2026ApJ...998...88I


Query : 2026ApJ...998...88I

2026ApJ...998...88I - Astrophys. J., 998, 88 (2026/February-2)

The SPHINX M Dwarf Spectral Grid. II. New Model Atmospheres and Spectra to Derive the Fundamental Properties of Mid-to-late Type M Dwarfs.

IYER A.R., LINE M.R., MUIRHEAD P.S., FORTNEY J.J. and FAHERTY J.K.

Abstract (from CDS):

M dwarfs are the most dominant stars in the Galaxy. Their interiors and atmospheres exhibit complex processes including dust condensation, convective feedback, and magnetic activity-driven heterogeneity. Standard stellar characterization methods often struggle to capture these coupled effects. Paper I of this series introduced SPHINX I, a validated grid of self-consistent radiative-convective model atmospheres and spectra for M dwarfs with up-to-date molecular opacities suitable for early-to-mid M dwarfs. Here, we present SPHINX II, which extends the model grid to cover mid-to-late type M dwarfs, including both gray and physically motivated condensate cloud treatments and shorter convective mixing lengths. We validate SPHINX II using 39 benchmark FGK+M binary systems observed with SpeX/IRTF and apply it to 32 mid-to-late type M dwarfs from the SpeX Prism Library. SPHINX II yields improved fits that are statistically consistent with empirical benchmarks, achieving precisions of 0.078 dex in metallicity and 0.13 dex in C/O. Across the model grid, condensate cloud mass peaks between 2100 and 2400 K, decreasing sharply toward both cooler and hotter temperatures. We find the onset of the cloud-free regime around ∼2900 K, and below 2100 K, we see the formation of deep/buried clouds. As a case study, we also model Trappist-1 and show that even mass-limited silicate grains subtly modify its emergent spectrum, suppressing near-infrared flux and reddening the mid-infrared slope via shallow cloud formation near 10–2 bar. In sum, SPHINX II provides an improved framework for constraining the fundamental properties of mid-to-late M dwarfs.

Abstract Copyright: © 2026. The Author(s). Published by the American Astronomical Society.

Journal keyword(s): Atmospheric clouds - M dwarf stars - Atmospheric composition - Bayesian statistics - Theoretical models

Simbad objects: 73

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Number of rows : 73
N Identifier Otype ICRS (J2000)
RA
ICRS (J2000)
DEC
Mag U Mag B Mag V Mag R Mag I Sp type #ref
1850 - 2026
#notes
1 2MASS J00013044+1010146 LM* 00 01 30.4547047752 +10 10 14.816690076           M6V 6 0
2 2MASS J00034227-2822410 PM* 00 03 42.3029441329 -28 22 41.160114863           M7.0V 23 0
3 2MASS J00115060-1523450 LM* 00 11 50.6121015576 -15 23 45.275326692           M7.5Ve 5 0
4 2MASS J00335534-0908247 LM* 00 33 55.3647925656 -09 08 24.705751524           M8Ve: 7 0
5 2MASS J00552554+4130184 LM* 00 55 25.5477487536 +41 30 18.438655824           M8Ve: 9 0
6 2MASS J00583814-1747311 LM* 00 58 38.1348591096 -17 47 30.977623608           M6V 4 0
7 2MASS J01045111-3327380 LM* 01 04 51.1084150896 -33 27 38.191836096           M8V 2 0
8 2MASS J01470204+2120242 LM* 01 47 02.0477509032 +21 20 24.178069284           M7.5Ve: 4 0
9 2MASS J01532750+3631482 LM* 01 53 27.4977244344 +36 31 48.282054636           M6V 6 0
10 LP 469-162 PM* 02 12 19.7446940736 +12 49 25.915465308       13.4 12.222 M4 10 0
11 Ross 19B LM* 02 19 48.68 +35 18 45.3           ~ 8 0
12 LP 197-48 Er* 02 45 41.8471505936 +44 57 00.780530100   18.1 15.00 13.6   dM5.5 18 0
13 LSPM J0253+6321 PM* 02 53 15.5308526280 +63 21 06.577260372   18.4   16.1   M5.0 11 0
14 2MASS J03023398-1028223 LM* 03 02 34.0702206912 -10 28 23.295235224           M5.5V 3 0
15 2MASS J03184214+0828002 PM* 03 18 42.1385529623 +08 28 00.277970743           M7.0 8 0
16 2MASS J04035944+1520502 LM* 04 03 59.4331380456 +15 20 50.601240528           M7V 3 0
17 2MASS J04071296+1710474 LM* 04 07 12.9774709704 +17 10 47.607498336           M8V 5 0
18 LP 655-23 B PM* 04 30 51.5823958776 -08 49 00.937673112   20.2   18.8 15.79 M8V 15 0
19 2MASS J04360273+1547536 LM* 04 36 02.7330597672 +15 47 53.555364204           M6.5V 3 0
20 LP 659-4 PM* 05 58 17.1733264464 -04 38 01.497308208     16.49     M4.5V 18 0
21 LP 22-42 PM* 07 31 38.8632302232 +19 58 32.416229496   19.9   16.3   M5.5 10 0
22 LSPM J0739+1305 PM* 07 39 43.8429389616 +13 05 06.843521868           M8 9 0
23 * 1 Hya C LM* 08 24 52.4255684376 -03 41 01.892262696     17.16 16.44   M5.5Ve 11 1
24 HD 82443B PM* 09 32 48.2424253608 +26 59 43.776179088   16.9   14.5   M5.5V 42 1
25 MCC 561 PM* 10 00 26.7140567208 +27 16 01.614113544   12.36 11.175 10.739   M0.5V 37 0
26 * 20 LMi B PM* 10 00 50.2251808863 +31 55 45.199255664   17.1   16.349   M6.0V 45 0
27 BD+44 2051B PM* 11 05 30.8855820790 +43 31 17.885197587   16.45 14.45 13.4   M6.0V 279 0
28 2MASS J11070582+2827226 LM* 11 07 05.8091437128 +28 27 22.713750684           M7V 6 0
29 2MASS J11150577+2520467 LM* 11 15 05.7672463824 +25 20 46.926898512           M7.5Ve: 4 0
30 RX J1124.1+3808B LM* 11 24 04.8863943864 +38 08 05.432794728         16.12 M8.5V 25 0
31 2MASS J11323833-1446374 LM* 11 32 38.3560297824 -14 46 36.671465820           M7V 3 0
32 TWA 26 LM* 11 39 51.1378374696 -31 59 21.443660124         15.83 M8e 125 0
33 LP 793-34 PM* 11 45 35.3980352256 -20 21 04.904269200   19.0       M5e 15 0
34 2MASS J11463232+0203414 LM* 11 46 32.3335300776 +02 03 41.677502724           M5.5V 2 0
35 LSPM J1200+2048 LM* 12 00 32.9030746656 +20 48 51.384235176   21.4   19.1   M8V 32 0
36 LP 494-38 PM* 12 07 23.9960129566 +13 02 13.797611493   19.5   17.3   M5.5 13 1
37 LSPM J1210+1858E PM* 12 10 09.8980241976 +18 58 08.331574872   20.8   19.3   M6.5 9 0
38 2MASS J12121714-2253451 LM* 12 12 17.1357545904 -22 53 45.258389628           M8Ve 4 0
39 2MASS J12373441+3028596 BD* 12 37 34.42 +30 28 59.6           L0 2 0
40 2MASS J12531161+2728145 LM* 12 53 11.6150115729 +27 28 14.677667296           M9 6 0
41 LSPM J1302+3227 LM* 13 02 20.8064175072 +32 27 10.383418260   20.0   16.4   M6V 17 0
42 2MASS J13204159+0957506 LM* 13 20 41.6073617712 +09 57 50.660944128         17.46 M7.5 15 0
43 2MASS J13272391+0946446 LM* 13 27 23.9045011752 +09 46 44.456693088           M6V 4 0
44 LP 619-50 PM* 14 12 12.1209742492 -00 35 16.326266461   21 20.14 18.07 15.76 M6.5V 33 0
45 LSPM J1425+2035W PM* 14 25 25.8925091748 +20 35 45.810848614   18.2   15.9   dM6.5 13 0
46 LP 680-57 PM* 14 26 45.8363969472 -05 10 19.427937780       15.77   M4.5 19 0
47 2MASS J15243203+0934386 LM* 15 24 32.0392245048 +09 34 38.591472900           M7Ve: 6 0
48 2MASS J16304206-0232224 LM* 16 30 42.0576208536 -02 32 22.668622260           M8V 2 0
49 HD 150698B PM* 16 43 49.5157756061 -26 48 39.242039583           M6 4 0
50 VB 8 LM* 16 55 35.2557374336 -08 23 40.753073075   18.7 16.916 14.566 12.24 M7Ve 457 0
51 LP 566-20 PM* 16 59 05.5754820576 +06 35 32.339943420   18.1   16.0   M5.5 10 1
52 ** BUG 5A BD* 17 07 23.4274277976 -05 58 25.222201032           M9Ve 8 0
53 2MASS J17364839+0220426 LM* 17 36 48.4014913128 +02 20 42.598573548           M8V 7 0
54 HD 161198B PM* 17 43 15.3963763309 +21 36 10.386153372           M4.5 12 0
55 LSPM J1748+1143 PM* 17 48 44.3167150464 +11 43 47.053679952   18.1   16.7   M5.5 6 0
56 2MASS J18112466+3748513 LM* 18 11 24.6524650160 +37 48 50.803993941           M:: 3 0
57 2MASS J18244344+2937133 LM* 18 24 43.4432701968 +29 37 13.485771552           M6V 4 0
58 2MASS J18411320-4000124 LM* 18 41 13.2154809096 -40 00 12.657993624           M7.5Ve: 2 0
59 LSPM J1907+5905B PM* 19 07 24.5456410824 +59 05 12.365828736           ~ 5 0
60 VB 10 PM* 19 16 57.6109547886 +05 09 01.600923413     17.30     M8V 499 1
61 HD 190042B PM* 20 01 01.2289754400 +48 15 25.574306940   9.605 8.838 8.95   ~ 7 0
62 2MASS J20103539+0634367 PM* 20 10 35.3892224256 +06 34 36.828313572           M8.5V 11 0
63 LSPM J2047+1051N PM* 20 47 16.6879883113 +10 51 50.995018796           M4.5 8 0
64 LP 340-69 PM* 20 49 13.7442586782 +32 16 51.331822825   17.6   15.5   M6.0 20 0
65 * 72 Cyg PM* 21 34 46.5868653816 +38 32 02.640439968 6.99 5.99 4.91 4.09 3.55 K0.5IIIFe0.5 190 0
66 LP 459-419 PM* 22 12 03.5244084961 +16 41 09.097112159   18.1   16.24   dM6.5 15 0
67 2MASS J22341394+2359559 LM* 22 34 14.0191104024 +23 59 55.879228988           M9.5e 26 0
68 G 216-7B LM* 22 37 32.5521252189 +39 22 39.327230643       19.2   M9.5 33 0
69 TRAPPIST-1 LM* 23 06 29.3684948589 -05 02 29.037301866     18.798 16.466 14.024 M7.5e 1306 0
70 HD 218730 PM* 23 10 24.7157533056 -07 48 43.182575280   7.93 7.32     G0V 63 0
71 HD 218868B PM* 23 10 54.8684508514 +45 30 46.583144124       16.07   M5.0 8 1
72 NAME HD 221356BC ** 23 31 01.6270258272 -04 06 19.516808592       19.2 15.51 M8.0V+L3.0V 34 0
73 SSSPM J2352-2538 LM* 23 51 50.4633005025 -25 37 36.861356975           M9e 50 0

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