WASP-12b as a prolate, inflated and disrupting planet from tidal dissipation

The class of exotic Jupiter-mass planets that orbit very close to their parent stars were not explicitly expected before their discovery. The recently found transiting planet WASP-12b has a mass Mp = 1.4(+/-0.1) Jupiter masses (MJ), a mean orbital distance of only 3.1 stellar radii (meaning it is subject to intense tidal forces), and a period of 1.1 days. Its radius 1.79(+/- 0.09) RJ is unexpectedly large and its orbital eccentricity 0.049(+/-0:015) is even more surprising as such close orbits are in general quickly circularized. Here we report an analysis of its properties, which reveals that the planet is losing mass to its host star at a rate ~ 10^-7 MJ yr^-1. The planets surface is distorted by the stars gravity and the light curve produced by its prolate shape will differ by about ten per cent from that of a spherical planet. We conclude that dissipation of the stars tidal perturbation in the planets convective envelope provides the energy source for its large volume. We predict up to 10mJy CO band-head (2.292 micron) emission from a tenuous disk around the host star, made up of tidally stripped planetary gas. It may also contain a detectable resonant super-Earth, as a hypothetical perturber that continually stirs up WASP-12b's eccentricity.Comment: Accepted to Nature, 14 pages, 1 figur

Hydrophilic, hole-delocalizing ligand shell to promote charge transfer from colloidal CdSe quantum dots in water

Colloidal cadmium chalcogenide nanocrystals are usually stabilized in polar solvents by functionalizing the surface with a layer of hydrophilic ligands. While these ligands protect against aggregation, they also present a steric barrier that hinders surface access. In applications that require charge transfer to and from nanocrystals, colloidal stability and surface access for redox species are therefore difficult to reconcile. This work assesses the possibility of a more dynamic ligand shell that not only provides stability to nanocrystals but also promotes charge transfer without the need for ligand removal. We use transient absorption spectroscopy to study CdSe quantum dots functionalized with hydrophilic, hole-delocalizing dithiocarbamate ligands in water for the first time, and find that a conjugated ligand facilitates charge transfer to redox species in solutio

A high-resolution Antarctic grounding zone product from ICESat-2 laser altimetry

The Antarctic grounding zone, which is the transition between the fully grounded ice sheet to freely floating ice shelf, plays a critical role in ice sheet stability, mass budget calculations, and ice sheet model projections. It is therefore important to continuously monitor its location and migration over time. Here we present the first ICESat-2-derived high-resolution grounding zone product of the Antarctic Ice Sheet, including three important boundaries: the inland limit of tidal flexure (Point F), inshore limit of hydrostatic equilibrium (Point H), and the break in slope (Point Ib). This dataset was derived from automated techniques developed in this study, using ICESat-2 laser altimetry repeat tracks between 30 March 2019 and 30 September 2020. The new grounding zone product has a near-complete coverage of the Antarctic Ice Sheet with a total of 21 346 Point F, 18 149 Point H, and 36 765 Point Ib locations identified, including the difficult-to-survey grounding zones, such as the fast-flowing glaciers draining into the Amundsen Sea embayment. The locations of newly derived ICESat-2 landward limit of tidal flexure agree well with the most recent differential synthetic aperture radar interferometry (DInSAR) observations in 2018, with a mean absolute separation and standard deviation of 0.02 and 0.02 km, respectively. By comparing the ICESat-2-derived grounding zone with the previous grounding zone products, we find a grounding line retreat of up to 15 km on the Crary Ice Rise of Ross Ice Shelf and a pervasive landward grounding line migration along the Amundsen Sea embayment during the past 2 decades. We also identify the presence of ice plains on the Filchner–Ronne Ice Shelf and the influence of oscillating ocean tides on grounding zone migration. The product derived from this study is available at https://doi.org/10.5523/bris.bnqqyngt89eo26qk8keckglww (Li et al., 2021) and is archived and maintained at the National Snow and Ice Data Center