X-SHYNE: X-shooter spectra of young exoplanet analogs. I. A medium-resolution 0.65-2.5$\mathrm{\mu m}$ one-shot spectrum of VHS\,1256-1257 b

TL;DR

This study provides a detailed medium-resolution spectrum of the young exoplanet analog VHS 1256-1257 b, analyzing its atmospheric properties and variability, and compares observations with atmospheric models to improve understanding of such objects.

Contribution

First simultaneous medium-resolution spectrum of VHS 1256-1257 b across 0.65-2.5 microns, combined with model comparisons and variability analysis, advancing characterization of young exoplanet analogs.

Findings

Models reproduce spectral slope and molecular absorption but not radius or optical spectrum.

Derived atmospheric parameters: Teff ~1380K, log(g) ~4.0, [M/H] ~0.2, C/O > 0.63.

Detected a 27K temperature variation correlated with near-infrared brightness changes.

Abstract

We present simultaneous 0.65-2.5 microns medium resolution (3300 < R < 8100) VLT/X-Shooter spectra of the young low-mass (19+/-5MJup) L-T transition object VHS 1256-1257 b, a known spectroscopic analogue of HR8799d. The companion is a prime target for the JWST Early Release Science (ERS) and one of the highest-amplitude variable brown-dwarf known to date. We compare the spectrum to the custom grids of cloudless ATMO models exploring different atmospheric composition with the Bayesian inference tool ForMoSA. We also re-analyze low-resolution HST/WFC3 1.10-1.67 microns spectra at minimum and maximum variability to contextualize the X-Shooter data interpretation. The models reproduce the slope and most molecular absorption from 1.10 to 2.48 microns self-consistently but fail to provide a radius consistent with evolutionary model predictions. They do not reproduce consistently the optical spectrum and the depth of the K I doublets in the J-band. We derive Teff = 1380+/-54 K, log(g) = 3.97+/-0.48 dex, [M/H] = 0.21+/-0.29, and C/O > 0.63. Our inversion of the HST/WFC3 spectra suggests a relative change of 27+6-5 K of the disk-integrated Teff correlated with the near-infrared brightness. Our data anchor the characterization of that object in the near-infrared and could be used jointly to the ERS mid-infrared data to provide the most detailed characterization of an ultracool dwarf to date.