Impact of Electron Precipitation on Brown Dwarf Atmospheres and the Missing Auroral {{H}}_{3}(+) Emission
Abstract
Recent observations have demonstrated that very low-mass stars and brown dwarfs are capable of sustaining strong magnetic fields despite their cool and neutral atmospheres. These kilogauss field strengths are inferred based on strong, highly circularly polarized gigahertz radio emission, a consequence of the electron cyclotron maser instability. Crucially, these observations imply the existence of energetic nonthermal electron populations, associated with strong current systems, as are found in the auroral regions of the magnetized planets of the solar system. Intense auroral electron precipitation will lead to electron collisions with the H2 gas that should generate the ion
- Publication:
-
The Astrophysical Journal
- Pub Date:
- May 2024
- DOI:
- 10.3847/1538-4357/ad2f9e
- arXiv:
- arXiv:2403.08852
- Bibcode:
- 2024ApJ...966...58P
- Keywords:
-
- Brown dwarfs;
- M dwarf stars;
- Aurorae;
- 185;
- 982;
- 2192;
- Astrophysics - Solar and Stellar Astrophysics;
- Astrophysics - Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
- E-Print:
- accepted to ApJ