HCN and C 2 H 2 in the Atmosphere of a T8.5+T9 Brown Dwarf Binary

Abstract

T-type brown dwarfs present an opportunity to explore atmospheres teeming with molecules such as H 2 O, CH 4 , and NH 3 , which exhibit a wealth of absorption features in the mid-infrared. With JWST, we can finally explore this chemistry in detail, including for the coldest brown dwarfs that were not yet discovered in the Spitzer era. This allows precise derivations of the molecular abundances, which in turn inform our understanding of vertical transport in these atmospheres and can provide clues about the formation of cold brown dwarfs and exoplanets. This study presents the first JWST/MRS mid-IR spectrum ( R  ∼ 1500–3000) of a T dwarf: the T8.5+T9 brown dwarf binary WISE J045853.90+643451.9. We fit the spectrum using a parameterized P – T profile and free molecular abundances (i.e., a retrieval analysis), treating the binary as unresolved. We find a good fit with a cloud-free atmosphere and identify H 2 O, CH 4 , and NH 3 features. Moreover, we make the first detections of HCN and C 2 H 2 (at 13.4 σ and 9.5 σ respectively) in any brown dwarf atmosphere. The detection of HCN suggests intense vertical mixing ( K zz  ∼ 10 11 cm 2 s −1 ), challenging previous literature derivations of K zz values for T-type brown dwarfs. Even more surprising is the C 2 H 2 detection, which cannot be explained with existing atmospheric models for isolated objects. This result challenges model assumptions about vertical mixing and/or our understanding of the C 2 H 2 chemical network, or might hint towards more complex atmospheric processes such as magnetic fields driving aurorae or lightning driving ionization. These findings open a new frontier in studying carbon chemistry within brown dwarf atmospheres.