2011/03/31 by Ben Burningham, S. K. Leggett, D. Homeier +15
Physics and Astronomy · #Astronomy #Astronomy and Astrophysical Research #Astrophysics #Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies #Infrared #Opacity #Photometry (optics) #Physics #Spectral line #Stars #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies #astro-ph.EP #astro-ph.SR
paper · pdf · doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2011.18664.x
11 pages, 7 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRAS. V2 corrected typos in author names
arxiv created 2011/04/13 · openalex publication_date 2011/05/04 · arxiv updated 2015/05/27 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
We present near-infrared photometry and spectroscopy, and warm-Spitzer IRAC photometry of the young very cool T dwarf Ross 458C, which we have typed as T8.5p. By applying the fiducial age constraints (≤1 Gyr) imposed by the properties of the active M dwarf Ross 458A, we have used these data to determine that Ross 458C has Teff= 695 ± 60 K, log g= 4.0–4.7 and an inferred mass of 5–20MJ. We have compared fits of the near-infrared spectrum and IRAC photometry to the BT Settl and Saumon & Marley model grids, and have found that both sets provide best fits that are consistent with our derived properties, whilst the former provide a marginally closer match to the data for all scenarios explored here. The main difference between the model grids arises in the 4.5-μm region, where the BT Settl models are able to better predict the flux through the IRAC filter, suggesting that non-equilibrium effects on the CO–CO2 ratio are important for shaping the mid-infrared spectra of very cool T dwarfs. We have also revisited the issue of the dust opacity in the spectra of Ross 458C that was raised by Burgasser et al. We have found that the BT Settl models which also incorporate a condensate cloud model provide a better match to the near-infrared spectrum of this target than the Saumon & Marley model with fsed= 2 and we briefly discuss the influence of condensate clouds on T dwarf spectra.