Effect of Dust Size on the Near-infrared Spectra (1.0–5.0 μm) of Brown Dwarf Atmospheres

In this study, we demonstrate the dependence of atmospheric dust size on the near-infrared spectra of ten L dwarfs, and constrain the sizes of dust grains in each L dwarf atmosphere. In previous studies, by comparing observed and modeled spectra, it was suggested that the deviations of their spectral shapes from theoretical prediction are general characteristics. Here, we focus on the dust size in brown dwarf atmospheres to understand the observed spectra. We confirm that changing the dust size changes the temperature–pressure structure of the atmosphere, with the shape of the spectrum changing accordingly. At the wavelength at which dust is the main absorber of radiation (the dust-dominated regime), a large dust opacity combined with a medium grain size, e.g., 0.1 μm, results in a low photospheric temperature, and thus a small flux. Conversely, for the wavelength at which gas absorption is dominant (the gas-dominated regime), a large dust opacity modifies the temperature–pressure structure, resulting in a high photospheric temperature, which corresponds to large flux emissions. Taking into account the size effect, we compare the model spectral fluxes in the wavelength range 1–5 μm with the observational ones to constrain the main dust size in the atmosphere of each of the ten L dwarfs observed with AKARI and SpeX or CGS4. Ultimately, we reveal that the observed data are reproduced with higher fidelity by models based on a medium dust size of 0.1–3.0 μm for six of these L dwarfs; therefore, we suggest that such atmospheric dust sizes apply to the majority of L dwarfs.