Advances in the Theory of Extrasolar Giant Planets and Brown Dwarfs

Abstract

We have developed a new non-gray theory of the evolution, spectra, and colors of extrasolar giant planets (EGPs) and brown dwarfs that reveals their exotic nature and uniqueness. We have discovered that the fluxes of such objects for T$_{eff}$s from 1300 K to 100 K can be spectacularly higher in the near infrared bands than black body values and that their infrared colors are anomalously blue. As a consequence, EGPs and brown dwarfs reside in hitherto unoccupied realms of the H--R diagram and may be more easily found with current and planned telescopes than previously imagined.

19 pages total, LaTeX, 9 figures, to be published in the proceedings of the workshop "Brown Dwarfs and Extrasolar Planets," held in Tenerife, Spain, March 17 - 21, 1997