Brown Dwarfs and Extrasolar Planets

Brown dwarfs bridge the gap between the stellar and planetary mass regimes and, as they cool, their atmospheres evolve towards conditions most commonly associated with planets. Despite differences (e.g., formation and proximity to a stellar companion), it is interesting to know just how much of the knowledge gained by studying brown dwarfs can be directly applied when predicting the thermal and spectral properties of extrasolar planets. This paper briefly summarizes the characteristics of brown dwarfs and extrasolar giant planet atmospheres, and discusses the significance of irradiation on the evolution of extrasolar planets.