440 research outputs found
Distinguishing the albedo of exoplanets from stellar activity
Light curves show the flux variation from the target star and its orbiting
planets as a function of time. In addition to the transit features created by
the planets, the flux also includes the reflected light component of each
planet, which depends on the planetary albedo. This signal is typically
referred to as phase curve and could be easily identified if there were no
additional noise. As well as instrumental noise, stellar activity, such as
spots, can create a modulation in the data, which may be very difficult to
distinguish from the planetary signal. We analyze the limitations imposed by
the stellar activity on the detection of the planetary albedo, considering the
limitations imposed by the predicted level of instrumental noise and the short
duration of the observations planned in the context of the CHEOPS mission. As
initial condition, we have assumed that each star is characterized by just one
orbiting planet. We built mock light curves that included a realistic stellar
activity pattern, the reflected light component of the planet and an
instrumental noise level, which we have chosen to be at the same level as
predicted for CHEOPS. We then fit these light curves to try to recover the
reflected light component, assuming the activity patterns can be modeled with a
Gaussian process.We estimate that at least one full stellar rotation is
necessary to obtain a reliable detection of the planetary albedo. This result
is independent of the level of noise, but it depends on the limitation of the
Gaussian process to describe the stellar activity when the light curve
time-span is shorter than the stellar rotation. Finally, in presence of typical
CHEOPS gaps in the simulations, we confirm that it is still possible to obtain
a reliable albedo.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A, 14 pages, 12 figure
μLC-SERS system using silver-quantum dots substrate for the separation and determination of nucleic acid bases
III Encuentro sobre Nanociencia y Nanotecnología de Investigadores y Tecnólogos Andaluce
Young planets under extreme UV irradiation. I. Upper atmosphere modelling of the young exoplanet K2-33b
The K2-33 planetary system hosts one transiting ~5 R_E planet orbiting the
young M-type host star. The planet's mass is still unknown, with an estimated
upper limit of 5.4 M_J. The extreme youth of the system (<20 Myr) gives the
unprecedented opportunity to study the earliest phases of planetary evolution,
at a stage when the planet is exposed to an extremely high level of high-energy
radiation emitted by the host star. We perform a series of 1D hydrodynamic
simulations of the planet's upper atmosphere considering a range of possible
planetary masses, from 2 to 40 M_E, and equilibrium temperatures, from 850 to
1300 K, to account for internal heating as a result of contraction. We obtain
temperature profiles mostly controlled by the planet's mass, while the
equilibrium temperature has a secondary effect. For planetary masses below 7-10
M_E, the atmosphere is subject to extremely high escape rates, driven by the
planet's weak gravity and high thermal energy, which increase with decreasing
mass and/or increasing temperature. For higher masses, the escape is instead
driven by the absorption of the high-energy stellar radiation. A rough
comparison of the timescales for complete atmospheric escape and age of the
system indicates that the planet is more massive than 10 M_E.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figure
A novel silver-quantum dots "sponge" nanocomposite as sers-active substrate
III Encuentro sobre Nanociencia y Nanotecnología de Investigadores y Tecnólogos Andaluce
A grid of upper atmosphere models for 1--40 MEARTH planets: application to CoRoT-7 b and HD219134 b,c
There is growing observational and theoretical evidence suggesting that
atmospheric escape is a key driver of planetary evolution. Commonly, planetary
evolution models employ simple analytic formulae (e.g., energy limited escape)
that are often inaccurate, and more detailed physical models of atmospheric
loss usually only give snapshots of an atmosphere's structure and are difficult
to use for evolutionary studies. To overcome this problem, we upgrade and
employ an already existing upper atmosphere hydrodynamic code to produce a
large grid of about 7000 models covering planets with masses 1 - 39 Earth mass
with hydrogen-dominated atmospheres and orbiting late-type stars. The modeled
planets have equilibrium temperatures ranging between 300 and 2000 K. For each
considered stellar mass, we account for three different values of the
high-energy stellar flux (i.e., low, moderate, and high activity). For each
computed model, we derive the atmospheric temperature, number density, bulk
velocity, X-ray and EUV (XUV) volume heating rates, and abundance of the
considered species as a function of distance from the planetary center. From
these quantities, we estimate the positions of the maximum dissociation and
ionisation, the mass-loss rate, and the effective radius of the XUV absorption.
We show that our results are in good agreement with previously published
studies employing similar codes. We further present an interpolation routine
capable to extract the modelling output parameters for any planet lying within
the grid boundaries. We use the grid to identify the connection between the
system parameters and the resulting atmospheric properties. We finally apply
the grid and the interpolation routine to estimate atmospheric evolutionary
tracks for the close-in, high-density planets CoRoT-7 b and HD219134 b,c...Comment: 21 pages, 4 Tables, 15 Figure
NIGHT: a compact, near-infrared, high-resolution spectrograph to survey helium in exoplanet systems
Among highly irradiated exoplanets, some have been found to undergo
significant hydrodynamic expansion traced by atmospheric escape. To better
understand these processes in the context of planetary evolution, we propose
NIGHT (the Near-Infrared Gatherer of Helium Transits). NIGHT is a
high-resolution spectrograph dedicated to surveying and temporally monitoring
He I triplet absorption at 1083nm in stellar and planetary atmospheres. In this
paper, we outline our scientific objectives, requirements, and cost-efficient
design. Our simulations, based on previous detections and modelling using the
current exoplanet population, determine our requirements and survey targets.
With a spectral resolution of 70,000 on a 2-meter telescope, NIGHT can
accurately resolve the helium triplet and detect 1% peak absorption in 118
known exoplanets in a single transit. Additionally, it can search for
three-sigma temporal variations of 0.4% in 66 exoplanets in-between two
transits. These are conservative estimates considering the ongoing detections
of transiting planets amenable to atmospheric characterisation. We find that
instrumental stability at 40m/s, less stringent than for radial velocity
monitoring, is sufficient for transmission spectroscopy in He I. As such, NIGHT
can utilize mostly off-the-shelf components, ensuring cost-efficiency. A
fibre-fed system allows for flexibility as a visitor instrument on a variety of
telescopes, making it ideal for follow-up observations after JWST or
ground-based detections. Over a few years of surveying, NIGHT could offer
detailed insights into the mechanisms shaping the hot Neptune desert and
close-in planet population by significantly expanding the statistical sample of
planets with known evaporating atmospheres. First light is expected in 2024.Comment: 15 pages, 20 figures, this manuscript has been accepted for
publication in MNRAS. This is a pre-copyedited, author-produced PD
WASP-30b: a 61 Mjup brown dwarf transiting a V=12, F8 star
We report the discovery of a 61-Jupiter-mass brown dwarf, which transits its
F8V host star, WASP-30, every 4.16 days. From a range of age indicators we
estimate the system age to be 1-2 Gyr. We derive a radius (0.89 +/- 0.02 RJup)
for the companion that is consistent with that predicted (0.914 RJup) by a
model of a 1-Gyr-old, non-irradiated brown dwarf with a dusty atmosphere. The
location of WASP-30b in the minimum of the mass-radius relation is consistent
with the quantitative prediction of Chabrier & Baraffe (2000), thus confirming
the theory.Comment: As accepted for publication in ApJL (6 pages, 2 figures, 3 tables
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