Brown dwarfs in the L-T spectral class transition commonly experience photometric variability due to the active formation/dissipation of clouds that rotate in and out of our view. Measurements of these photometric oscillations, such as their frequency and amplitude, may help constrain the physical parameters of observed brown dwarfs through their associations with aspects such as rotational period and surface temperature. However, measurements of these oscillations and their significance are obscured by the inclination angle of observed brown dwarfs relative to us. By creating a simplistic model of 2D cloud formation on the surface of a toy model brown dwarf, this paper aims to further explore the relationship between oscillation amplitude and inclination angle for cloudy brown dwarfs and finds agreement with the correlation found observationally between the two factors in Vos et al., 2017.
Skip Nav Destination
Article navigation
January 2022
This content was originally published in
Journal of Undergraduate Reports in Physics
Research Article|
January 01 2022
A Simple Model for Understanding Cloud Diffusion on a Brown Dwarf
Joseph A. Landsittel;
Joseph A. Landsittel
a)
Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of Pittsburgh
, 3941 O'Hara St., Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260, USA
a)Corresponding author: landsittel@pitt.edu
Search for other works by this author on:
Ryan A. Coldren
Ryan A. Coldren
b)
Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of Pittsburgh
, 3941 O'Hara St., Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260, USA
Search for other works by this author on:
a)Corresponding author: landsittel@pitt.edu
J. Undergrad. Rep. Phys. 32, 100002 (2022)
Citation
Joseph A. Landsittel, Ryan A. Coldren; A Simple Model for Understanding Cloud Diffusion on a Brown Dwarf. J. Undergrad. Rep. Phys. 1 January 2022; 32 (1): 100002. https://doi.org/10.1063/10.0020896
Download citation file:
116
Views
Citing articles via
The Rotation Curve of the Milky Way Galaxy as Evidence for Dark Matter
Huma Jafree, Rebekah Polen, et al.
On the Determination of the Equivalent Spring Constant for a Single-Degree-of-Freedom Vibrating System
Jerrick Phan, Meredith Cullen
Noise Reduction and Image Reconstruction for a Custom-Built Confocal Imaging System
Declan Donahue, Ozymandias McEvoy, et al.
Related Content
Brown Dwarf Companions to White Dwarfs
AIP Conference Proceedings (March 2011)
Formation of low mass stars and brown dwarfs
AIP Conference Proceedings (February 1997)
Possible nuclear fusion of deuteron in the cores of Earth, Jupiter, Saturn, and brown dwarfs
AIP Advances (March 2020)
A Search for Pulsation in Very Low‐mass Stars and Brown Dwarfs
AIP Conference Proceedings (November 2007)
Pulsation Powered by Deuterium Burning in Brown Dwarfs and Very‐Low‐Mass Stars
AIP Conference Proceedings (September 2009)