74 research outputs found
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&
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
High angular resolution imaging and infrared spectroscopy of CoRoT candidates
Studies of transiting extrasolar planets are of key importance for
understanding the nature of planets outside our solar system because their
masses, diameters, and bulk densities can be measured. An important part of
transit-search programmes is the removal of false-positives. The critical
question is how many of the candidates that passed all previous tests are false
positives. For our study we selected 25 CoRoT candidates that have already been
screened against false-positives using detailed analysis of the light curves
and seeing-limited imaging, which has transits that are between 0.7 and 0.05%
deep. We observed 20 candidates with the adaptive optics imager NaCo and 18
with the high-resolution infrared spectrograph CRIRES. We found previously
unknown stars within 2 arcsec of the targets in seven of the candidates. All of
these are too faint and too close to the targets to have been previously
detected with seeing-limited telescopes in the optical. Our study thus leads to
the surprising results that if we remove all candidates excluded by the
sophisticated analysis of the light-curve, as well as carrying out deep imaging
with seeing-limited telescopes, still 28-35% of the remaining candidates are
found to possess companions that are bright enough to be false-positives. Given
that the companion-candidates cluster around the targets and that the J-K
colours are consistent with physical companions, we conclude that the
companion-candidates are more likely to be physical companions rather than
unrelated field stars.Comment: 12 pages, 12 figures, A&A in pres
The GTC exoplanet transit spectroscopy survey IX. Detection of haze, Na, K, and Li in the super-Neptune WASP-127b
Exoplanets with relatively clear atmospheres are prime targets for detailed
studies of chemical compositions and abundances in their atmospheres. Alkali
metals have long been suggested to exhibit broad wings due to pressure
broadening, but most of the alkali detections only show very narrow absorption
cores, probably because of the presence of clouds. We report the strong
detection of the pressure-broadened spectral profiles of Na, K, and Li
absorption in the atmosphere of the super-Neptune WASP-127b, at 4.1,
5.0, and 3.4, respectively. We performed a spectral retrieval
modeling on the high-quality optical transmission spectrum newly acquired with
the 10.4 m Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC), in combination with the re-analyzed
optical transmission spectrum obtained with the 2.5 m Nordic Optical Telescope
(NOT). By assuming a patchy cloudy model, we retrieved the abundances of Na, K,
and Li, which are super-solar at 3.7 for K and 5.1 for Li (and
only 1.8 for Na). We constrained the presence of haze coverage to be
around 52%. We also found a hint of water absorption, but cannot constrain it
with the global retrieval owing to larger uncertainties in the probed
wavelengths. WASP-127b will be extremely valuable for atmospheric
characterization in the era of James Webb Space Telescope
Ground-based detection of an extended helium atmosphere in the Saturn-mass exoplanet WASP-69b
Hot gas giant exoplanets can lose part of their atmosphere due to strong
stellar irradiation, affecting their physical and chemical evolution. Studies
of atmospheric escape from exoplanets have mostly relied on space-based
observations of the hydrogen Lyman-{\alpha} line in the far ultraviolet which
is strongly affected by interstellar absorption. Using ground-based
high-resolution spectroscopy we detect excess absorption in the helium triplet
at 1083 nm during the transit of the Saturn-mass exoplanet WASP-69b, at a
signal-to-noise ratio of 18. We measure line blue shifts of several km/s and
post transit absorption, which we interpret as the escape of part of the
atmosphere trailing behind the planet in comet-like form.
[Additional notes by authors: Furthermore, we provide upper limits for helium
signals in the atmospheres of the exoplanets HD 209458b, KELT-9b, and GJ 436b.
We investigate the host stars of all planets with detected helium signals and
those of the three planets we derive upper limits for. In each case we
calculate the X-ray and extreme ultraviolet flux received by these planets. We
find that helium is detected in the atmospheres of planets (orbiting the more
active stars and) receiving the larger amount of irradiation from their host
stars.]Comment: Submitted to Science on 14 March 2018; Accepted by Science on 16
November 2018; Published by Science on 6 December 2018. This is the author's
version of the work. It is posted here by permission of the AAAS for personal
use. The definitive version was published in Science, on 6 December 2018 -
Report: pages 21 (preprint), 4 figures - Supplementary materials: 22 pages,
10 figures, 3 table
Detection of He I \AA{} absorption on HD 189733 b with CARMENES high-resolution transmission spectroscopy
We present three transit observations of HD 189733 b obtained with the
high-resolution spectrograph CARMENES at Calar Alto. A strong absorption signal
is detected in the near-infrared He I triplet at 10830 \AA{} in all three
transits. During mid-transit, the mean absorption level is %
measured in a 10 km s range at a net blueshift of km
s (10829.84--10830.57 \AA{}). The absorption signal exhibits radial
velocities of km s and km s during
ingress and egress, respectively; measured in the planetary rest frame. We show
that stellar activity related pseudo-signals interfere with the planetary
atmospheric absorption signal. They could contribute as much as 80% of the
observed signal and might also affect the radial velocity signature, but
pseudo-signals are very unlikely to explain the entire signal. The observed
line ratio between the two unresolved and the third line of the He I triplet is
, which strongly deviates from the value expected for an optically
thin atmospheres. When interpreted in terms of absorption in the planetary
atmosphere, this favors a compact helium atmosphere with an extent of only 0.2
planetary radii and a substantial column density on the order of cm. The observed radial velocities can be understood either in
terms of atmospheric circulation with equatorial superrotation or as a sign of
an asymmetric atmospheric component of evaporating material. We detect no clear
signature of ongoing evaporation, like pre- or post-transit absorption, which
could indicate material beyond the planetary Roche lobe, or radial velocities
in excess of the escape velocity. These findings do not contradict planetary
evaporation, but only show that the detected helium absorption in HD 189733 b
does not trace the atmospheric layers that show pronounced escape signatures.Comment: 13 pages, 12 figures, accepted for publication in A&
Confirmation of an He I evaporating atmosphere around the 650-Myr-old sub-Neptune HD235088 b (TOI-1430 b) with CARMENES
HD235088 (TOI-1430) is a young star known to host a sub-Neptune-sized planet
candidate. We validated the planetary nature of HD235088 b with multiband
photometry, refined its planetary parameters, and obtained a new age estimate
of the host star, placing it at 600-800 Myr. Previous spectroscopic
observations of a single transit detected an excess absorption of He I
coincident in time with the planet candidate transit. Here, we confirm the
presence of He I in the atmosphere of HD235088 b with one transit observed with
CARMENES. We also detected hints of variability in the strength of the helium
signal, with an absorption of 0.910.11%, which is slightly deeper
(2) than the previous measurement. Furthermore, we simulated the He I
signal with a spherically symmetric 1D hydrodynamic model, finding that the
upper atmosphere of HD235088 b escapes hydrodynamically with a significant mass
loss rate of (1.5-5) 10g s, in a relatively cold outflow,
with =3125375 K, in the photon-limited escape regime. HD235088 b
( = 2.0450.075 R) is the smallest planet found to date
with a solid atmospheric detection - not just of He I but any other atom or
molecule. This positions it a benchmark planet for further analyses of evolving
young sub-Neptune atmospheres.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A. 17 pages, 18 figure
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