASS J05185995-2828372, identified in the Two Micron All Sky Survey. Features characteristic of both L and T dwarfs are present, namely, strong carbon monoxide absorption in the K band, strong methane absorption in the J and H bands, and red near-infrared colors. We consider several scenarios that could produce these features and conclude that the object is most likely to be an unresolved L/T binary system. We discuss how the estimated photometric properties of this object are consistent with the observed J -band brightening of brown dwarfs between late-L and early-T dwarfs, making detailed study of this system an important probe of the L/T transition.