Andy Skemer
A Gemini Spectrum of a World
Colder than a Night on Maunakea
Gemini North’s unique spectroscopic capabilities at 5 microns
combined with queue scheduling delivered challenging deep
spectra of a nearby, very cool brown dwarf. The results provide
a strong analog of a Jupiter-mass planet and the coolest known
compact object outside of our Solar System.
For more than 50 years, scientists have observed our Solar System’s gas giant planets in the
infrared. At these wavelengths, it is possible to measure their intrinsic luminosities, chemical
abundances, and thermal profiles. We now live in an age where thousands of planets have
been discovered orbiting other stars. For a handful of these worlds, we are beginning to study
their individual properties in a way that emulates Solar System studies from 50 years ago.
Figure 1.
Left: VLT image of
Jupiter at 5 microns
(image by Leigh
Fletcher).
Right: Gemini spectrum
of WISE 0855 at 5
microns (the faint white
vertical line).
October 2016
GeminiFocus
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