1. Clouds in brown dwarfs and giant planets
- Author
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Étienne Artigau, Derek Homeier, Jacqueline Radigan, Caroline V. Morley, Craig R. Stark, Christiane Helling, Daniel Apai, Aren Heinze, S. P. Littlefair, Stanimir Metchev, and Andy Skemer
- Subjects
Physics ,Opacity ,010308 nuclear & particles physics ,Cloud cover ,Brown dwarf ,Astronomy ,Astronomy and Astrophysics ,Astrophysics ,Planetary system ,Stellar classification ,01 natural sciences ,13. Climate action ,Space and Planetary Science ,Planet ,0103 physical sciences ,Astrophysics::Solar and Stellar Astrophysics ,Astrophysics::Earth and Planetary Astrophysics ,Massive compact halo object ,Internal heating ,010303 astronomy & astrophysics ,Astrophysics::Galaxy Astrophysics - Abstract
A growing body of observational and theoretical evidence points toward the importance of clouds in the atmospheres of ultra-cool brown dwarfs and giant planets. Empirically, the presence of clouds is inferred from the red, likely dusty atmospheres of young substellar objects, and from detections of periodic variability in a fraction of brown dwarfs – as expected from rotation and a patchy cloud cover. Theoretical models have progressed alongside by including ever more comprehensive atomic and molecular opacity tables, incorporating the treatment of non-equilibrium chemistry and clouds through vertical mixing and grain size/sedimentation parameters, and employing 3-D hydrodynamical simulations. In this proceeding we summarize the key issues raised during the first gathering of observers and theorists to discuss clouds and atmospheric circulation in non-irradiated ultra-cool dwarfs and giant planets. (© 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
- Published
- 2013
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