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Published February 10, 2016 | Published + Submitted
Journal Article Open

Auroral radio emission from late L and T dwarfs: A new constraint on dynamo theory in the substellar regime

Abstract

We have observed six late L and T dwarfs with the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) to investigate the presence of highly circularly polarized radio emission, associated with large-scale auroral currents. Previous surveys encompassing ~60 L6 or later targets have yielded only one detection. Our sample includes the previously detected T6.5 dwarf 2MASS 10475385+2124234, as well as five new targets selected for the presence of Hα emission and/or optical infrared photometric variability, which are possible manifestations of auroral activity. We detect 2MASS 10475385+2124234, as well as four of the five targets in our biased sample, including the strong IR-variable source SIMP J01365662+0933473 and bright Hα emitter 2MASS 12373919+6526148, reinforcing the possibility that activity at these disparate wavelengths is related. The radio emission frequency corresponds to a precise determination of the lower-bound magnetic field strength near the surface of each dwarf, and this new sample provides robust constraints on dynamo theory in the low-mass brown dwarf regime. Magnetic fields ≳2.5 kG are confirmed for five of six targets. Our results provide tentative evidence that the dynamo operating in this mass regime may be inconsistent with predicted values from a recently proposed model. Further observations at higher radio frequencies are essential for verifying this assertion.

Additional Information

© 2016 American Astronomical Society. Received 2015 June 25; accepted 2015 November 18; published 2016 February 4. M.M.K. thanks Jackie Villadsen, E. Sterl Phinney, Ulrich Christensen, and Shri Kulkarni for illuminating and helpful conversations. This publication makes use of data products from the Two Micron All Sky Survey, which is a joint project of the University of Massachusetts and the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center/California Institute of Technology, funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the National Science Foundation. The National Radio Astronomy Observatory is a facility of the National Science Foundation operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc. J.S.P. was supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship under grant no. DGE-1144469.

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Published - Kao_2016p24.pdf

Submitted - 1511.03661v1.pdf

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