Maps of Evolving Cloud Structures in Luhman 16AB from HST Time-Resolved Spectroscopy

TL;DR

This study presents the first detailed surface maps of the brown dwarf binary Luhman 16AB using HST spectroscopy and a Markov-Chain Monte Carlo mapping technique, revealing evolving cloud structures and temperature variations.

Contribution

It introduces the application of Aeolus, a novel MCMC-based mapping method, to create the first top-of-the-atmosphere maps of Luhman 16A and B from HST light curves.

Findings

Mapped 3-4 atmospheric spots with 19-38.5% surface coverage.

Detected a large cooler spot on Luhman 16B consistent with previous maps.

Observed a recurring atmospheric feature suggesting atmospheric evolution.

Abstract

WISE J104915.57-531906.1 is the nearest brown dwarf binary to our Solar system, consisting of two brown dwarfs in the L/T transition: Luhman 16A & B. In this paper we present the first map of Luhman 16A, and maps of Luhman 16B for two epochs. Our maps were created by applying Aeolus, a Markov-Chain Monte Carlo code that maps the top-of-the-atmosphere structure of brown dwarf and other ultracool atmospheres, to light curves of Luhman 16A & B using the Hubble Space Telescope's G141 and G102 grisms. Aeolus retrieved three or four spots in the top-of-the-atmosphere of Luhman 16A & B, with a surface coverage of 19%-32% (depending on an assumed rotational period of 5 hr or 8 hr) or 21%-38.5% (depending on the observational epoch) respectively. The brightness temperature of the spots of the best-fit models was ~200 K hotter than the background top-of-the-atmosphere. We compared our Luhman 16B map with the only previously published map. Interestingly, our map contained a large, cooler (DT~51 K) than the background top-of-the-atmosphere spot that lay at low latitudes, in agreement with the previous Luhman 16B map. Finally, we report the detection of a feature reappearing in Luhman 16B light curves that are separated by tens of hundreds of rotations from each other. We speculate this feature is related to top-of-the-atmosphere structures of Luhman 16B.