Observationally-Driven Atmospheric Modeling of Brown Dwarfs and Exoplanets

棕矮星是一种亚恒星天体，比大多数人认为的要大。行星，？但质量不足以在其核心产生聚变。它们的大气层，其中许多已经被探测到，被认为与系外行星的大气层相似（直接探测要困难得多）。该团队将利用这项工作的结果来了解这些大气中的分子组成和云的形成，并确定当前模型的弱点（并指出更好的模型）。这项工作的最终目标是完善我们对这些大气层的理解，为詹姆斯韦伯太空望远镜（JWST）的发射做准备。JWST将能够直接探测系外行星大气。这项工作所开发的模型和开创的方法将为理解太阳系外行星的大气层指明方向。这项工作的更广泛的影响将包括对六名本科生的夏季研究的支持，其中包括一名来自UT奥斯汀的学生。金牛座计划。这项工作也将成为博士论文的基础。拟议的工作将使用新的褐矮星大气模型来了解来自褐矮星光谱巡天和IGRINS仪器的大约50颗褐矮星的高分辨率光谱，以及来自SpeX棱镜光谱库的多达2000个或更多的低分辨率光谱。大气模型将从现有的索诺拉模型网格发展而来。该团队将为海星光谱推断工具开发一个新的超冷棕矮星开源模块。新的模块，结合光谱拟合和改进的方法，将为社区提供一个新的资源来了解褐矮星和系外行星的atmossif.This奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估的支持。

Brown dwarfs are substellar objects, larger than what most consider to be ?planets,? but not quite massive enough to generate fusion in their cores. Their atmospheres, many of which have been detected, are thought to be similar to the atmospheres of exoplanets (which are much harder to detect directly). The team will use the results of this work to understand molecular composition and cloud formation in these atmospheres, and to identify weaknesses in current models (and point the way to better models). The eventual goal of this work is to refine our understanding of these atmospheres in preparation for the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). JWST will be able to directly detect exoplanetary atmospheres. The models developed and methods pioneered by this work will point the way to understanding the atmospheres of extrasolar planets. The broader impacts of this work will include the support for the summer research of six undergraduate students, including one student from UT Austin?s TAURUS program. The work will also form the basis of a PhD thesis.The proposed work will use new models of brown dwarf atmospheres to understand high-resolution spectra for approximately 50 brown dwarfs from the Brown Dwarf Spectroscopic Survey and from the IGRINS instrument, and up to 2000 or more low-resolution spectra from the SpeX Prism Spectral Library. The atmosphere models will be developed from the existing Sonora model grid. The team will develop a new open-source module for ultracool brown dwarfs for the Starfish spectroscopic inference tool. The new module, combined with improved line lists for spectroscopic fitting and refined methodologies, will give the community a new resource for understanding brown dwarf and exoplanetary atmospheres.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.