A case study for JWST: Disentangling auroral and cloud variability in early L dwarfs
Abstract
With the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), spectroscopic studies of atmospheres on directly-imaged exoplanets will be possible for the first time. Such planets include the L3 spectral type super Jupiter Beta Pic b ( 1800-2300). To accurately characterize the complex physical processes occurring in exoplanet atmospheres and maximize the impact of these upcoming JWST studies, we will need to distinguish between spectral contributions from clouds, aurorae, and magnetic spots in early L spectral type atmospheres. Our proposed pilot case study will allow us to disentangle the signatures of each process in advance of JWST. We will combine spectral modeling with simultaneous HST/WFC3 grism spectroscopy and VLA radio observations of three early L dwarfs to: (1) characterize and distinguish between auroral, cloudy, and magnetic spot spectral variability, and (2) classify an ambiguous case of spectral variability using our new knowledge of the distinct spectroscopic signatures.
- Publication:
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HST Proposal
- Pub Date:
- June 2019
- Bibcode:
- 2019hst..prop15924V