391 research outputs found
Detection of sodium in the atmosphere of WASP-69b
Transit spectroscopy is one of the most commonly used methods to characterize
exoplanets atmospheres. From the ground, these observations are very
challenging due to the terrestrial atmosphere and its intrinsic variations, but
high-spectral resolution observations overcome this difficulty by resolving the
spectral lines and taking advantage of the different Doppler velocities of the
Earth, the host star and the exoplanet. We analyze the transmission spectrum
around the Na I doublet at 589 nm of the exoplanet WASP-69b, a hot Jupiter
orbiting a K-type star with a period of 3.868 days, and compare the analysis to
that of the well-know hot Jupiter HD 189733b. We also present the analysis of
the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect for WASP-69b. Two transits of WASP-69b were
observed with the HARPS-North spectrograph (R = 115 000) at the TNG telescope.
We perform a telluric contamination subtraction based on the comparison between
the observed spectra and a telluric water model. Then, the common steps of the
differential spectroscopy are followed to extract the transmission spectrum.
The method is tested with archival transit data of the extensively studied
exoplanet HD 189733b, obtained with the HARPS-South spectrograph at ESO 3.6m
telescope, and then applied to WASP-69b data. For HD 189733b, we spectrally
resolve the Na I doublet and measure line contrasts of (D2) and
(D1), and FWHMs of {\AA} (D2) and
{\AA} (D1), in agreement with previously published results. A net
blueshift of {\AA} is measured. For WASP-69b only the contrast of
the D2 line is measured (). Even if this corresponds to a
detection at the -level of excess absorption of in a
passband of {\AA}, more transits are needed to fully characterize the
lines profiles and retrieve accurate atmospheric properties.Comment: 15 pages, 14 figure
The GTC exoplanet transit spectroscopy survey X. Stellar spots versus Rayleigh scattering: the case of HAT-P-11b
Rayleigh scattering in a hydrogen-dominated exoplanet atmosphere can be
detected from ground or space based telescopes, however, stellar activity in
the form of spots can mimic Rayleigh scattering in the observed transmission
spectrum. Quantifying this phenomena is key to our correct interpretation of
exoplanet atmospheric properties. We obtained long-slit optical spectroscopy of
two transits of HAT-P-11b with the Optical System for Imaging and
low-Intermediate-Resolution Integrated Spectroscopy (OSIRIS) at Gran Telescopio
Canarias (GTC) on August 30 2016 and September 25 2017. We integrated the
spectrum of HAT-P-11 and one reference star in several spectroscopic channels
across the 400-785 nm region, creating numerous light curves of
the transits. We fit analytic transit curves to the data taking into account
the systematic effects and red noise present in the time series in an effort to
measure the change of the planet-to-star radius ratio
() across wavelength. By fitting both transits
together, we find a slope in the transmission spectrum showing an increase of
the planetary radius towards blue wavelengths. A closer inspection to the
transmission spectrum of the individual data sets reveals that the first
transit presents this slope while the transmission spectrum of the second data
set is flat. Additionally we detect hints of Na absorption in the first night,
but not in the second. We conclude that the transmission spectrum slope and Na
absorption excess found in the first transit observation are caused by
unocculted stellar spots. Modeling the contribution of unocculted spots to
reproduce the results of the first night we find a spot filling factor of
and a spot-to-photosphere temperature difference
of K.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics, 13 page
The GTC exoplanet transit spectroscopy survey. VII. Detection of sodium in WASP-52b's cloudy atmosphere
We report the first detection of sodium absorption in the atmosphere of the
hot Jupiter WASP-52b. We observed one transit of WASP-52b with the
low-resolution Optical System for Imaging and low-Intermediate-Resolution
Integrated Spectroscopy (OSIRIS) at the 10.4 m Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC).
The resulting transmission spectrum, covering the wavelength range from 522 nm
to 903 nm, is flat and featureless, except for the significant narrow
absorption signature at the sodium doublet, which can be explained by an
atmosphere in solar composition with clouds at 1 mbar. A cloud-free atmosphere
is stringently ruled out. By assessing the absorption depths of sodium in
various bin widths, we find that temperature increases towards lower
atmospheric pressure levels, with a positive temperature gradient of 0.88 +/-
0.65 K/km, possibly indicative of upper atmospheric heating and a temperature
inversion.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in A&A Lette
The GTC exoplanet transit spectroscopy survey. VII. An optical transmission spectrum of WASP-48b
We obtained long-slit optical spectroscopy of one transit of WASP-48b with
the Optical System for Imaging and low-Intermediate-Resolution Integrated
Spectroscopy (OSIRIS) spectrograph at the 10.4 m Gran Telescopio Canarias
(GTC). We integrated the spectrum of WASP-48 and one reference star in several
channels with different wavelength ranges, creating numerous color light curves
of the transit. We fit analytic transit curves to the data taking into account
the systematic effects present in the time series in an effort to measure the
change of the planet-to-star radius ratio () across wavelength. After
removing the transit model and systematic trends to the curves we reached
precisions between 261 ppm and 455-755 ppm for the white and spectroscopic
light curves, respectively. We obtained uncertainty values between
and for all the curves analyzed in
this work. The measured transit depth for the curves made by integrating the
wavelength range between 530 nm and 905 nm is in agreement with previous
studies. We report a relatively flat transmission spectrum for WASP-48b with no
statistical significant detection of atmospheric species, although the
theoretical models that fit the data more closely include of TiO and VO.Comment: 8 pages, 8 figures. Accepted for publication in Astronomy and
Astrophysic
The GTC exoplanet transit spectroscopy survey. VI. A spectrally-resolved Rayleigh scattering slope in GJ 3470b
Aims. As a sub-Uranus-mass low-density planet, GJ 3470b has been found to
show a flat featureless transmission spectrum in the infrared and a tentative
Rayleigh scattering slope in the optical. We conducted an optical transmission
spectroscopy project to assess the impacts of stellar activity and to determine
whether or not GJ 3470b hosts a hydrogen-rich gas envelop. Methods. We observed
three transits with the low-resolution OSIRIS spectrograph at the 10.4 m Gran
Telescopio Canarias, and one transit with the high-resolution UVES spectrograph
at the 8.2 m Very Large Telescope. Results. From the high-resolution data, we
find that the difference of the Ca II H+K lines in- and out-of-transit is only
0.67 +/- 0.22%, and determine a magnetic filling factor of about 10-15%. From
the low-resolution data, we present the first optical transmission spectrum in
the 435-755 nm band, which shows a slope consistent with Rayleigh scattering.
Conclusions. After exploring the potential impacts of stellar activity in our
observations, we confirm that Rayleigh scattering in an extended
hydrogen/helium atmosphere is currently the best explanation. Further
high-precision observations that simultaneously cover optical and infrared
bands are required to answer whether or not clouds and hazes exist at
high-altitude.Comment: 12 pages, 11 figures, accepted for publication in A&
The HARPS search for southern extra-solar planets XLI. A dozen planets around the M dwarfs GJ 3138, GJ 3323, GJ 273, GJ 628, and GJ 3293
Context. Low mass stars are currently the best targets for searches for rocky
planets in the habitable zone of their host star. Over the last 13 years,
precise radial velocities measured with the HARPS spectrograph have identified
over a dozen super-Earths and Earth-mass planets (msin i<10Mearth ) around M
dwarfs, with a well understood selection function. This well defined sample
informs on their frequency of occurrence and on the distribution of their
orbital parameters, and therefore already constrains our understanding of
planetary formation. The subset of these low-mass planets that were found
within the habitable zone of their host star also provide prized targets for
future atmospheric biomarkers searches. Aims. We are working to extend this
planetary sample to lower masses and longer periods through dense and long-term
monitoring of the radial velocity of a small M dwarf sample. Methods. We
obtained large numbers of HARPS spectra for the M dwarfs GJ 3138, GJ 3323, GJ
273, GJ 628 and GJ 3293, from which we derived radial velocities (RVs) and
spectroscopic activity indicators. We searched them for variabilities,
periodicities, Keplerian modulations and correlations, and attribute the
radial-velocity variations to combinations of planetary companions and stellar
activity. Results. We detect 12 planets, of which 9 are new with masses ranging
from 1.17 to 10.5 Mearth . Those planets have relatively short orbital periods
(P<40 d), except two of them with periods of 217.6 and 257.8 days. Among these
systems, GJ 273 harbor two planets with masses close to the one of the Earth.
With a distance of 3.8 parsec only, GJ 273 is the second nearest known
planetary system - after Proxima Centauri - with a planet orbiting the
circumstellar habitable zone.Comment: 19 pages, 24 figures. Astronomy and Astrophysics in pres
The GTC exoplanet transit spectroscopy survey XI. Possible detection of Rayleigh scattering in the atmosphere of the Saturn-mass planet WASP-69b
One of the main atmospheric features in exoplanet atmospheres, detectable
both from ground- and space-based facilities, is Rayleigh scattering. In
hydrogen-dominated planetary atmospheres, Rayleigh scattering causes the
measured planetary radius to increase toward blue wavelengths in the optical
range. We obtained a spectrophotometric time series of one transit of the
Saturn-mass planet WASP-69b using the OSIRIS instrument at the Gran Telescopio
Canarias. From the data we constructed 19 spectroscopic transit light curves
representing 20 nm wide wavelength bins spanning from 515 nm to 905 nm. We
derived the transit depth for each curve individually by fitting an analytical
model together with a Gaussian process to account for systematic noise in the
light curves. We find that the transit depth increases toward bluer
wavelengths, indicative of a larger effective planet radius. Our results are
consistent with space-based measurements obtained in the near infrared using
the Hubble Space Telescope, which show a compatible slope of the transmission
spectrum. We discuss the origin of the detected slope and argue between two
possible scenarios: a Rayleigh scattering detection originating in the planet's
atmosphere or a stellar activity induced signal from the host star.Comment: 13 pages, 9 figures, 6 tables. Accepted for publication in A&A.
Language corrected versio
Confirmation of an exoplanet using the transit color signature: Kepler-418b, a blended giant planet in a multiplanet system
We announce confirmation of Kepler-418b, one of two proposed planets in this
system. This is the first confirmation of an exoplanet based primarily on the
transit color signature technique. We used the Kepler public data archive
combined with multicolor photometry from the Gran Telescopio de Canarias and
radial velocity follow-up using FIES at the Nordic Optical Telescope for
confirmation. We report a confident detection of a transit color signature that
can only be explained by a compact occulting body, entirely ruling out a
contaminating eclipsing binary, a hierarchical triple, or a grazing eclipsing
binary. Those findings are corroborated by our radial velocity measurements,
which put an upper limit of ~1 Mjup on the mass of Kepler-418b. We also report
that the host star is significantly blended, confirming the ~10% light
contamination suspected from the crowding metric in the Kepler light curve
measured by the Kepler team. We report detection of an unresolved light source
that contributes an additional ~40% to the target star, which would not have
been detected without multicolor photometric analysis. The resulting
planet-star radius ratio is 0.110 +/- 0.0025, more than 25% more than the 0.087
measured by Kepler, leading to a radius of 1.20 +/- 0.16 Rjup instead of the
0.94 Rjup measured by the Kepler team. This is the first confirmation of an
exoplanet candidate based primarily on the transit color signature,
demonstrating that this technique is viable from ground for giant planets. It
is particularly useful for planets with long periods such as Kepler-418b, which
tend to have long transit durations. Additionally, multicolor photometric
analysis of transits can reveal unknown stellar neighbors and binary companions
that do not affect the classification of the transiting object but can have a
very significant effect on the perceived planetary radius.Comment: accepted by Astronomy & Astrophysic
Featureless transmission spectra of 12 giant exoplanets observed by GTC/OSIRIS
Exoplanet atmospheres are the key to understanding the nature of exoplanets.
To this end, transit spectrophotometry provides us opportunities to investigate
the physical properties and chemical compositions of exoplanet atmospheres. We
aim to detect potential atmospheric signatures in 12 gaseous giant exoplanets
using transit spectrophotometry and we try to constrain their atmospheric
properties. The targets of interest were observed using transit
spectrophotometry with the GTC OSIRIS instrument. We estimated the transit
parameters and obtained the optical transmission spectra of the target planets
using a Bayesian framework. We analyzed the spectral features in the
transmission spectra based on atmospheric retrievals. Most of the observed
transmission spectra were found to be featureless, with only the spectrum of
CoRoT-1b showing strong evidence for atmospheric features. However, in
combination with the previously published near-infrared transmission spectrum,
we found multiple interpretations for the atmosphere of CoRoT-1b due to the
lack of decisive evidence for alkali metals or optical absorbers. Featureless
spectra are not necessarily indicative of cloudy atmospheres if they poorly
constrain the altitudes of cloud decks. Precise constraints on the models of
hazes and clouds strongly depend on the significance of the observed spectral
features. Further investigations on these exoplanets, especially CoRoT-1b, are
required to confirm the properties of their atmospheres.Comment: 29 pages, 16 figures, accepted for publication in A&
A feature-rich transmission spectrum for WASP-127b
WASP-127b is one of the lowest density planets discovered to date. With a
sub-Saturn mass () and super-Jupiter radius
(), it orbits a bright G5 star, which is about to
leave the main-sequence. We aim to explore WASP-127b's atmosphere in order to
retrieve its main atmospheric components, and to find hints for its intriguing
inflation and evolutionary history. We used the ALFOSC spectrograph at the NOT
telescope to observe a low resolution (, seeing limited) long-slit
spectroscopic time series during a planetary transit, and present here the
first transmission spectrum for WASP-127b. We find the presence of a strong
Rayleigh slope at blue wavelengths and a hint of Na absorption, although the
quality of the data does not allow us to claim a detection. At redder
wavelengths the absorption features of TiO and VO are the best explanation to
fit the data. Although higher signal-to-noise ratio observations are needed to
conclusively confirm the absorption features, WASP-127b seems to posses a
cloud-free atmosphere and is one of the best targets to perform further
characterization studies in the near future.Comment: Accepted for Publication A&A Letters, May 22nd, 201
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