Cloudy Extrasolar Skies in the JWST Era and their Dependence on Atmospheric Properties

Suarez, Genaro; Faherty, Jacqueline; Metchev, Stanimir; Burgasser, Adam; Vos, Johanna; Candero, Samuel; Rowland, Melanie; Aganze, Christian; Caselden, Dan; Cushing, Michael; Gerasimov, Roman; Hsu, Chih-Chun; Lodieu, Nicolas Cedric; Manjavacas, Elena; Meisner, Aaron; Petrus, Simon; Rothermich, Austin; Schneider, Adam; Theissen, Christopher; Whiteford, Niall; Zhang, Zenghua
Bibliographical reference

American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts

Advertised on:
2
2026
Number of authors
21
IAC number of authors
1
Citations
0
Refereed citations
0
Description
Dust clouds in extrasolar atmospheres shape the emergent spectra of gas giant planets and brown dwarfs. Therefore, our understanding of these objects depends on our knowledge of silicate clouds, which have their main spectral signature in the mid-infrared. Literature studies have revealed that silicate clouds in warm brown dwarfs are near ubiquitous, concentrate at low latitudes, and may exhibit age-dependent chemical and physical properties. We present new mid-infrared observations from several JWST programs for cloudy brown dwarfs with different properties such as temperature, metallicity, and surface gravity. We explore the relation of cloud properties, including opacity, composition, and grain size, to the properties of the objects. This analysis allows us to learn about the diversity of extrasolar worlds and interpret recent and future JWST observations of dusty atmospheres.