8,526 research outputs found
Refined physical properties and g',r',i',z',J,H,K transmission spectrum of WASP-23b from the ground
Multi-band observations of planetary transits using the telescope defocus
technique may yield high-quality light curves suitable for refining the
physical properties of exoplanets even with small or medium size telescopes.
Such observations can be used to construct a broad-band transmission spectrum
of transiting planets and search for the presence of strong absorbers. We have
thoroughly characterised the orbital ephemeris and physical properties of the
transiting planet and host star in the WASP-23b system, constructed a
broad-band transmission spectrum of WASP-23b and performed a comparative
analysis with theoretical models of hot Jupiters. We observed a complete
transit of WASP-23b in seven bands simultaneously, using the GROND instrument
on the MPG/ESO 2.2m telescope at La Silla Observatory and telescope
defocussing. The optical data were taken in the Sloan g',r',i' and z' bands.
The resulting light curves are of high quality, with a root-mean-square scatter
of the residual as low as 330ppm in the z'-band, with a cadence of 90s.
Near-infrared data were obtained in the JHK bands. We performed MCMC analysis
of our photometry plus existing radial velocity data to refine measurements of
the ephemeris and physical properties of the WASP-23. We constructed a
broad-band transmission spectrum of WASP-23b and compared it with a theoretical
transmission spectrum of a Hot Jupiter. We measured the central transit time
with a precision about 8s. From this and earlier observations we obtain an
orbital period of P=2.9444300+/-0.0000011d. Our analysis also yielded a larger
radius and mass for the planet (Rp=1.067+0.045-0.038 RJup and,
Mp=0.917+0.040-0.039MJup). The transmission spectrum is marginally flat, given
the limited precision of the measurements for the planet radius and poor
spectral resolution of the data.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy &
Astrophysic
Leaving the nest: the rise of regional financial arrangements and the future of global governance
This article examines the impact of regional financial arrangements (RFAs) on the global liquidity regime. It argues that the design of RFAs could potentially alter the global regime, whether by strengthening it and making it more coherent or by decentring the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and destabilizing it. To determine possible outcomes, this analysis deploys a âmiddleâupâ approach that focuses on the institutional design of these RFAs. It first draws on the rational design of institutions framework to identify the internal characteristics of RFAs that are most relevant to their capabilities and capacities. It then applies these insights to the interactions of RFAs with the IMF, building on Aggarwal's (1998) concept of ânestedâ versus âparallelâ institutions, to create an analytical lens through which to assess the nature and sustainability of nested linkages. Through an analysis of the Chiang Mai Initiative Multilateralization (CMIM) and the Latin American Reserve Fund (FLAR), the article demonstrates the usefulness of this lens. It concludes by considering three circumstances in which fault lines created by these RFAsâ institutional design could be activated, permitting an institution to âleave the nestâ, including changing intentions of principals, creation of parallel capabilities and facilities, and failure of the global regime to address regional needs in a crisis.The authors would like to thank Veronica Artola, Masatsugu Asakawa, Ana Maria Carrasquilla, Junhong Chang, Paolo Hernando, Hoe Ee Khor, Kazunori Koike, Jae Young Lee, Ser-Jin Lee, Guillermo Perry, Yoichi Nemoto, Freddy Trujillo, Masaaki Watanabe, Yasuto Watanabe, Akihiko Yoshida, and others who wished to remain anonymous, for their generosity in providing in-person interviews. Further, the authors would like to thank various central bank and ministry of finance officials of both FLAR and CMIM member countries. We also thank Jose Antonio Ocampo, Diana Barrowclough, and participants in the 'Beyond Bretton Woods' Workshop at Boston University (where an earlier version of this article was presented in September 2017) for their feedback on our broader research projects on RFAs. Last but not least, the authors wish to thank the anonymous referees for their constructive comments. This work builds upon previous work funded by UNCTAD and the Global Economic Governance Initiative at the Global Development Policy Center at Boston University. (UNCTAD; Global Economic Governance Initiative at the Global Development Policy Center at Boston University)Accepted manuscrip
Herschel observations of the circumstellar environment of the two Herbig Be stars R Mon and PDS27
We report and analyse FIR observations of two Herbig Be stars, R Mon and PDS
27, obtained with Herschel's instruments PACS and SPIRE. We construct SEDs and
derive the infrared excess. We extract line fluxes from the PACS and SPIRE
spectra and construct rotational diagrams in order to estimate the excitation
temperature of the gas. We derive CO, [OI] and [CI] luminosities to determine
physical conditions of the gas, as well as the dominant cooling mechanism. We
confirm that the Herbig Be stars are surrounded by remnants from their parental
clouds, with an IR excess that mainly originates in a disc. In R Mon we detect
[OI], [CI], [CII], CO (26 transitions), water and OH, while in PDS 27 we only
detect [CI] and CO (8 transitions). We attribute the absence of OH and water in
PDS 27 to UV photo-dissociation and photo-evaporation. From the rotational
diagrams, we find several components for CO: we derive 94990 K,
35820 K & 7712 K for R Mon, 9612 K & 314 K for PDS 27 and
258 K & 276 K for their respective compact neighbours. The forsterite
feature at 69m was not detected in either of the sources, probably due to
the lack of (warm) crystalline dust in a flat disc. We find that cooling by
molecules is dominant in the Herbig Be stars, while this is not the case in
Herbig Ae stars where cooling by [OI] dominates. Moreover, we show that in the
Herbig Be star R Mon, outflow shocks are the dominant gas heating mechanism,
while in Herbig Ae stars this is stellar. The outflow of R Mon contributes to
the observed line emission by heating the gas, both in the central spaxel/beam
covering the disc and the immediate surroundings, as well as in those
spaxels/beams covering the parabolic shell around it. PDS 27, a B2 star, has
dispersed a large part of its gas content and/or destroyed molecules; this is
likely given its intense UV field.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysic
The impact of Scholasticism and Protestantism on Ulrich Huberâs views on constitutionalism and tyranny
Ulrich Huberâs (1636-1694) contribution to public law was initiated with his lectures on the general principles of constitutional law at Franeker. The fruits of his work culminated in his De Jure Civitatis. The era in which Huber produced this work was generally characterized by the emergence of rationalism and enlightenment in Dutch jurisprudence. More specifically Huberâs work reflects the influence of the transition from enlightened absolutism to democratic government based on the will of the subjects. His views on popular sovereignty culminated in Huberâs theory of limited government and resistance to tyranny. A study of the Latin text of Huberâs pioneering work reveals valuable perspectives on these trends in the transition of Dutch jurisprudence from scholasticism to enlightenment
Physical properties of the WASP-44 planetary system from simultaneous multi-colour photometry
We present ground-based broad-band photometry of two transits in the WASP-44
planetary system obtained simultaneously through four optical (Sloan g', r',
i', z') and three near-infrared (NIR; J, H, K) filters. We achieved low
scatters of 1-2 mmag per observation in the optical bands with a cadence of 48
s, but the NIR-band light curves present much greater scatter. We also observed
another transit of WASP-44 b by using a Gunn-r filter and telescope
defocussing, with a scatter of 0.37 mmag per point and an observing cadence
around 135 s. We used these data to improve measurements of the time of
mid-transit and the physical properties of the system. In particular, we
improved the radius measurements of the star and planet by factors of 3 and 4,
respectively. We find that the radius of WASP-44 b is 1.002 R_Jup, which is
slightly smaller than previously thought and differs from that expected for a
core-free planet. In addition, with the help of a synthetic spectrum, we
investigated the theoretically-predicted variation of the planetary radius as a
function of wavelength, covering the range 370-2440 nm. We can rule out extreme
variations at optical wavelengths, but unfortunately our data are not precise
enough (especially in the NIR bands) to differentiate between the theoretical
spectrum and a radius which does not change with wavelength.Comment: 13 pages, 6 figures, to appear in Monthly Notices of the Royal
Astronomical Societ
petitRADTRANS: a Python radiative transfer package for exoplanet characterization and retrieval
We present the easy-to-use, publicly available, Python package petitRADTRANS,
built for the spectral characterization of exoplanet atmospheres. The code is
fast, accurate, and versatile; it can calculate both transmission and emission
spectra within a few seconds at low resolution ( = 1000;
correlated-k method) and high resolution (;
line-by-line method), using only a few lines of input instruction. The somewhat
slower correlated-k method is used at low resolution because it is more
accurate than methods such as opacity sampling. Clouds can be included and
treated using wavelength-dependent power law opacities, or by using optical
constants of real condensates, specifying either the cloud particle size, or
the atmospheric mixing and particle settling strength. Opacities of amorphous
or crystalline, spherical or irregularly-shaped cloud particles are available.
The line opacity database spans temperatures between 80 and 3000 K, allowing to
model fluxes of objects such as terrestrial planets, super-Earths, Neptunes, or
hot Jupiters, if their atmospheres are hydrogen-dominated. Higher temperature
points and species will be added in the future, allowing to also model the
class of ultra hot-Jupiters, with equilibrium temperatures K. Radiative transfer results were tested by cross-verifying the low- and
high-resolution implementation of petitRADTRANS, and benchmarked with the
petitCODE, which itself is also benchmarked to the ATMO and Exo-REM codes. We
successfully carried out test retrievals of synthetic JWST emission and
transmission spectra (for the hot Jupiter TrES-4b, which has a of
1800 K). The code is publicly available at
http://gitlab.com/mauricemolli/petitRADTRANS, and its documentation can be
found at https://petitradtrans.readthedocs.io.Comment: 17 pages, 7 figures, published in A&
Signatures of Planets in Spatially Unresolved Disks
Main sequence stars are commonly surrounded by debris disks, composed of cold
dust continuously replenished by a reservoir of undetected dust-producing
planetesimals. In a planetary system with a belt of planetesimals (like the
Solar System's Kuiper Belt) and one or more interior giant planets, the
trapping of dust particles in the mean motion resonances with the planets can
create structure in the dust disk, as the particles accumulate at certain
semimajor axes. Sufficiently massive planets may also scatter and eject dust
particles out of a planetary system, creating a dust depleted region inside the
orbit of the planet. In anticipation of future observations of spatially
unresolved debris disks with the Spitzer Space Telescope, we are interested in
studying how the structure carved by planets affects the shape of the disk's
spectral energy distribution (SED), and consequently if the SED can be used to
infer the presence of planets. We numerically calculate the equilibrium spatial
density distributions and SEDs of dust disks originated by a belt of
planetesimals in the presence of interior giant planets in different planetary
configurations, and for a representative sample of chemical compositions. The
dynamical models are necessary to estimate the enhancement of particles near
the mean motion resonances with the planets, and to determine how many
particles drift inside the planet's orbit. Based on the SEDs and predicted
colors we discuss what types of planetary systems can be
distinguishable from one another and the main parameter degeneracies in the
model SEDs.Comment: 40 pages (pre-print form), including 16 figures. Published in ApJ
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