Atmospheric Retrievals of the Phase-resolved Spectra of Irradiated Brown Dwarfs WD-0137B and EPIC-2122B

Abstract

Abstract We present an atmospheric retrieval analysis of Hubble Space Telescope/Wide Field Camera 3/G141 spectroscopic phase curve observations of two brown dwarfs, WD-0137B and EPIC-2122B, in ultrashort period orbits around white dwarf hosts. These systems are analogous to hot and ultra-hot Jupiter systems, enabling a unique and high-precision comparison to exoplanet systems. We use the PHOENIX Exoplanet Retrieval Algorithm retrieval suite to test various analysis setups, including joint-phase retrievals, multiple temperature structures, and nonuniform abundances. We find that WD-0137B has a dayside that closely resembles that of other ultra-hot Jupiters with inverted temperature structures and H− opacity, but quickly transitions to a mostly noninverted temperature structure on the nightside. Meanwhile, EPIC-2122B’s atmosphere remains inverted at all constrained longitudes, with dominant H− opacity. Retrievals with multiple temperature profiles and nonuniform vertical abundances were generally not statistically justified for this data set, but retrievals with dayside-dilution factors were found to be justified. Retrieving all phases simultaneously with a linear combination of a dayside and nightside atmosphere was found to be an adequate representation of the entire phase curve once a longitudinal temperature gradient free parameter was included in the retrieval. Comparing to global circulation models, we attribute behavior in the 1D retrievals to the inclined viewing geometry of the systems, which results in always-visible irradiated and inverted portions of the atmosphere contaminating spectra measured from the nightside hemisphere. This study sheds light on the similarities between these irradiated brown dwarf systems and hot and ultra-hot Jupiters, but also their unique differences, including the influence of the inclined viewing geometry.