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C. R. Gelino, M. S. Marley (New Mexico State University)
The effective temperatures of L dwarfs span the range where molecules can condense to form clouds. As on Jupiter, clouds on these objects are not expected to be uniform. Model spectra have been computed to determine the effects that clouds have on the photometry of L dwarfs. In the J filter a 40 MJup, 1600 K object with clouds (or holes in clouds) covering 10% of one hemisphere will show ~0.04 magnitudes variation. An approximately equal, but opposite effect is seen in the K band, thus suggesting a procedure for unmistakably detecting clouds. We have observed several L dwarfs in order to search for such variations. We present preliminary results for these objects and comment on the limits of and causes for their variations.