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Variability of Brown Dwarfs

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Handbook of Exoplanets

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Abstract

Brown dwarfs constitute a missing link between low-mass stars and giant planets. Their atmospheres display chemical species typical of planets, and one could wonder whether they also have weather-like patterns. While brown dwarf surface features cannot be directly resolved, the photometric and spectroscopic modulations induced by these features, as they rotate in and out of view, provide a wealth of information on the evolution of their atmosphere. A review of brown dwarf variability through the L, T, and Y spectral type sequence is presented, as well as the constraints that they set on the nature of weather-like patterns on their surface.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut de Recherche sur les Exoplanètes, Département de Physique, Université de Montréal, C.P. 6128 Succ. Centreville, H3C 3J7, Montréal, QC, Canada

    Étienne Artigau

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  1. Étienne Artigau
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Correspondence to Étienne Artigau .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias , La Laguna, Spain

    Hans J. Deeg

  2. Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, La Laguna, Spain

    Juan Antonio Belmonte

Section Editor information

  1. Centro de Astrobiología, Madrid, Spain

    María Rosa Zapatero-Osorio

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Artigau, É. (2018). Variability of Brown Dwarfs. In: Deeg, H., Belmonte, J. (eds) Handbook of Exoplanets . Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-30648-3_94-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-30648-3_94-1

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  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-30648-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-30648-3

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