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A universal spin-mass relation for brown dwarfs and planets

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Scholz_2018_ApJ_859_153.pdf (869.8Kb)
Date
06/2018
Author
Scholz, Aleks
Moore, Keavin
Jayawardhana, Ray
Aigrain, Suzanne
Peterson, Dawn
Stelzer, Beate
Keywords
Brown dwarfs
Planets and satellites: formation
Protoplanetary disks
Stars: rotation
QB Astronomy
QC Physics
3rd-DAS
BDC
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Abstract
While brown dwarfs show similarities to stars early in their lives, their spin evolutions are much more akin to those of planets. We have used light curves from the K2 mission to measure new rotation periods for 18 young brown dwarfs in the Taurus star-forming region. Our sample spans masses from 0.02 to 0.08 M ⊙ and has been characterized extensively in the past. To search for periods, we utilize three different methods (autocorrelation, periodogram, Gaussian processes). The median period for brown dwarfs with disks is twice as long as for those without (3.1 versus 1.6 days), a signature of rotational braking by the disk, albeit with small numbers. With an overall median period of 1.9 days, brown dwarfs in Taurus rotate slower than their counterparts in somewhat older (3–10 Myr) star-forming regions, consistent with spin-up of the latter due to contraction and angular momentum conservation, a clear sign that disk braking overall is inefficient and/or temporary in this mass domain. We confirm the presence of a linear increase of the typical rotation period as a function of mass in the substellar regime. The rotational velocities, when calculated forward to the age of the solar system, assuming angular momentum conservation, fit the known spin–mass relation for solar system planets and extra-solar planetary-mass objects. This spin–mass trend holds over six orders of magnitude in mass, including objects from several different formation paths. Our result implies that brown dwarfs by and large retain their primordial angular momentum through the first few Myr of their evolution.
Citation
Scholz , A , Moore , K , Jayawardhana , R , Aigrain , S , Peterson , D & Stelzer , B 2018 , ' A universal spin-mass relation for brown dwarfs and planets ' , Astrophysical Journal , vol. 859 , no. 2 , 153 . https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/aabfbe
Publication
Astrophysical Journal
Status
Peer reviewed
DOI
https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/aabfbe
ISSN
0004-637X
Type
Journal article
Rights
Copyright © 2018, American Astronomical Society. This work has been made available online in accordance with the publisher’s policies. This is the final published version of the work, which was originally published at https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/aabfbe
Description
Funding: UK Science and Technology Facilities Council (ST/R000824/1) (AS).
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  • University of St Andrews Research
URL
http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2018arXiv180407380S
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/10023/14136

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