Interpreting the Coldest Atmospheres from Brown Dwarfs to Jupiter Analogs
When
Where
James Mang
NSF Graduate Research Fellow
Department of Astronomy
The University of Texas at Austin
JWST is opening a new window on the coldest worlds beyond the Solar System, from ultra-cool brown dwarfs to directly imaged temperate giant planets. These objects bring true Jupiter analogs within reach, but their spectra are shaped by chemistry, clouds, circulation, and other processes we have seen in the giant planets in our own Solar System. In this talk, I will present Sonora Flame Skimmer, a new generation of 1D atmospheric and evolutionary models extending to Neptune-like masses and temperatures, and connect them to recent JWST observations of benchmark systems such as Eps Indi Ab, Eps Eri b, and WISE 0855. I will show how brown dwarfs and Solar System giant planets serve as complementary physical stress tests for the tools we need to interpret cold planetary atmospheres, revealing missing physics from elusive water clouds and cloud microphysics to unexpected methane emission and possible auroral heating in isolated objects. Together, these results help link current JWST observations to reflected-light opportunities with Roman and future characterization with the coming generation of 30-meter-class telescopes.
Host: Dr. Tyler Robinson