Steward Observatory/NSF’s NOIRLab Joint Colloquium Series: Characterizing Brown Dwarfs and Exoplanets in the Mid-Infrared

Dr. Brittany Miles, 51 Pegasi b Fellow, UArizona Steward Observatory

When

3:30 – 4:30 p.m., May 4, 2023

Where

Abstract: Brown dwarfs are high-quality testing grounds for atmospheric models and optimizing requirements for exoplanet-focused instrumentation. Brown dwarfs have similar atmospheric physics and chemistry to gas giant exoplanets, but are much easier to observe because they do not suffer from host star obscuration. I will share the JWST Early Release Science observations of VHS 1256b which cover 1 to 20 microns at medium resolution and show detections of water, methane, carbon monoxide and silicate cloud features. The coldest brown dwarfs, known as Y-dwarfs bridge the gap between existing directly-imaged exoplanets and the gas giants in our own Solar System. I will summarize my efforts to characterize these objects from the ground and upcoming programs in JWST Cycle 1.

Contacts

Hector Manuel Rico