HCN and C2H2 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 H2O, CH4, and NH3, 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 H2O, CH4, and NH3 features. Moreover, we make the first detections of HCN and C2H2 (at 13.4σ and 9.5σ respectively) in any brown dwarf atmosphere. The detection of HCN suggests intense vertical mixing (Kzz ∼ 1011 cm2 s−1), challenging previous literature derivations of Kzz values for T-type brown dwarfs. Even more surprising is the C2H2 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 C2H2 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.