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Spectral Features in L dwarfs:

  • Disappearing metal oxide lines (TiO, VO)

  • Increasing H2O features

  • Very strong alkali lines - Na, K, Cs, Rb - due to increasing optical depth (and thus, large column density)

  • Some show lithium lines, but not all (important indicator of young light vs. old massive dwarfs).

  • CO lines also prominent in Near-IR


Figure taken from Reid (2000).