Observations of Ultracool dwarfs with ULTRACAM on the VLT: a search for weather

Abstract

We present multi-colour photometry of four field ultracool dwarfs with the triple-beam photometer ultracam. Data were obtained simultaneously in the Sloan-g' band and a specially designed narrow-band NaI filter. The previously reported 1.8-hr period of Kelu-1 is here recovered in the g'-band, but the lack of any significant variability in the NaI light of this object precludes any conclusion as to the cause of the variability. 2MASS 2057-0252 and DENIS 1441-0945 show no convincing evidence for variability. 2MASS 1300+1912, on the other hand, shows good evidence for gradual trends in both bands at the 5% level. These trends are anti-correlated at a high level of significance, a result which is incompatible with models of starspot-induced variability. It would seem likely that dust cloud "weather" is responsible for the short-term variability in this object.