The SPHINX M dwarf Spectral Grid. II. New Model Atmospheres and Spectra to Derive Fundamental Properties of mid-to-late type M-dwarfs

TL;DR

SPHINX II introduces an extended grid of self-consistent model atmospheres for mid-to-late M-dwarfs, improving spectral fits and property estimations by incorporating cloud physics and validated against benchmark systems.

Contribution

It extends the SPHINX model grid to cover mid-to-late M-dwarfs with advanced cloud treatments and shorter convective mixing lengths, validated with empirical data.

Findings

Improved spectral fits with 0.078 dex metallicity precision.

Condensate cloud mass peaks between 2100-2400 K.

Cloud-free regime begins around 2900 K.

Abstract

M-dwarfs are the most dominant stars in the Galaxy. Their interiors and atmospheres exhibit complex processes including dust condensation, convective feedback, and magnetic activity-driven heterogeneity. Standard stellar characterization methods often struggle to capture these coupled effects. Part I of this series introduced SPHINX I, a validated grid of self-consistent radiative-convective model atmospheres and spectra for M-dwarfs with up-to-date molecular opacities suitable for early-to-mid M-dwarfs. Here, we present SPHINX II, which extends the model grid to cover mid-to-late type M-dwarfs, including both gray and physically motivated condensate cloud treatments and shorter convective mixing lengths. We validate SPHINX II using 39 benchmark FGK+M binary systems observed with SpeX IRTF (Mann et al. 2014) and apply it to 32 mid-to-late-type M-dwarfs from the SpeX Prism Library. SPHINX II yields improved fits that are statistically consistent with empirical benchmarks, achieving precisions of 0.078 dex in metallicity and 0.13 dex in C/O. Across the model grid, condensate cloud mass peaks between 2100-2400 K, decreasing sharply toward both cooler and hotter temperatures. We find the onset of the cloud-free regime around 2900 K, and below 2100 K, we see formation of deep/buried clouds. As a case study, we also model Trappist-1 and show that even mass-limited silicate grains subtly modify its emergent spectrum, suppressing near-infrared flux and reddening the mid-infrared slope via shallow cloud formation near 1e-2 bar. In sum, SPHINX II provides an improved framework for constraining the fundamental properties of mid-to-late M-dwarfs.