Impact of Solar Wind Depression on the Dayside Magnetosphere under Northward Interplanetary Magnetic Field

We present a follow up study of the sensitivity of the Earth's magnetosphere to solar wind activity using a particles-in-cell model [Baraka and Ben Jaffel, 2007], but here during northward IMF. The formation of the magnetospheric cavity and its elongation is obtained with the classical structure of a magnetosphere with parallel lobes. An impulsive disturbance is then applied to the system by changing the bulk velocity of the solar wind to simulate a decrease in the solar wind dynamic pressure followed by its recovery. In response to the imposed disturbance, a gap [abrupt depression] in the incoming solar wind plasma appears moving toward the Earth. The gap's size is a ~15 RE and is comparable to the sizes previously obtained for both Bz<0 and Bz =0. During the initial phase of the disturbance, the dayside magnetopause (MP) expands slower than the previous cases of IMF orientations as a result of the depression. The size of the MP expands nonlinearly due to strengthening of its outer boundary by the northward IMF. Also, during the initial 100 {\Delta}t, the MP shrank down from 13.3 RE to ~9.2 RE before it started expanding; a phenomenon that was also observed for southern IMF conditions but not during the no IMF case. As soon as they felt the solar wind depression, cusps widened at high altitude while dragged in an upright position. For the field's topology, the reconnection between magnetospheric and magnetosheath fields is clearly observed in both northward and southward cusps areas. Also, the tail region in the northward IMF condition is more confined, in contrast to the fishtail-shape obtained in the southward IMF case. An X-point is formed in the tail at ~110 RE compared to ~103 RE and ~80 RE for Bz =0 and Bz <0 respectively. Our findings are consistent with existing reports from many space observatories for which predictions are proposed to test furthermore our simulation technique.Comment: 48 pages, 6 figures, 1 table, accepted for publication in Annales Geophysicae (ANGEO Communicates

Uncovering the magnetic environment of our solar system

Since its formation 4.6 billion years ago, our solar system has most likely crossed numerous magnetized interstellar clouds and bubbles of different sizes and contents on its path through the Milky Way. Having a reference model for how the heliosphere and interstellar winds interact is critical for understanding our current Galactic environment, and it requires untangling the roles of two major actors: the time-variable solar wind and the local interstellar magnetic field. Numerical simulations predict a distortion of the heliosphere caused by both solar wind anisotropy and interstellar magnetic field orientation. However, model comparison to deep space probes' measurements led to contradictory reports by Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 of both several crossings of the solar wind's termination shock and of the strength of the local interstellar field, with values ranging from 1.8 to 5.7 {\mu}G. Here, we show that Voyager 1 & 2 plasma, fields, and Lyman-{\alpha} sky background measurements, as well as space observations of high-energy particles of heliospheric origin, may all be explained by a rather weak interstellar field 2.2 +/- 0.1 {\mu}G pointing from Galactic coordinates (l,b) \sim (28, 52)+/- 3{\deg}. For the 2000 epoch Ulysses-based helium parameters assumed thus far, the interstellar bow shock must exist. By contrast, using the 2010 epoch IBEX-based He parameters and a stronger magnetic field leads to a plasma configuration that is not consistent with the Voyagers TS crossings. For the newly proposed interstellar He parameters, more simulations are required before one may determine whether the interstellar bow shock truly does disappear under those assumptions.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, in press in Astron. & Astrophy

On the existence of energetic atoms in the upper atmosphere of exoplanet HD209458b

Stellar irradiation and particles forcing strongly affect the immediate environment of extrasolar giant planets orbiting near their parent stars. Here, we use far-ultraviolet emission spectra from HD209458 in the wavelength range (1180-1710)A to bring new insight to the composition and energetic processes in play in the gas nebula around the transiting planetary companion. In that frame, we consider up-to-date atmospheric models of the giant exoplanet where we implement non-thermal line broadening to simulate the impact on the transit absorption of superthermal atoms (HI, OI, and CII) populating the upper layers of the nebula. Our sensitivity study shows that for all existing models, a significant line broadening is required for OI and probably for CII lines in order to fit the observed transit absorptions. In that frame, we show that OI and CII are preferentially heated compared to the background gas with effective temperatures as large as T_{OI}/T_B~10 for OI and T_{CII}/T_B~5 for CII. By contrast, the situation is much less clear for HI because several models could fit the Lyman-a observations including either thermal HI in an atmosphere that has a dayside vertical column [HI]~1.05x10^{21} cm^{-2}, or a less extended thermal atmosphere but with hot HI atoms populating the upper layers of the nebula. If the energetic HI atoms are either of stellar origin or populations lost from the planet and energized in the outer layers of the nebula, our finding is that most models should converge toward one hot population that has an HI vertical column in the range [HI]_{hot}(2-4)x10^{13} cm^{-2} and an effective temperature in the range T_{HI}(1-1.3)x10^6 K, but with a bulk velocity that should be rather slow.Comment: 15 pages, 10 figures, corrected for typos, references remove

Spectral, Spatial, and Time properties of the hydrogen nebula around exoplanet HD209458b

All far ultraviolet observations of HD209458 tend to support a scenario in which the inflated hydrogen atmosphere of its planetary companion strongly absorbs the stellar \lya flux during transit. However, it was not clear how the transit absorption depends on the selected wavelength range in the stellar line profile, nor how the atomic hydrogen cloud was distributed spatially around HD209458b. Here we report a sensitivity study of observed time and spectral variations of the stellar flux. In particular, the sensitivity of the absorption depth during transit to the assumed spectral range in the stellar line profile is shown to be very weak, leading to a transit depth in the range $(8.4-8.9)$ for all possible wavelength ranges, and thereby confirming our initially-reported absorption rate. Taking the ratio of the line profile during transit to the unperturbed line profile, we also show that the spectral signature of the absorption by the exoplanetary hydrogen nebula is symmetric and typical of a Lorentzian, optically thick medium. Our results question the adequacy of models that require a huge absorption and/or a strong asymmetry between the blue and red side of the absorption line during transit as no such features could be detected in the HST FUV absorption profile. Finally, we show that standard atmospheric models of HD209458b provide a good fit to the observed absorption profile during transit. Other hybrid models assuming a standard model with a thin layer of superthermal hydrogen on top remain possible.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in Astrophysical Journa

Re-visit of HST FUV observations of hot-Jupiter system HD 209458: No Si III detection and the need for COS transit observations

The discovery of OI atoms and CII ions in the upper atmosphere of HD 209458b, made with the Hubble Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) using the G140L grating, showed that these heavy species fill an area comparable to the planet's Roche lobe. The derived ~10% transit absorption depths require super-thermal processes and/or supersolar abundances. From subsequent Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS) observations, CII absorption was reported with tentative velocity signatures, and absorption by SiIII ions was also claimed in disagreement with a negative STIS G140L detection. Here, we revisit the COS dataset showing a severe limitation in the published results from having contrasted the in-transit spectrum against a stellar spectrum averaged from separate observations, at planetary phases 0.27, 0.72, and 0.49. We find variable stellar SiIII and CII emissions that were significantly depressed not only during transit but also at phase 0.27 compared to phases 0.72 and 0.49. Their respective off-transit 7.5 and 3.1% flux variations are large compared to their reported 8.2+/-1.4% and 7.8+/-1.3% transit absorptions. Significant variations also appear in the stellar line shapes, questioning reported velocity signatures. We furthermore present archive STIS G140M transit data consistent with no SiIII absorption, with a negative result of 1.7+/-18.7 including ~15% variability. Silicon may still be present at lower ionization states, in parallel with the recent detection of extended magnesium, as MgI atoms. In this frame, the firm detection of OI and CII implying solar or supersolar abundances contradicts the recent inference of potential x20-125 subsolar metallicity for HD 209458b.Comment: Accepted for publication in Ap

The extrasolar planet atmosphere and exosphere: Emission and transmission spectroscopy

We have entered the phase of extrasolar planets characterization, probing their atmospheres for molecules, constraining their horizontal and vertical temperature profiles and estimating the contribution of clouds and hazes. We report here a short review of the current situation using ground based and space based observations, and present the transmission spectra of HD189733b in the spectral range 0.5-24 microns.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures, invited talk at IAU Symposium 253, Transiting planet, Boston May 2008. Pont F., Queloz D., Sasselov., Torres M. and Holman M. editor

Exoplanet HD209458b: inflated hydrogen atmosphere but no sign of evaporation

Many extrasolar planets orbit closely to their parent star. Their existence raises the fundamental problem of loss and gain in their mass. For exoplanet HD209458b, reports on an unusually extended hydrogen corona and a hot layer in the lower atmosphere seem to support the scenario of atmospheric inflation by the strong stellar irradiation. However, difficulties in reconciling evaporation models with observations call for a reassessment of the problem. Here, we use HST archive data to report a new absorption rate of ~8.9% +/- 2.1% by atomic hydrogen during the HD209458b transit, and show that no sign of evaporation could be detected for the exoplanet. We also report evidence of time variability in the HD209458 Lyman-a flux, a variability that was not accounted for in previous studies, which corrupted their diagnostics. Mass loss rates thus far proposed in the literature in the range 5x(10^{10}-10^{11} g s^{-1}) must induce a spectral signature in the Lyman-a line profile of HD209458 that cannot be found in the present analysis. Either an unknown compensation effect is hiding the expected spectral feature or else the mass loss rate of neutrals from HD209458 is modest.Comment: corrected for typos. Published 2007 December 10 in Apj

Observations of Mass Loss from the Transiting Exoplanet HD 209458b

Using the new Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS) on the {\it Hubble Space Telescope (HST)}, we obtained moderate-resolution, high signal/noise ultraviolet spectra of HD 209458 and its exoplanet HD 209458b during transit, both orbital quadratures, and secondary eclipse. We compare transit spectra with spectra obtained at non-transit phases to identify spectral features due to the exoplanet's expanding atmosphere. We find that the mean flux decreased by $7.8\pm 1.3$% for the C II 1334.5323\AA\ and 1335.6854\AA\ lines and by $8.2\pm 1.4$% for the Si III 1206.500\AA\ line during transit compared to non-transit times in the velocity interval --50 to +50 km s$^{-1}$. Comparison of the C II and Si III line depths and transit/non-transit line ratios shows deeper absorption features near --10 and +15 km s$^{-1}$ and less certain features near --40 and +30--70 km s$^{-1}$, but future observations are needed to verify this first detection of velocity structure in the expanding atmosphere of an exoplanet. Our results for the C II lines and the non-detection of Si IV 1394.76\AA\ absorption are in agreement with \citet{Vidal-Madjar2004}, but we find absorption during transit in the Si III line contrary to the earlier result. The $8\pm 1$% obscuration of the star during transit is far larger than the 1.5% obscuration by the exoplanet's disk. Absorption during transit at velocities between --50 and +50 km s$^{-1}$ in the C II and Si III lines requires high-velocity ion absorbers, but models that assume that the absorbers are high-temperature thermal ions are inconsistent with the COS spectra. Assuming hydrodynamic model values for the gas temperature and outflow velocity at the limb of the outflow as seen in the C II lines, we find mass-loss rates in the range (8--40)$\times 10^{10}$ g s$^{-1}$.Comment: 25 pages, 4 figures, Astrophysical Journal in pres