Uniform Forward-Modeling Analysis of Ultracool Dwarfs. II. Atmospheric Properties of 55 Late-T Dwarfs

TL;DR

This study analyzes 55 late-T dwarfs using low-resolution near-infrared spectra and advanced Bayesian modeling, revealing limitations in current cloudless, equilibrium atmospheric models and highlighting degeneracies in derived parameters.

Contribution

It provides the largest systematic analysis of ultracool dwarf spectra with multi-metallicity models, testing and identifying shortcomings of existing atmospheric models.

Findings

Fitted metallicities are 0.3-0.4 dex lower than nearby stars.

Derived ages are implausibly young.

Temperatures are ~100 K hotter for T8+ dwarfs.

Abstract

We present a large forward-modeling analysis for 55 late-T (T7-T9) dwarfs, using low-resolution ($R\approx150$) near-infrared spectra and cloudless Sonora-Bobcat model atmospheres. We derive the objects' effective temperatures, surface gravities, metallicities, radii, masses, and luminosities using our newly developed Bayesian framework, and use the resulting population properties to test the model atmospheres. We find (1) our objects' fitted metallicities are 0.3-0.4 dex lower than those of nearby stars; (2) their ages derived from spectroscopic parameters are implausibly young; (3) their fitted temperatures show a similar spread as empirical temperature scales at a given spectral type but are $\sim100$ K hotter for $\geqslant$T8 dwarfs; and (4) their spectroscopically inferred masses are unphysically small. These results suggest the Sonora-Bobcat assumptions of cloudless and chemical-equilibrium atmospheres do not adequately reproduce late-T dwarf spectra. We also find a gravity- and a metallicity-dependence of temperatures. Combining the resulting parameter posteriors of our sample, we quantify the degeneracy between surface gravity and metallicity such that an increase in $Z$ combined with a $3.4\times$ increase in $\log{g}$ results in a spectrum that has similar fitted parameters. We note the systematic difference between our 1.0-2.5 $\mu$m spectra and the Sonora-Bobcat models is $\approx$2-4% of the objects' peak $J$-band fluxes, implying modeling systematics will exceed measurement uncertainties when analyzing data with $J$-band S/N $\gtrsim50$. Using our large sample, we examine the fitting residuals as a function of wavelength and atmospheric properties to discern how to improve the models. Our work constitutes the largest analysis of brown dwarf spectra using multi-metallicity models and the most systematic examination of ultracool model atmospheres to date.