424 research outputs found
Neon abundances in mercury-manganese stars: Radiative accelerators and non-LTE calculations
We make new non-local thermodynamic equilibrium calculations to deduce the abundances of neon from visible-region echelle spectra of selected Ne i lines in seven normal stars and 20 HgMn stars. We find that the best strong blend-free Ne line that can be used at the lower end of the effective temperature Teff range is λ6402, although several other potentially useful Ne i lines are found in the red region of the spectra of these stars. The mean neon abundance in the normal stars (log A=8.10) is in excellent agreement with the standard abundance of neon (8.08). However, in HgMn stars neon is almost universally underabundant, ranging from marginal deficits of 0.1–0.3 dex to underabundances of an order of magnitude or more. In many cases, the lines are so weak that only upper limits can be established. The most extreme example found is υ Her with an underabundance of at least 1.5 dex. These underabundances are qualitatively expected from radiative acceleration calculations, which show that Ne has a very small radiative acceleration in the photosphere, and that it is expected to undergo gravitational settling if the mixing processes are sufficiently weak and there is no strong stellar wind. According to theoretical predictions, the low Ne abundances place an important constraint on the intensity of such stellar winds, which must be less than 10−14 M⊙ yr−1 if they are non-turbulent
Radiative accelerations on Ne in the atmospheres of late B stars
Radiative accelerations on Ne are calculated for the atmospheres of main
sequence stars with 11000 < Teff < 15000 K, corresponding to the range of the
HgMn stars. The calculations take into account neon fine structure as well as
shadowing of neon lines using the entire Kurucz line list, bound-bound,
bound-free, and free-free opacity of H, He, and C as well as some NLTE effects.
NLTE effects modify the radiative acceleration by a factor of order 100 in the
outer atmosphere. The dependence of the radiative acelerations on the Ne
abundance, Teff, and gravity is studied. Radiative accelerations are well below
gravity in the entire range of Teff and it is predicted that in stable
atmospheres Ne should sink and be observed as underabundant. This agrees with
recent observations of low Ne abundances in HgMn stars.Comment: Accepted by Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 2002
August 21. 10 pages, 9 Postscript figures (needed new version due to error in
the listed originally-received date; corrected typo in author line)
Neon abundances in normal late-B and mercury-manganese stars
We make new Non-LTE calculations to deduce abundances of neon from
visible-region echelle spectra of selected Ne I lines in 7 normal stars and 20
HgMn stars. We find that the best strong blend-free Ne line which can be used
at the lower end of the Teff range is 6402 A, although several other
potentially useful Ne I lines are found in the red region of the spectra of
these stars. The mean neon abundance in the normal stars (log A =8.10) is in
excellent agreement with the standard abundance of neon (8.08). However, in
HgMn stars, neon is almost universally underabundant, ranging from marginal
deficits of 0.1-0.3 dex to underabundances of an order of magnitude or more. In
many cases, the lines are so weak that only upper limits can be established.
The most extreme example found is upsilon Her with an underabundance of at
least 1.5 dex. These underabundances are qualitatively expected from radiative
acceleration calculations, which show that Ne has a very small radiative
acceleration in the photosphere and is expected to undergo gravitational
settling if mixing processes are sufficiently weak, and there is no strong
stellar wind. According to the theoretical predictions of Landstreet et al.
(1998), the low Ne abundances place an important constraint on the intensity of
such stellar winds, which must be less than $10^-14 M_sun per yr if they are
non-turbulent.Comment: 10 pages, 1 figure, received 23 June 2000, accepted 4 August 2000, by
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Societ
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 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 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, for the
family of close-in EGPs assumes values from 0.1 to 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
Search for a circum-planetary material and orbital period variations of short-period Kepler exoplanet candidates
A unique short-period Mercury-size Kepler exoplanet candidate KIC012557548b
has been discovered recently by Rappaport et al. (2012). This object is a
transiting disintegrating exoplanet with a circum-planetary material -
comet-like tail. Close-in exoplanets, like KIC012557548b, are subjected to the
greatest planet-star interactions. This interaction may have various forms. In
certain cases it may cause formation of the comet-like tail. Strong interaction
with the host star, and/or presence of an additional planet may lead to
variations in the orbital period of the planet. Our main aim is to search for
comet-like tails similar to KIC012557548b and for long-term orbital period
variations. We are curious about frequency of comet-like tail formation among
short-period Kepler exoplanet candidates. We concentrate on a sample of 20
close-in candidates with a period similar to KIC012557548b from the Kepler
mission.Comment: 19 pages, 75 figures, AN accepte
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
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 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
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