Theoretical Spectra and Light Curves of Close-in Extrasolar Giant Planets and Comparison with Data

We present theoretical atmosphere, spectral, and light-curve models for extrasolar giant planets (EGPs) undergoing strong irradiation for which {\it Spitzer} planet/star contrast ratios or light curves have been published (circa June 2007). These include HD 209458b, HD 189733b, TrES-1, HD 149026b, HD 179949b, and $\upsilon$ And b. By comparing models with data, we find that a number of EGP atmospheres experience thermal inversions and have stratospheres. This is particularly true for HD 209458b, HD 149026b, and $\upsilon$ And b. This finding translates into qualitative changes in the planet/star contrast ratios at secondary eclipse and in close-in EGP orbital light curves. Moreover, the presence of atmospheric water in abundance is fully consistent with all the {\it Spitzer} data for the measured planets. For planets with stratospheres, water absorption features invert into emission features and mid-infrared fluxes can be enhanced by a factor of two. In addition, the character of near-infrared planetary spectra can be radically altered. We derive a correlation between the importance of such stratospheres and the stellar flux on the planet, suggesting that close-in EGPs bifurcate into two groups: those with and without stratospheres. From the finding that TrES-1 shows no signs of a stratosphere, while HD 209458b does, we estimate the magnitude of this stellar flux breakpoint. We find that the heat redistribution parameter, P$_n$, for the family of close-in EGPs assumes values from $\sim$0.1 to $\sim$0.4. This paper provides a broad theoretical context for the future direct characterization of EGPs in tight orbits around their illuminating stars.Comment: Accepted to Ap. J., provided here in emulateapj format: 28 pages, 8 figures, many with multiple panel

Theoretical Spectral Models of the Planet HD 209458b with a Thermal Inversion and Water Emission Bands

We find that a theoretical fit to all the HD 209458b data at secondary eclipse requires that the dayside atmosphere of HD 209458b have a thermal inversion and a stratosphere. This inversion is caused by the capture of optical stellar flux by an absorber of uncertain origin that resides at altitude. One consequence of stratospheric heating and temperature inversion is the flipping of water absorption features into emission features from the near- to the mid-infrared and we see evidence of such a water emission feature in the recent HD 209458b IRAC data of Knutson et al. In addition, an upper-atmosphere optical absorber may help explain both the weaker-than-expected Na D feature seen in transit and the fact that the transit radius at 24 $\mu$m is smaller than the corresponding radius in the optical. Moreover, it may be a factor in why HD 209458b's optical transit radius is as large as it is. We speculate on the nature of this absorber and the planets whose atmospheres may, or may not, be affected by its presence.Comment: Accepted to the Astrophysical Journal Letters on August 28, 2007, six pages in emulateapj forma

Possible Solutions to the Radius Anomalies of Transiting Giant Planets

We calculate the theoretical evolution of the radii of all fourteen of the known transiting extrasolar giant planets (EGPs) for a variety of assumptions concerning atmospheric opacity, dense inner core masses, and possible internal power sources. We incorporate the effects of stellar irradiation and customize such effects for each EGP and star. Looking collectively at the family as a whole, we find that there are in fact two radius anomalies to be explained. Not only are the radii of a subset of the known transiting EGPs larger than expected from previous theory, but many of the other objects are smaller than the default theory would allow. We suggest that the larger EGPs can be explained by invoking enhanced atmospheric opacities that naturally retain internal heat. This explanation might obviate the necessity for an extra internal power source. We explain the smaller radii by the presence in perhaps all the known transiting EGPs of dense cores, such as have been inferred for Saturn and Jupiter. Importantly, we derive a rough correlation between the masses of our "best-fit" cores and the stellar metallicity that seems to buttress the core-accretion model of their formation. Though many caveats and uncertainties remain, the resulting comprehensive theory that incorporates enhanced-opacity atmospheres and dense cores is in reasonable accord with all the current structural data for the known transiting giant planets.Comment: 22 pages in emulateapj format, including 10 figures (mostly in color), accepted to the Astrophysical Journal (February 9, 2007); to appear in volume 661, June 200

Transient jets in the symbiotic prototype Z Andromedae

We present development of the collimated bipolar jets from the symbiotic prototype Z And that appeared and disappeared during its 2006 outburst. In 2006 July Z And reached its historical maximum at U ~ 8.0. During this period, rapid photometric variations with Dm ~ 0.06 mag on the timescale of hours developed. Simultaneously, high-velocity satellite components appeared on both sides of the H-alpha and H-beta emission line profiles. They were launched asymmetrically with the red/blue velocity ratio of 1.2 - 1.3. From about mid-August they became symmetric. Their spectral properties indicated ejection of bipolar jets collimated within an average opening angle of 6.1 degrees. We estimated average outflow rate via jets to dM(jet)/dt ~ 2xE10-6(R(jet)/1AU)**(1/2) M(Sun)/year, during their August - September maximum, which corresponds to the emitting mass in jets, M(jet, emitting) ~ 6xE-10(Rjet)/1AU)^{3/2} M(Sun). During their lifetime, the jets released the total mass of M(jet, total) approx 7.4x1E-7 M(Sun). Evolution in the rapid photometric variability and asymmetric ejection of jets around the optical maximum can be explained by a disruption of the inner parts of the disk caused by radiation-induced warping of the disk.Comment: 31 pages, 9 figures, 2 tables, accepted for Ap

Revealing the Nature of Algol Disks through Optical and UV Spectroscopy, Synthetic Spectra, and Tomography of TT Hydrae

We have developed a systematic procedure to study the disks in Algol-type binaries using spectroscopic analysis, synthetic spectra, and tomography. We analyzed 119 H-alpha spectra of TT Hya, an Algol-type eclipsing interacting binary, collected from 1985-2001. The new radial velocities enabled us to derive reliable orbital elements, including a small non-zero eccentricity, and to improve the accuracy of the absolute dimensions of the system. High resolution IUE spectra were also analyzed to study the formation of the ultraviolet lines and continuum. Synthetic spectra of the iron curtain using our new shellspec program enabled us to derive a characteristic disk temperature of 7000K. We have demonstrated that the UV emission lines seen during total primary eclipse cannot originate from the accretion disk, but most likely arise from a hotter disk-stream interaction region. The synthetic spectra of the stars, disk, and stream allowed us to derive a lower limit to the mass transfer rate of 2e-10 solar masses per year. Doppler tomography of the observed H-alpha profiles revealed a distinct accretion disk. The difference spectra produced by subtracting the synthetic spectra of the stars resulted in an image of the disk, which virtually disappeared once the composite synthetic spectra of the stars and disk were used to calculate the difference spectra. An intensity enhancement of the resulting tomogram revealed images of the gas stream and an emission arc. We successfully modeled the gas stream using shellspec and associated the emission arc with an asymmetry in the accretion disk.Comment: 46 pages, 15 figures, 6 tables, accepted by Ap

PHOEBE 2.0 – Where no model has gone before

phoebe 2.0 is an open source framework bridging the gap between stellar observations and models. It allows to create and fit models simultaneously and consistently to a wide range of observational data such as photometry, spectroscopy, spectrapolarimetry, interferometry and astrometry. To reach the level of precision required by the newest generation of instruments such as Kepler, GAIA and the arrays of large telescopes, the code is set up to handle a wide range of phenomena such as multiplicity, rotation, pulsations and magnetic fields, and to model the involved physics to a new level

The very nearby M/T dwarf binary SCR 1845-6357

The recently discovered star SCR 1845-6357 is the first late M/T dwarf binary discovered. SCR 1845 is a particular object due to its tight orbit (currently around 4 AU) and its proximity to the Sun (3.85 pc). We present spatially resolved VLT/NACO images and low resolution spectra of SCR 1845 in the J, H and K near-infrared bands. Since the T dwarf companion, SCR 1845B, is so close to the primary SCR 1845A, orbital motion is evident even within a year. Following the orbital motion, the binary's mass can be measured accurately within a decade, making SCR 1845B a key T-dwarf mass-luminosity calibrator. The NIR spectra allow for accurate determination of spectral type and also for rough estimates of the object's physical parameters. The spectral type of SCR 1845B is determined by direct comparison of the flux calibrated JHK spectra with T dwarf standard template spectra and also by NIR spectral indices obtained from synthetic photometry. Constrained values for surface gravity, effective temperature and metallicity are derived by comparison with model spectra. Our data prove that SCR 1845B is a brown dwarf of spectral type T6 that is co-moving with and therefore gravitationally bound to the M8.5 primary. Fitting the NIR spectrum of SCR 1845B to model spectra yields an effective temperature of about 950K and a surface gravity log(g)=5.1 (cgs) assuming solar metallicity. Mass and age of SCR 1845B are in the range 40 to 50 Jupiter masses and 1.8 to 3.1 Gyr.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysic

Physical Orbit for Lambda Virginis and a Test of Stellar Evolution Models

Lambda Virginis (LamVir) is a well-known double-lined spectroscopic Am binary with the interesting property that both stars are very similar in abundance but one is sharp-lined and the other is broad-lined. We present combined interferometric and spectroscopic studies of LamVir. The small scale of the LamVir orbit (~20 mas) is well resolved by the Infrared Optical Telescope Array (IOTA), allowing us to determine its elements as well as the physical properties of the components to high accuracy. The masses of the two stars are determined to be 1.897 Msun and 1.721 Msun, with 0.7% and 1.5% errors respectively, and the two stars are found to have the same temperature of 8280 +/- 200 K. The accurately determined properties of LamVir allow comparisons between observations and current stellar evolution models, and reasonable matches are found. The best-fit stellar model gives LamVir a subsolar metallicity of Z=0.0097, and an age of 935 Myr. The orbital and physical parameters of LamVir also allow us to study its tidal evolution time scales and status. Although currently atomic diffusion is considered to be the most plausible cause of the Am phenomenon, the issue is still being actively debated in the literature. With the present study of the properties and evolutionary status of LamVir, this system is an ideal candidate for further detailed abundance analyses that might shed more light on the source of the chemical anomalies in these A stars.Comment: 43 Pages, 13 figures. Accepted for publication in Ap

z'-band Ground-Based Detection of the Secondary Eclipse of WASP-19b

We present the ground-based detection of the secondary eclipse of the transiting exoplanet WASP-19b. The observations were made in the Sloan z'-band using the ULTRACAM triple-beam CCD camera mounted on the NTT. The measurement shows a 0.088\pm0.019% eclipse depth, matching previous predictions based on H- and K-band measurements. We discuss in detail our approach to the removal of errors arising due to systematics in the data set, in addition to fitting a model transit to our data. This fit returns an eclipse centre, T0, of 2455578.7676 HJD, consistent with a circular orbit. Our measurement of the secondary eclipse depth is also compared to model atmospheres of WASP-19b, and is found to be consistent with previous measurements at longer wavelengths for the model atmospheres we investigated.Comment: 20 pages, 10 figures. Published in the ApJ Supplement serie

Intervention in acute coronary syndromes:do patients undergo intervention on the basis of their risk characteristics? The Global Registry of Acute Coronary Events (GRACE)

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether revascularisation is more likely to be performed in higher-risk patients and whether the findings are influenced by hospitals adopting more or less aggressive revascularisation strategies. METHODS: GRACE (Global Registry of Acute Coronary Events) is a multinational, observational cohort study. This study involved 24,189 patients enrolled at 73 hospitals with on-site angiographic facilities. RESULTS: Overall, 32.5% of patients with a non-ST elevation acute coronary syndrome (ACS) underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI; 53.7% in ST segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI)) and 7.2% underwent coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG; 4.0% in STEMI). The cumulative rate of in-hospital death rose correspondingly with the GRACE risk score (variables: age, Killip class, systolic blood pressure, ST segment deviation, cardiac arrest at admission, serum creatinine, raised cardiac markers, heart rate), from 1.2% in low-risk to 3.3% in medium-risk and 13.0% in high-risk patients (c statistic = 0.83). PCI procedures were more likely to be performed in low- (40% non-STEMI, 60% STEMI) than medium- (35%, 54%) or high-risk patients (25%, 41%). No such gradient was apparent for patients undergoing CABG. These findings were seen in STEMI and non-ST elevation ACS, in all geographical regions and irrespective of whether hospitals adopted low (4.2-33.7%, n = 7210 observations), medium (35.7-51.4%, n = 7913 observations) or high rates (52.6-77.0%, n = 8942 observations) of intervention. CONCLUSIONS: A risk-averse strategy to angiography appears to be widely adopted. Proceeding to PCI relates to referral practice and angiographic findings rather than the patient\u27s risk status. Systematic and accurate risk stratification may allow higher-risk patients to be selected for revascularisation procedures, in contrast to current international practice