Spectral library of age-benchmark low-mass stars and brown dwarfs

TL;DR

This study assesses spectral and photometric indicators of age and surface gravity in low-mass stars and brown dwarfs, providing a spectral library and evaluating the reliability of gravity diagnostics across different ages.

Contribution

It offers a comprehensive spectral library of young and old brown dwarfs with well-constrained ages, and evaluates the effectiveness of gravity indicators and color-age relations.

Findings

Spectral indices accurately estimate gravity for 75% of the sample.

Alkali line equivalent widths correlate moderately with age, especially for spectral types M8 and later.

Red colors are not reliable age indicators beyond 10 Myr, possibly linked to disks or viewing angle.

Abstract

In the past years, some extremely red brown dwarfs were found. They were believed to have low surface gravity, but many of their spectral characteristics were similar to those of high surface gravity brown dwarfs, showing that youth (or low surface gravity) spectral characteristics are poorly understood. We aim to test surface gravity indicators in late-M and early-L brown dwarf spectra using data obtained with the X-shooter spectrograph at the Very Large Telescope. We selected a benchmark sample of brown dwarfs members of Chamaeleon\,I ($\sim$2 Myr), Upper Scorpius (5$-$10~Myr), Pleiades (132$\pm$27 Myr), and Praesepe (590$-$790 Myr) with well-constrained ages, and similar metallicities. We provided a consistent spectral classification of the sample in the optical and in the near-infrared. We measured the equivalent widths of their alkali lines, finding that they have a moderate correlation with age, especially for objects with spectral types M8 and later. We used spectral indices defined in the literature to estimate surface gravity, finding that their gravity assignment is accurate for 75\% of our sample. We investigated the correlation between red colours and age, finding that after $\sim$10~Myr, the colour does not change significantly for our sample {with spectral types M6.0-L3.0}. In this case, red colours might be associated with circumstellar disks, {ring structures, extinction, or viewing angle}. Finally, we calculated the {bolometric luminosity}, {and $J$ and $K$ bolometric corrections} for our sample. We found that six objects are overluminous compared to other members of the same association. Those objects are also flagged as binary candidates by the $Gaia$ survey.