The ESO SupJup Survey VIII. Chemical fingerprints of young L dwarf twins

TL;DR

This study analyzes the atmospheres of two young L4 brown dwarfs to determine their chemical compositions and isotopic ratios, providing insights into their formation pathways and atmospheric properties.

Contribution

It presents the first detailed chemical and isotopic analysis of young L4 brown dwarfs using high-resolution spectra and atmospheric retrieval techniques, highlighting their chemical equilibrium state.

Findings

Detection of $^{13}$CO and HF in both brown dwarfs with high significance

Similar atmospheric properties and isotope ratios close to chemical equilibrium

Tentative detection of H$_2^{18}$O with lower confidence

Abstract

The potentially distinct formation pathways of exoplanets and brown dwarfs may be imprinted in their elemental and isotopic ratios. This work is part of the ESO SupJup Survey, which aims to disentangle the formation pathways of super-Jupiters and brown dwarfs through the analysis of their chemical and isotopic ratios. In this study, we characterize the atmospheres of two young L4 dwarfs, 2MASS J03552337+1133437 (2M0355) and 2MASS J14252798-3650229 (2M1425), in the AB Doradus Moving Group. This involved constraining their chemical composition, $^{12}$CO/$^{13}$CO ratio, pressure-temperature profile, surface gravity, and rotational velocity. We have obtained high-resolution CRIRES+ K-band spectra of these brown dwarfs, which we analyzed with an atmospheric retrieval pipeline. Atmospheric models were generated with the radiative transfer code petitRADTRANS, for which we employed a free and equilibrium chemistry approach, which we coupled with the PyMultiNest sampling algorithm to determine the best fit. We report robust detections of $^{13}$CO (13.4 & 8.0 $\sigma$) and HF (11.6 & 15.8 $\sigma$) in 2M0355 and 2M1425, respectively. The objects have similar overall atmospheric properties, including $^{12}$CO/$^{13}$CO isotope ratios of $95.5\substack{+6.8 \\ -6.4}$ for 2M0355 and $109.6\substack{+10.6 \\ -9.6}$ for 2M1425. In both brown dwarfs, we find only tentative hints of H$_2^{18}$O (1.1 & 3.0 $\sigma$), with lower limits of H$_2^{16}$O/H$_2^{18}$O $\sim$ 1000. Both objects appear to be close to chemical equilibrium, considering the main spectral contributors. Future studies will put them into the context of other objects observed as part of the ESO SupJup Survey.