809 research outputs found
Discovery and Atmospheric Characterization of Giant Planet Kepler-12b: An Inflated Radius Outlier
We report the discovery of planet Kepler-12b (KOI-20), which at 1.695 ± 0.030 R_J is among the handful of planets with super-inflated radii above 1.65 R_J. Orbiting its slightly evolved G0 host with a 4.438 day period, this 0.431 ± 0.041 M_J planet is the least irradiated within this largest-planet-radius group, which has important implications for planetary physics. The planet's inflated radius and low mass lead to a very low density of 0.111 ± 0.010 g cm^(–3). We detect the occultation of the planet at a significance of 3.7σ in the Kepler bandpass. This yields a geometric albedo of 0.14 ± 0.04; the planetary flux is due to a combination of scattered light and emitted thermal flux. We use multiple observations with Warm Spitzer to detect the occultation at 7σ and 4σ in the 3.6 and 4.5 μm bandpasses, respectively. The occultation photometry timing is consistent with a circular orbit at e < 0.01 (1σ) and e < 0.09 (3σ). The occultation detections across the three bands favor an atmospheric model with no dayside temperature inversion. The Kepler occultation detection provides significant leverage, but conclusions regarding temperature structure are preliminary, given our ignorance of opacity sources at optical wavelengths in hot Jupiter atmospheres. If Kepler-12b and HD 209458b, which intercept similar incident stellar fluxes, have the same heavy-element masses, the interior energy source needed to explain the large radius of Kepler-12b is three times larger than that of HD 209458b. This may suggest that more than one radius-inflation mechanism is at work for Kepler-12b or that it is less heavy-element rich than other transiting planets
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Epiplastral and geographic variation in Echmatemys, a geoemydid turtle from the Eocene of North America: A multi-tiered analysis of epiplastral shape complexity
Numerous geoemydid turtle fossils from the extinct genus Echmatemys have been recovered from the middle Eocene Uinta Formation, Uinta Basin, Utah over the past several decades. Here, we tested whether co-occurring Uintan species Echmatemys callopyge and E. uintensis can be reliably differentiated based on epiplastral morphology, and whether their geospatial distributions overlapped significantly. The geographic spatial and stratigraphic distributions of Uinta Basin E. callopyge and E. uintensis specimens were compared using ArcGIS and analysis of variance (ANOVA). The analysis revealed overlapping geographic distributions of these two species, and no significant differences in stratigraphic dispersal. This finding of extensive geospatial overlap between the two Uintan Echmatemys species highlights the need for accurate taxonomic identification, such as the gular scale morphology validated here. In addition, we sought to address a methodological question regarding the relative efficacy of data complexity in this context. Using epiplastra from three additional Eocene species of Echmatemys, we employed hierarchical analyses of increasing data complexity, from standard linear dimensions to 2D geometric morphometrics to 3D laser scans, to determine the degree to which data complexity contributes to taxonomic assessments within this genus. Uintan species E. callopyge and E. uintensis were found to differ significantly in epiplastral shape as captured by all three categories of data. These findings verify that these two co-occurring species can be differentiated consistently using the shape of the gular scale, and that the use of geometric morphometrics can improve identification of fragmentary specimens. Among the non-Uintan species, dorsal and ventral 2D landmark data reliably differentiated among species, but the linear dimensions were less useful
Kepler-1656b: a Dense Sub-Saturn With an Extreme Eccentricity
Kepler-1656b is a 5 planet with an orbital period of 32 days initially
detected by the prime Kepler mission. We obtained precision radial velocities
of Kepler-1656 with Keck/HIRES in order to confirm the planet and to
characterize its mass and orbital eccentricity. With a mass of ,
Kepler-1656b is more massive than most planets of comparable size. Its high
mass implies that a significant fraction, roughly 80%, of the planet's total
mass is in high density material such as rock/iron, with the remaining mass in
a low density H/He envelope. The planet also has a high eccentricity of , the largest measured eccentricity for any planet less than 100
. The planet's high density and high eccentricity may be the result of one
or more scattering and merger events during or after the dispersal of the
protoplanetary disk.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures, published in The Astronomical Journa
The California Legacy Survey IV. Lonely, Poor, and Eccentric: A Comparison Between Solitary and Neighborly Gas Giants
We compare systems with single giant planets to systems with multiple giant
planets using a catalog of planets from a high-precision radial velocity survey
of FGKM stars. Our comparison focuses on orbital properties, planet masses, and
host star properties. We use hierarchical methods to model the orbital
eccentricity distributions of giant singles and giant multis, and find that the
distributions are distinct. The multiple giant planets typically have moderate
eccentricities and their eccentricity distribution extends to (90th
percentile), while the single giant planets have a pile-up of nearly circular
orbits and a long tail that extends to . We determine that stellar
hosts of multiple giants are distinctly more metal-rich than hosts of solitary
giants, with respective mean metallicities vs.
dex. We measure the distinct occurrence distributions of single and multiple
giants with respect to orbital separation, and find that single gas giants have
a 2.3 significant hot () Jupiter pile-up not seen among
multi giant systems. We find that the median mass (\msini ) of giants in
multiples is nearly double that of single giants (1.71 \mjup vs. 0.92 \mjup
). We find that giant planets in the same system have correlated masses,
analogous to the `peas in a pod' effect seen among less massive planets
HAT-P-11: Discovery of a Second Planet and a Clue to Understanding Exoplanet Obliquities
HAT-P-11 is a mid-K dwarf that hosts one of the first Neptune-sized planets
found outside the solar system. The orbit of HAT-P-11b is misaligned with the
star's spin --- one of the few known cases of a misaligned planet orbiting a
star less massive than the Sun. We find an additional planet in the system
based on a decade of precision radial velocity (RV) measurements from
Keck/HIRES. HAT-P-11c is similar to Jupiter in its mass ( ) and orbital period ( year), but has a
much more eccentric orbit (). In our joint modeling of RV and
stellar activity, we found an activity-induced RV signal of 7 m s,
consistent with other active K dwarfs, but significantly smaller than the 31 m
s reflex motion due to HAT-P-11c. We investigated the dynamical coupling
between HAT-P-11b and c as a possible explanation for HAT-P-11b's misaligned
orbit, finding that planet-planet Kozai interactions cannot tilt planet b's
orbit due to general relativistic precession; however, nodal precession
operating on million year timescales is a viable mechanism to explain
HAT-P-11b's high obliquity. This leaves open the question of why HAT-P-11c may
have such a tilted orbit. At a distance of 38 pc, the HAT-P-11 system offers
rich opportunities for further exoplanet characterization through astrometry
and direct imaging.Comment: 16 pages, 11 figures, 4 tables. Accepted to A
Hubble Space Telescope Near-IR Transmission Spectroscopy of the Super-Earth HD 97658b
Recent results from the Kepler mission indicate that super-Earths (planets
with masses between 1-10 times that of the Earth) are the most common kind of
planet around nearby Sun-like stars. These planets have no direct solar system
analogue, and are currently one of the least well-understood classes of
extrasolar planets. Many super-Earths have average densities that are
consistent with a broad range of bulk compositions, including both
water-dominated worlds and rocky planets covered by a thick hydrogen and helium
atmosphere. Measurements of the transmission spectra of these planets offer the
opportunity to resolve this degeneracy by directly constraining the scale
heights and corresponding mean molecular weights of their atmospheres. We
present Hubble Space Telescope near-infrared spectroscopy of two transits of
the newly discovered transiting super-Earth HD 97658b. We use the Wide Field
Camera 3's scanning mode to measure the wavelength-dependent transit depth in
thirty individual bandpasses. Our averaged differential transmission spectrum
has a median 1 sigma uncertainty of 23 ppm in individual bins, making this the
most precise observation of an exoplanetary transmission spectrum obtained with
WFC3 to date. Our data are inconsistent with a cloud-free solar metallicity
atmosphere at the 10 sigma level. They are consistent at the 0.4 sigma level
with a flat line model, as well as effectively flat models corresponding to a
metal-rich atmosphere or a solar metallicity atmosphere with a cloud or haze
layer located at pressures of 10 mbar or higher.Comment: ApJ in press; revised version includes an updated orbital ephemeris
for the plane
An HST/STIS Optical Transmission Spectrum of Warm Neptune GJ 436b
GJ 436b is a prime target for understanding warm Neptune exoplanet
atmospheres and a target for multiple JWST GTO programs. Here, we report the
first space-based optical transmission spectrum of the planet using two
HST/STIS transit observations from 0.53-1.03 microns. We find no evidence for
alkali absorption features, nor evidence of a scattering slope longward of 0.53
microns. The spectrum is indicative of moderate to high metallicity (~100-1000x
solar) while moderate metallicity scenarios (~100x solar) require aerosol
opacity. The optical spectrum also rules out some highly scattering haze
models. We find an increase in transit depth around 0.8 microns in the
transmission spectra of 3 different sub-Jovian exoplanets (GJ 436b, HAT-P-26b,
and GJ 1214b). While most of the data come from STIS, data from three other
instruments may indicate this is not an instrumental effect. Only the transit
spectrum of GJ 1214b is well fit by a model with stellar plages on the
photosphere of the host star. Our photometric monitoring of the host star
reveals a stellar rotation rate of 44.1 days and an activity cycle of 7.4
years. Intriguingly, GJ 436 does not become redder as it gets dimmer, which is
expected if star spots were dominating the variability. These insights into the
nature of the GJ 436 system help refine our expectations for future
observations in the era of JWST, whose higher precision and broader wavelength
coverage will shed light on the composition and structure of GJ 436b's
atmosphere.Comment: 20 pages, 11 figures, 5 tables, Accepted to AJ. A full version of
table 1 is included as table1_mrt.tx
3.6 and 4.5 m Phase Curves of the Highly-Irradiated Hot Jupiters WASP-19b and HAT-P-7b
We analyze full-orbit phase curve observations of the transiting hot Jupiters
WASP-19b and HAT-P-7b at 3.6 and 4.5 m obtained using the Spitzer Space
Telescope. For WASP-19b, we measure secondary eclipse depths of and at 3.6 and 4.5 m, which are consistent
with a single blackbody with effective temperature K. The
measured 3.6 and 4.5 m secondary eclipse depths for HAT-P-7b are
and , which are well-described by a
single blackbody with effective temperature K. Comparing the phase
curves to the predictions of one-dimensional and three-dimensional atmospheric
models, we find that WASP-19b's dayside emission is consistent with a model
atmosphere with no dayside thermal inversion and moderately efficient day-night
circulation. We also detect an eastward-shifted hotspot, suggesting the
presence of a superrotating equatorial jet. In contrast, HAT-P-7b's dayside
emission suggests a dayside thermal inversion and relatively inefficient
day-night circulation; no hotspot shift is detected. For both planets, these
same models do not agree with the measured nightside emission. The
discrepancies in the model-data comparisons for WASP-19b might be explained by
high-altitude silicate clouds on the nightside and/or high atmospheric
metallicity, while the very low 3.6 m nightside planetary brightness for
HAT-P-7b may be indicative of an enhanced global C/O ratio. We compute Bond
albedos of 0 ( at ) and for WASP-19b and
HAT-P-7b, respectively. In the context of other planets with thermal phase
curve measurements, we show that WASP-19b and HAT-P-7b fit the general trend of
decreasing day-night heat recirculation with increasing irradiation.Comment: 22 pages, 29 figures, accepted by Ap
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