The UV spectrum of the Ultracool Dwarf LSR J1835+3259 observed with the Hubble Space Telescope

TL;DR

This study presents UV observations of the ultracool dwarf LSR J1835+3259, revealing its faint UV emission and suggesting its spectrum resembles late-type M-dwarfs rather than auroral planetary processes.

Contribution

First UV spectral analysis of LSR J1835+3259 showing its emission characteristics and comparison with planetary aurorae and M-dwarf stars.

Findings

UV flux is significantly lower than earlier-type dwarfs.

Detected Mg II doublet at 2800 Å.

UV spectrum resembles late-type M-dwarfs more than planetary aurorae.

Abstract

An interesting question about ultracool dwarfs recently raised in the literature is whether their emission is purely internally driven or partially powered by external processes similar to planetary aurora known from the solar system. In this work we present Hubble Space Telescope observations of the energy fluxes of the M8.5 ultracool dwarf LSR J1835+3259 throughout the UV. The obtained spectra reveal that the object is generally UV-fainter compared to other earlier-type dwarfs. We detect the \ion{Mg}{2} doublet at 2800 \A and constrain an average flux throughout the Near-UV. In the Far-UV without Lyman alpha, the ultracool dwarf is extremely faint with an energy output at least a factor of 1000 smaller as expected from auroral emission physically similar to that on Jupiter. We also detect the red wing of the Lyman alpha emission. Our overall finding is that the observed UV spectrum of LSR J1835+3259 resembles the spectrum of mid/late-type M-dwarf stars relatively well, but it is distinct from a spectrum expected from Jupiter-like auroral processes.