# # Program information file # PROGRAM_ID 2023A054 PROGRAM_TITLE Characterizing Widely separated Benchmark Brown Dwarfs PROGRAM_INV1 Austin Rothermich PROGRAM_INV2 Jackie Faherty PROGRAM_INV3 Emily Calamari PROGRAM_INV4 Les Hamlet PROGRAM_INV5 Marc Kuchner PROGRAM_SCICAT stellar PROGRAM_ABSTRACT_BEG Brown dwarfs are a class of object which forms similar to stars, yet lacks sufficient mass to sustain hydrogen fusion in their cores. Due to this lack of stable energy generating mechanism, brown dwarfs slowly radiate away their initial formation heat, creating a degeneracy between mass, age, and observables such as effective temperature. One way to break this degeneracy is to study brown dwarfs in binary systems with more easily characterized primaries. Using the properties of the primary star, it is then possible to anchor spectral features of the brown dwarf in the near-infrared using atmospheric retrieval techniques. For this proposal, we are prioritizing 37 brown dwarfs in widely separated binary systems. Through characterizing this sample, we will provide the necessary information and statistics needed to be able to utilize this population of benchmarks to calibrate the field. We propose 4 nights [or 8 half nights] to follow-up on this important sample with SpeX. We will work in the simplest prism mode, allowing us to obtain a 20-30 S/N spectrum in times ranging from 0.5-1.25 hours. PROGRAM_ABSTRACT_END