2,187 research outputs found
High resolution imaging of young M-type stars of the solar neighborhood: Probing the existence of companions down to the mass of Jupiter
Context. High contrast imaging is a powerful technique to search for gas
giant planets and brown dwarfs orbiting at separation larger than several AU.
Around solar-type stars, giant planets are expected to form by core accretion
or by gravitational instability, but since core accretion is increasingly
difficult as the primary star becomes lighter, gravitational instability would
be the a probable formation scenario for yet-to-be-found distant giant planets
around a low-mass star. A systematic survey for such planets around M dwarfs
would therefore provide a direct test of the efficiency of gravitational
instability. Aims. We search for gas giant planets orbiting around late-type
stars and brown dwarfs of the solar neighborhood. Methods. We obtained deep
high resolution images of 16 targets with the adaptive optic system of VLT-NACO
in the Lp band, using direct imaging and angular differential imaging. This is
currently the largest and deepest survey for Jupiter-mass planets around
Mdwarfs. We developed and used an integrated reduction and analysis pipeline to
reduce the images and derive our 2D detection limits for each target. The
typical contrast achieved is about 9 magnitudes at 0.5" and 11 magnitudes
beyond 1". For each target we also determine the probability of detecting a
planet of a given mass at a given separation in our images. Results. We derived
accurate detection probabilities for planetary companions, taking into account
orbital projection effects, with in average more than 50% probability to detect
a 3MJup companion at 10AU and a 1.5MJup companion at 20AU, bringing strong
constraints on the existence of Jupiter-mass planets around this sample of
young M-dwarfs.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&
Anaerobes Wachstum neuartiger sulfatreduzierender und nitratreduzierender Bakterien auf n-Alkanen und Erdöl
Verification of a localization criterion for several disordered media
We analytically compute a localization criterion in double scattering
approximation for a set of dielectric spheres or perfectly conducting disks
uniformly distributed in a spatial volume which can be either spherical or
layered. For every disordered medium, we numerically investigate a localization
criterion, and examine the influence of the system parameters on the wavelength
localization domains.Comment: 30 pages, LateX, amstex, revtex styles, 20 figure
ARCHI: pipeline for light curve extraction of CHEOPS background star
High precision time series photometry from space is being used for a number
of scientific cases. In this context, the recently launched CHEOPS (ESA)
mission promises to bring 20 ppm precision over an exposure time of 6 hours,
when targeting nearby bright stars, having in mind the detailed
characterization of exoplanetary systems through transit measurements. However,
the official CHEOPS (ESA) mission pipeline only provides photometry for the
main target (the central star in the field). In order to explore the potential
of CHEOPS photometry for all stars in the field, in this paper we present
archi, an additional open-source pipeline module{\dag}to analyse the background
stars present in the image. As archi uses the official Data Reduction Pipeline
data as input, it is not meant to be used as independent tool to process raw
CHEOPS data but, instead, to be used as an add-on to the official pipeline. We
test archi using CHEOPS simulated images, and show that photometry of
background stars in CHEOPS images is only slightly degraded (by a factor of 2
to 3) with respect to the main target. This opens a potential for the use of
CHEOPS to produce photometric time series of several close-by targets at once,
as well as to use different stars in the image to calibrate systematic errors.
We also show one clear scientific application where the study of the companion
light curve can be important for the understanding of the contamination on the
main target.Comment: 14 pages, 13 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS, all code
available at https://github.com/Kamuish/arch
Temporal variations in the evaporating atmosphere of the exoplanet HD 189733b
Atmospheric escape has been detected from the exoplanet HD 209458b through
transit observations of the hydrogen Lyman-alpha line. Here we present
spectrally resolved Lyman-alpha transit observations of the exoplanet HD
189733b at two different epochs. These HST/STIS observations show for the first
time, that there are significant temporal variations in the physical conditions
of an evaporating planetary atmosphere. While atmospheric hydrogen is not
detected in the first epoch observations, it is observed at the second epoch,
producing a transit absorption depth of 14.4+/-3.6% between velocities of -230
to -140 km/s. Contrary to HD 209458b, these high velocities cannot arise from
radiation pressure alone and require an additional acceleration mechanism, such
as interactions with stellar wind protons. The observed absorption can be
explained by an atmospheric escape rate of neutral hydrogen atoms of about 10^9
g/s, a stellar wind with a velocity of 190 km/s and a temperature of ~10^5K.
An X-ray flare from the active star seen with Swift/XRT 8 hours before the
second-epoch observation supports the idea that the observed changes within the
upper atmosphere of the planet can be caused by variations in the stellar wind
properties, or by variations in the stellar energy input to the planetary
escaping gas (or a mix of the two effects). These observations provide the
first indication of interaction between the exoplanet's atmosphere and stellar
variations.Comment: To be published in A&A Letters, June 28, 201
High-energy environment of super-Earth 55 Cnc e I: Far-UV chromospheric variability as a possible tracer of planet-induced coronal rain
The irradiation of close-in planets by their star influences their evolution
and might be responsible for a population of ultra-short period planets eroded
to their bare core. In orbit around a bright, nearby G-type star, the
super-Earth 55 Cnc e offers the possibility to address these issues through UV
transit observations. We used the Hubble Space Telescope to observe the transit
in the FUV over 3 epochs in Apr. 2016, Jan. 2017, and Feb. 2017. These
observations reveal significant short- and long-term variability in 55 Cnc
chromospheric emission lines. In the last 2 epochs, we detected a larger flux
in the C III, Si III, and Si IV lines after the planet passed the approaching
quadrature, followed by a flux decrease in the Si IV doublet. In the second
epoch these variations are contemporaneous with flux decreases in the Si II and
C II doublet. All epochs show flux decreases in the N V doublet as well, albeit
at different orbital phases. These flux decreases are consistent with
absorption from optically thin clouds of gas, are mostly localized at low and
redshifted radial velocities in the star rest frame, and occur preferentially
before and during the transit. These 3 points make it unlikely that the
variations are purely stellar, yet we show that the occulting material is also
unlikely to originate from the planet. We tentatively propose that the motion
of 55 Cnc e at the fringes of the stellar corona leads to the formation of a
cool coronal rain. The inhomogeneity and temporal evolution of the stellar
corona would be responsible for the differences between the visits. Additional
variations are detected in the C II doublet in the first epoch and in the O I
triplet in all epochs with a different behavior that points toward intrinsic
stellar variability. Further observations at FUV wavelengths are required to
disentangle between star-planet interactions and the activity of the starComment: 22 pages, 20 figures, accepted for publication in A&
Reconnaissance of the TRAPPIST-1 exoplanet system in the Lyman- line
The TRAPPIST-1 system offers the opportunity to characterize terrestrial,
potentially habitable planets orbiting a nearby ultracool dwarf star. We
performed a four-orbit reconnaissance with the Space Telescope Imaging
Spectrograph onboard the Hubble Space Telescope to study the stellar emission
at Lyman-, to assess the presence of hydrogen exospheres around the two
inner planets, and to determine their UV irradiation. We detect the
Lyman- line of TRAPPIST-1, making it the coldest exoplanet host star
for which this line has been measured. We reconstruct the intrinsic line
profile, showing that it lacks broad wings and is much fainter than expected
from the stellar X-ray emission. TRAPPIST-1 has a similar X-ray emission as
Proxima Cen but a much lower Ly- emission. This suggests that
TRAPPIST-1 chromosphere is only moderately active compared to its transition
region and corona. We estimated the atmospheric mass loss rates for all
planets, and found that despite a moderate extreme UV emission the total XUV
irradiation could be strong enough to strip the atmospheres of the inner
planets in a few billions years. We detect marginal flux decreases at the times
of TRAPPIST-1b and c transits, which might originate from stellar activity, but
could also hint at the presence of extended hydrogen exospheres. Understanding
the origin of these Lyman- variations will be crucial in assessing the
atmospheric stability and potential habitability of the TRAPPIST-1 planets.Comment: Published in A&A as a Letter to the Edito
Evidence for a spectroscopic direct detection of reflected light from 51 Peg b
The detection of reflected light from an exoplanet is a difficult technical
challenge at optical wavelengths. Even though this signal is expected to
replicate the stellar signal, not only is it several orders of magnitude
fainter, but it is also hidden among the stellar noise. We apply a variant of
the cross-correlation technique to HARPS observations of 51 Peg to detect the
reflected signal from planet 51 Peg b. Our method makes use of the
cross-correlation function of a binary mask with high-resolution spectra to
amplify the minute planetary signal that is present in the spectra by a factor
proportional to the number of spectral lines when performing the cross
correlation. The resulting cross-correlation functions are then normalized by a
stellar template to remove the stellar signal. Carefully selected sections of
the resulting normalized CCFs are stacked to increase the planetary signal
further. The recovered signal allows probing several of the planetary
properties, including its real mass and albedo. We detect evidence for the
reflected signal from planet 51 Peg b at a significance of 3\sigma_noise. The
detection of the signal permits us to infer a real mass of 0.46^+0.06_-0.01
M_Jup (assuming a stellar mass of 1.04\;M_Sun) for the planet and an orbital
inclination of 80^+10_-19 degrees. The analysis of the data also allows us to
infer a tentative value for the (radius-dependent) geometric albedo of the
planet. The results suggest that 51Peg b may be an inflated hot Jupiter with a
high albedo (e.g., an albedo of 0.5 yields a radius of 1.9 \pm 0.3 R_Jup for a
signal amplitude of 6.0\pm0.4 x 10^-5). We confirm that the method we perfected
can be used to retrieve an exoplanet's reflected signal, even with current
observing facilities. The advent of next generation of observing facilities
will yield new opportunities for this type of technique to probe deeper into
exoplanets.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figure
The long egress of GJ~436b's giant exosphere
The M dwarf GJ 436 hosts a transiting warm Neptune known to experience
atmospheric escape. Previous observations revealed the presence of a giant
hydrogen exosphere transiting the star for more than 5 h, and absorbing up to
56% of the flux in the blue wing of the stellar Lyman-{\alpha} line of neutral
hydrogen (H i Ly{\alpha}). The unexpected size of this comet-like exosphere
prevented observing the full transit of its tail. In this Letter, we present
new Ly{\alpha} observations of GJ 436 obtained with the Space Telescope Imaging
Spectrograph (STIS) instrument onboard the Hubble Space Telescope. The
stability of the Ly{\alpha} line over six years allowed us to combine these new
observations with archival data sets, substantially expanding the coverage of
the exospheric transit. Hydrogen atoms in the tail of the exospheric cloud keep
occulting the star for 10-25 h after the transit of the planet, remarkably
confirming a previous prediction based on 3D numerical simulations with the
EVaporating Exoplanet code (EVE). This result strengthens the interpretation
that the exosphere of GJ 436b is shaped by both radiative braking and charge
exchanges with the stellar wind. We further report flux decreases of 15 +/- 2%
and 47 +/- 10% in the red wing of the Ly{\alpha} line and in the line of
ionised silicon (Si iii). Despite some temporal variability possibly linked
with stellar activity, these two signals occur during the exospheric transit
and could be of planetary origin. Follow-up observations will be required to
assess the possibility that the redshifted Ly{\alpha} and Si iii absorption
signatures arise from interactions between the exospheric flow and the magnetic
field of the star.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures, published in A&
The JADE code: Coupling secular exoplanetary dynamics and photo-evaporation
Close-in planets evolve under extreme conditions, raising questions about
their origins and current nature. Two predominant mechanisms are orbital
migration, which brings them close to their star, and atmospheric escape under
the resulting increased irradiation. Yet, their relative roles remain unclear
because we lack models that couple the two mechanisms with high precision on
secular timescales. To address this need, we developed the JADE code, which
simulates the secular atmospheric and dynamical evolution of a planet around
its star, and can include the perturbation induced by a distant third body. On
the dynamical side, the 3D evolution of the orbit is modeled under stellar and
planetary tidal forces, a relativistic correction, and the action of the
distant perturber. On the atmospheric side, the vertical structure of the
atmosphere is integrated over time based on its thermodynamical properties,
inner heating, and the evolving stellar irradiation, which results, in
particular, in photo-evaporation. The JADE code is benchmarked on GJ436 b,
prototype of evaporating giants on eccentric, misaligned orbits at the edge of
the hot Neptunes desert. We confirm that its orbital architecture is well
explained by Kozai migration and unveil a strong interplay between its
atmospheric and orbital evolution. During the resonance phase, the atmosphere
pulsates in tune with the Kozai cycles, which leads to stronger tides and an
earlier migration. This triggers a strong evaporation several Gyr after the
planet formed, refining the paradigm that mass loss is dominant in the early
age of close-in planets. This suggests that the edge of the desert could be
formed of warm Neptunes whose evaporation was delayed by migration. It
strengthens the importance of coupling atmospheric and dynamical evolution over
secular timescales, which the JADE code will allow simulating for a wide range
of systems.Comment: 20 pages, 2 figures, accepted in A&
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