Beyond the Fast Rotators: A JWST Multi-Cycle Treasury Survey of Substellar Weather
Authors: Natalia Oliveros-Gomez, Elena Manjavacas, Niall Whiteford, Caprice Phillips, Jared Bull, Kielan Hoch, Allison M. McCarthy, Beatriz Campos Estrada, Cian O'Toole, Evert Nasedkin, Stanimir Metchev, Gabriel-Dominique Marleau, Harshil Kothari, Antonia von Stauffenberg, Michael K. Plummer, Brianna I. Lacy, Fuda Nguyen, Xueqing Chen, Fei Wang, Genaro Súarez, Ben J. Sutlieff
Abstract
Atmospheric variability provides a unique window into the three-dimensional structure, dynamics, and evolution of brown dwarf and giant exoplanet atmospheres. Recent JWST time-resolved spectroscopic observations have revealed complex wavelength-dependent variability, offering unprecedented insights into cloud structures, thermal perturbations, and atmospheric chemistry. However, existing programs have focused primarily on individual benchmarks and specific scientific questions, resulting in heterogeneous spectral and temporal coverage and leaving important regions of the substellar population underexplored, particularly across a broad range of rotation periods, spectral types, and viewing geometries. A JWST Multi-Cycle Treasury program could systematically investigate substellar weather across a diverse, well-characterized population. By combining broad infrared spectroscopic coverage with observations spanning multiple rotations and strategically selected epochs, this program would constrain the contributions of different physical mechanisms while investigating how atmospheric structures depend on rotation, viewing geometry, and fundamental physical properties. Extended monitoring would also improve rotational-period determinations and reveal how atmospheric features evolve from rotation to rotation and over longer timescales. This coordinated effort would provide a consistently designed and uniformly processed dataset of time-resolved spectra and variability diagnostics, enabling population-level comparisons, testing predictions from three-dimensional circulation models, and establishing a framework for interpreting the atmospheric diversity and evolution of brown dwarfs and directly imaged giant exoplanets.
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Expanding the Volatile Abundance Inventory for High-Priority K-Dwarf JWST Exoplanet SystemsDavid R. Coria, Neda Hejazi, Ian J. M. Crossfield et al. · 2026 · Solar and Stellar Astrophysics · AI summary available
The study measures host-star elemental and isotopic abundances for JWST exoplanet systems, rather than variability in substellar atmospheres.
In short
Near-infrared spectra yielded carbon and oxygen abundances for six K-dwarf exoplanet hosts and sub-solar carbon isotope ratios for five, but not reliable oxygen isotope ratios.
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DMAJOR: A JWST Legacy Survey of Protoplanetary DisksBenjamin Pope, Yinuo Han, Sean Andrews et al. · 2026 · Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics · AI summary available
DMAJOR proposes a uniform JWST survey with scheduled revisits, but maps protoplanetary disk structure across environments rather than substellar weather.
In short
DMAJOR proposes a JWST survey of 91 resolved protoplanetary disks to map their infrared structures, environments, companions, and variability.
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Time-resolved protoplanetary disk physics in DQ Tau with JWSTÁ. Kóspál, P. Ábrahám, V. V. Akimkin et al. · 2025 · A&A 703, A20 (2025) · cited 2 times · AI summary available
The DQ Tau campaign uses multi-epoch JWST spectra to study variability, but investigates disk responses to episodic accretion.
Abstract
Accretion variability is ubiquitous in YSOs. While large outbursts may strongly affect the disk, the effects of moderate bursts are less understood. We aim to study the physical response of the disk around the eccentric binary system DQ Tau to its periodic accretion changes. We organized a multi-wavelength campaign centered on four JWST/MIRI spectra. We targeted three periastrons (high accretion state) and one apastron (quiescence). We used optical and near-infrared spectroscopy and photometry to measure how the accretion luminosity varies. We decomposed the multi-epoch SEDs into stellar, accretion, and rim components. We fitted the solid-state features using various opacity curves and the m…
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Near-Ultraviolet and Optical Observations of the White Dwarf ZTF J0328$-$1219 Reveal Variable Periodicity in its Transiting Debris SystemJoseph A. Guidry, J. J. Hermes, Zachary P. Vanderbosch et al. · 2026 · Solar and Stellar Astrophysics · AI summary available
The study tracks changing periodicity and transit shapes in a white-dwarf debris system, not atmospheric variability in brown dwarfs.
In short
ZTF J0328−1219’s transiting debris shifts between dominant orbital periods, while its transit colors are mostly consistent with wavelength-independent extinction and its accreted material appears chondritic.
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Towards robust corrections for stellar contamination in JWST exoplanet transmission spectraBenjamin V. Rackham, Julien de Wit · 2023 · The Astronomical Journal (2024) 168, 82 · cited 32 times · AI summary available
The study addresses biases from stellar contamination in JWST transmission spectra, rather than weather variability in substellar atmospheres.
Abstract
Transmission spectroscopy is still the preferred characterization technique for exoplanet atmospheres, although it presents unique challenges which translate into characterization bottlenecks when robust mitigation strategies are missing. Stellar contamination is one of such challenges that can overpower the planetary signal by up to an order of magnitude, and thus not accounting for stellar contamination can lead to significant biases in the derived atmospheric properties. Yet, accounting for stellar contamination may not be straightforward, as important discrepancies exist between state-of-the-art stellar models and measured spectra and between models themselves. Here we explore the extent…
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Exoplanetary Atmospheres: Key Insights, Challenges and ProspectsNikku Madhusudhan · 2019 · Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · cited 255 times · AI summary available
The review surveys exoplanet atmospheric characterization prospects and challenges, while this paper proposes a targeted survey of substellar weather.
Abstract
Exoplanetary science is on the verge of an unprecedented revolution. The thousands of exoplanets discovered over the past decade have most recently been supplemented by discoveries of potentially habitable planets around nearby low-mass stars. Currently, the field is rapidly progressing towards detailed spectroscopic observations to characterise the atmospheres of these planets. While various surveys from space and ground are expected to detect numerous more exoplanets orbiting nearby stars, the imminent launch of JWST along with large ground-based facilities are expected to revolutionise exoplanetary spectroscopy. Such observations, combined with detailed theoretical models and inverse meth…
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Tracing the Top-of-the-atmosphere and Vertical Cloud Structure of a fast-rotating late T-dwarfElena Manjavacas, Theodora Karalidi, Xianyu Tan et al. · 2022 · Solar and Stellar Astrophysics · cited 1 time · AI summary available
The study measures near-infrared variability and cloud structure in a late-T brown dwarf, one part of the population targeted by the proposed survey.
Abstract
Only a handful of late-T brown dwarfs have been monitored for spectro-photometric variability, leaving incomplete the study of the atmospheric cloud structures of the coldest brown dwarfs, that share temperatures with some cold, directly-imaged exoplanets. 2MASSJ00501994-332240 is a T7.0 rapidly rotating, field brown dwarf that showed low-level photometric variability in data obtained with the Spitzer Space telescope. We monitored 2MASSJ00501994-332240 during ~2.6 hr with MOSFIRE, installed at the Keck I telescope, with the aim of constraining its near-infrared spectro-photometric variability. We measured fluctuations with a peak-to-peak amplitude of 1.48+\-0.75% in the J-band photometric li…
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Optical Properties of Organic Hazes in Water-rich Exoplanet Atmospheres: Implications for Observations with JWSTChao He, Michael Radke, Sarah E. Moran et al. · 2023 · Nature Astronomy (2023) · cited 25 times · AI summary available
The study measures optical properties of organic haze analogues for interpreting JWST spectra, providing atmospheric optical data rather than a variability survey.
Abstract
JWST has begun its scientific mission, which includes the atmospheric characterization of transiting exoplanets. Some of the first exoplanets to be observed by JWST have equilibrium temperatures below 1000 K, which is a regime where photochemical hazes are expected to form. The optical properties of these hazes, which controls how they interact with light, are critical for interpreting exoplanet observations, but relevant data are not available. Here we measure the optical properties of organic haze analogues generated in water-rich exoplanet atmosphere experiments. We report optical constants (0.4 to 28.6 micron) of organic hazes for current and future observational and modeling efforts cov…
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