24 research outputs found
Accreting protoplanets: Spectral signatures and magnitude of gas and dust extinction at H α
Context. Accreting planetary-mass objects have been detected at H α, but targeted searches have mainly resulted in non-detections. Accretion tracers in the planetary-mass regime could originate from the shock itself, making them particularly susceptible to extinction by the accreting material. High-resolution (R > 50 000) spectrographs operating at H α should soon enable one to study how the incoming material shapes the line profile.
Aims. We calculate how much the gas and dust accreting onto a planet reduce the H α flux from the shock at the planetary surface and how they affect the line shape. We also study the absorption-modified relationship between the H α luminosity and accretion rate.
Methods. We computed the high-resolution radiative transfer of the H α line using a one-dimensional velocity–density–temperature structure for the inflowing matter in three representative accretion geometries: spherical symmetry, polar inflow, and magnetospheric accretion. For each, we explored the wide relevant ranges of the accretion rate and planet mass. We used detailed gas opacities and carefully estimated possible dust opacities.
Results. At accretion rates of Ṁ ≲ 3 × 10−6 MJ yr−1, gas extinction is negligible for spherical or polar inflow and at most AH α ≲ 0.5 mag for magnetospheric accretion. Up to Ṁ ≈ 3 × 10−4 MJ yr−1, the gas contributes AH α ≲ 4 mag. This contribution decreases with mass. We estimate realistic dust opacities at H α to be κ ~ 0.01–10 cm2 g−1, which is 10–104 times lower than in the interstellar medium. Extinction flattens the LH α –Ṁ relationship, which becomes non-monotonic with a maximum luminosity LH α ~ 10−4 L⊙ towards Ṁ ≈ 10−4 MJ yr−1 for a planet mass ~10 MJ. In magnetospheric accretion, the gas can introduce features in the line profile, while the velocity gradient smears them out in other geometries.
Conclusions. For a wide part of parameter space, extinction by the accreting matter should be negligible, simplifying the interpretation of observations, especially for planets in gaps. At high Ṁ, strong absorption reduces the H α flux, and some measurements can be interpreted as two Ṁ values. Highly resolved line profiles (R ~ 105) can provide (complex) constraints on the thermal and dynamical structure of the accretion flow
Improved precision on the radius of the nearby super-Earth 55 Cnc e
We report on new transit photometry for the super-Earth 55 Cnc e obtained
with Warm Spitzer/IRAC at 4.5 microns. An individual analysis of these new data
leads to a planet radius of 2.21-0.16+0.15 Rearth, in good agreement with the
values previously derived from the MOST and Spitzer transit discovery data. A
global analysis of both Spitzer transit time-series improves the precision on
the radius of the planet at 4.5 microns to 2.20+-0.12 Rearth. We also performed
an independent analysis of the MOST data, paying particular attention to the
influence of the systematic effects of instrumental origin on the derived
parameters and errors by including them in a global model instead of performing
a preliminary detrending-filtering processing. We deduce an optical planet
radius of 2.04+0.15 Rearth from this reanalysis of MOST data, which is
consistent with the previous MOST result and with our Spitzer infrared radius.
Assuming the achromaticity of the transit depth, we performed a global analysis
combining Spitzer and MOST data that results in a planet radius of 2.17+-0.10
Rearth (13,820+-620 km). These results point to 55 Cnc e having a gaseous
envelope overlying a rocky nucleus, in agreement with previous works. A
plausible composition for the envelope is water which would be in
super-critical form given the equilibrium temperature of the planet.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figures. Submitted to A&A on 21/10/2011. Accepted for
publication in A&A on . 28/12/2011. Accepted version uploade
Limits on additional planetary companions to OGLE-2005-BLG-390L
We investigate constraints on additional planets orbiting the distant M-dwarf
star OGLE-2005-BLG-390L, around which photometric microlensing data has
revealed the existence of the sub-Neptune-mass planet OGLE-2005-BLG-390Lb. We
specifically aim to study potential Jovian companions and compare our findings
with predictions from core-accretion and disc-instability models of planet
formation. We also obtain an estimate of the detection probability for
sub-Neptune mass planets similar to OGLE-2005-BLG-390Lb using a simplified
simulation of a microlensing experiment. We compute the efficiency of our
photometric data for detecting additional planets around OGLE-2005-BLG-390L, as
a function of the microlensing model parameters and convert it into a function
of the orbital axis and planet mass by means of an adopted model of the Milky
Way. We find that more than 50 % of potential planets with a mass in excess of
1 M_J between 1.1 and 2.3 AU around OGLE-2005-BLG-390L would have revealed
their existence, whereas for gas giants above 3 M_J in orbits between 1.5 and
2.2 AU, the detection efficiency reaches 70 %; however, no such companion was
observed. Our photometric microlensing data therefore do not contradict the
existence of gas giant planets at any separation orbiting OGLE-2005-BLG-390L.
Furthermore we find a detection probability for an OGLE-2005-BLG-390Lb-like
planet of around 2-5 %. In agreement with current planet formation theories,
this quantitatively supports the prediction that sub-Neptune mass planets are
common around low-mass stars.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, accepted by A&
Dusty Planetary Systems
Extensive photometric stellar surveys show that many main sequence stars show
emission at infrared and longer wavelengths that is in excess of the stellar
photosphere; this emission is thought to arise from circumstellar dust. The
presence of dust disks is confirmed by spatially resolved imaging at infrared
to millimeter wavelengths (tracing the dust thermal emission), and at optical
to near infrared wavelengths (tracing the dust scattered light). Because the
expected lifetime of these dust particles is much shorter than the age of the
stars (>10 Myr), it is inferred that this solid material not primordial, i.e.
the remaining from the placental cloud of gas and dust where the star was born,
but instead is replenished by dust-producing planetesimals. These planetesimals
are analogous to the asteroids, comets and Kuiper Belt objects (KBOs) in our
Solar system that produce the interplanetary dust that gives rise to the
zodiacal light (tracing the inner component of the Solar system debris disk).
The presence of these "debris disks" around stars with a wide range of masses,
luminosities, and metallicities, with and without binary companions, is
evidence that planetesimal formation is a robust process that can take place
under a wide range of conditions. This chapter is divided in two parts. Part I
discusses how the study of the Solar system debris disk and the study of debris
disks around other stars can help us learn about the formation, evolution and
diversity of planetary systems by shedding light on the frequency and timing of
planetesimal formation, the location and physical properties of the
planetesimals, the presence of long-period planets, and the dynamical and
collisional evolution of the system. Part II reviews the physical processes
that affect dust particles in the gas-free environment of a debris disk and
their effect on the dust particle size and spatial distribution.Comment: 68 pages, 25 figures. To be published in "Solar and Planetary
Systems" (P. Kalas and L. French, Eds.), Volume 3 of the series "Planets,
Stars and Stellar Systems" (T.D. Oswalt, Editor-in-chief), Springer 201
Circulating microRNAs as novel biomarkers for diabetes mellitus.
Diabetes mellitus is characterized by insulin secretion from pancreatic β cells that is insufficient to maintain blood glucose homeostasis. Autoimmune destruction of β cells results in type 1 diabetes mellitus, whereas conditions that reduce insulin sensitivity and negatively affect β-cell activities result in type 2 diabetes mellitus. Without proper management, patients with diabetes mellitus develop serious complications that reduce their quality of life and life expectancy. Biomarkers for early detection of the disease and identification of individuals at risk of developing complications would greatly improve the care of these patients. Small non-coding RNAs called microRNAs (miRNAs) control gene expression and participate in many physiopathological processes. Hundreds of miRNAs are actively or passively released in the circulation and can be used to evaluate health status and disease progression. Both type 1 diabetes mellitus and type 2 diabetes mellitus are associated with distinct modifications in the profile of miRNAs in the blood, which are sometimes detectable several years before the disease manifests. Moreover, circulating levels of certain miRNAs seem to be predictive of long-term complications. Technical and scientific obstacles still exist that need to be overcome, but circulating miRNAs might soon become part of the diagnostic arsenal to identify individuals at risk of developing diabetes mellitus and its devastating complications