298 research outputs found
Large Binocular Telescope view of the atmosphere of GJ1214b
The atmospheric composition and vertical structure of the super-Earth GJ1214b
has been a subject of debate since its discovery in 2009. Recent studies have
indicated that high-altitude clouds might mask the lower layers. However, some
data points that were gathered at different times and facilities do not fit
this picture, probably because of a combination of stellar activity and
systematic errors. We observed two transits of GJ1214b with the Large Binocular
Camera, the dual-channel camera at the Large Binocular Telescope. For the first
time, we simultaneously measured the relative planetary radius
at blue and red optical wavelengths (), thus
constraining the Rayleigh scattering on GJ1214b after correcting for stellar
activity effects. To the same purpose, a long-term photometric follow-up of the
host star was carried out with WiFSIP at STELLA, revealing a rotational period
that is significantly longer than previously reported. Our new unbiased
estimates of yield a flat transmission spectrum extending to shorter
wavelengths, thus confirming the cloudy atmosphere scenario for GJ1214b.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures, 3 tables. Published in A&A. Minor changes to
reflect the published versio
Coordinated X-ray and Optical observations of Star-Planet Interaction in HD 17156
The large number of close-in Jupiter-size exoplanets prompts the question
whether star-planet interaction (SPI) effects can be detected. We focused our
attention on the system HD 17156, having a Jupiter-mass planet in a very
eccentric orbit. Here we present results of the XMM-Newton observations and of
a five months coordinated optical campaign with the HARPS-N spectrograph. We
observed HD 17156 with XMM-Newton when the planet was approaching the apoastron
and then at the following periastron passage, quasi simultaneously with
HARPS-N. We obtained a clear () X-ray detection only at the
periastron visit, accompanied by a significant increase of the
chromospheric index. We discuss two possible scenarios for the activity
enhancement: magnetic reconnection and flaring or accretion onto the star of
material tidally stripped from the planet. In any case, this is possibly the
first evidence of a magnetic SPI effect caught in action
A coordinated optical and X-ray spectroscopic campaign on HD179949: searching for planet-induced chromospheric and coronal activity
HD179949 is an F8V star, orbited by a close-in giant planet with a period of
~3 days. Previous studies suggested that the planet enhances the magnetic
activity of the parent star, producing a chromospheric hot spot which rotates
in phase with the planet orbit. However, this phenomenon is intermittent since
it was observed in several but not all seasons. A long-term monitoring of the
magnetic activity of HD179949 is required to study the amplitude and time
scales of star-planet interactions. In 2009 we performed a simultaneous optical
and X-ray spectroscopic campaign to monitor the magnetic activity of HD179949
during ~5 orbital periods and ~2 stellar rotations. We analyzed the CaII H&K
lines as a proxy for chromospheric activity, and we studied the X-ray emission
in search of flux modulations and to determine basic properties of the coronal
plasma. A detailed analysis of the flux in the cores of the CaII H&K lines and
a similar study of the X-ray photometry shows evidence of source variability,
including one flare. The analysis of the the time series of chromospheric data
indicates a modulation with a ~11 days period, compatible with the stellar
rotation period at high latitudes. Instead, the X-ray light curve suggests a
signal with a period of ~4 days, consistent with the presence of two active
regions on opposite hemispheres. The observed variability can be explained,
most likely, as due to rotational modulation and to intrinsic evolution of
chromospheric and coronal activity. There is no clear signature related to the
orbital motion of the planet, but the possibility that just a fraction of the
chromospheric and coronal variability is modulated with the orbital period of
the planet, or the stellar-planet beat period, cannot be excluded. We conclude
that any effect due to the presence of the planet is difficult to disentangle
Broad-band spectrophotometry of the hot Jupiter HAT-P-12b from the near-UV to the near-IR
The detection of trends or gradients in the transmission spectrum of
extrasolar planets is possible with observations at very low spectral
resolution. Transit measurements of sufficient accuracy using selected
broad-band filters allow for an initial characterization of the atmosphere of
the planet. We obtained time series photometry of 20 transit events and
analyzed them homogeneously, along with eight light curves obtained from the
literature. In total, the light curves span a range from 0.35 to 1.25 microns.
During two observing seasons over four months each, we monitored the host star
to constrain the potential influence of starspots on the derived transit
parameters. We rule out the presence of a Rayleigh slope extending over the
entire optical wavelength range, a flat spectrum is favored for HAT-P-12b with
respect to a cloud-free atmosphere model spectrum. A potential cause of such
gray absorption is the presence of a cloud layer at the probed latitudes.
Furthermore, in this work we refine the transit parameters, the ephemeris and
perform a TTV analysis in which we found no indication for an unseen companion.
The host star showed a mild non-periodic variability of up to 1%. However, no
stellar rotation period could be detected to high confidence.Comment: 13 pages, 6 figures, Accepted for publication in A&
The HADES RV Programme with HARPS-N@TNG IV. Time resolved analysis of the Ca ii H&K and H{\alpha} chromospheric emission of low-activity early-type M dwarfs
M dwarfs are prime targets for planet search programs, particularly of those
focused on the detection and characterization of rocky planets in the habitable
zone. Understanding their magnetic activity is important because it affects our
ability to detect small planets, and it plays a key role in the
characterization of the stellar environment. We analyze observations of the Ca
II H&K and H{\alpha} lines as diagnostics of chromospheric activity for
low-activity early-type M dwarfs. We analyze the time series of spectra of 71
early-type M dwarfs collected for the HADES project for planet search purposes.
The HARPS-N spectra provide simultaneously the H&K doublet and the H{\alpha}
line. We develop a reduction scheme able to correct the HARPS-N spectra for
instrumental and atmospheric effects, and to provide flux-calibrated spectra in
units of flux at the stellar surface. The H&K and H{\alpha} fluxes are compared
with each other, and their variability is analyzed. We find that the H and K
flux excesses are strongly correlated with each other, while the H{\alpha} flux
excess is generally less correlated with the H&K doublet. We also find that
H{\alpha} emission does not increase monotonically with the H&K line flux,
showing some absorption before being filled in by chromospheric emission when
H&K activity increases. Analyzing the time variability of the emission fluxes,
we derive a tentative estimate of the rotation period (of the order of a few
tens of days) for some of the program stars, and the typical lifetime of
chromospheric active regions (a few stellar rotations). Our results are in good
agreement with previous studies. In particular, we find evidence that the
chromospheres of early-type M dwarfs could be characterized by different
filaments coverage, affecting the formation mechanism of the H{\alpha} line. We
also show that chromospheric structure is likely related to spectral type
The GAPS Programme with HARPS-N at TNG. X. Differential abundances in the XO-2 planet hosting binary
Binary stars hosting exoplanets are a unique laboratory where chemical
tagging can be performed to measure with high accuracy the elemental abundances
of both stellar components, with the aim to investigate the formation of
planets and their subsequent evolution. Here, we present a high-precision
differential abundance analysis of the XO-2 wide stellar binary based on high
resolution HARPS-N@TNG spectra. Both components are very similar K-dwarfs and
host planets. Since they formed presumably within the same molecular cloud, we
expect they should possess the same initial elemental abundances. We
investigate if the presence of planets can cause some chemical imprints in the
stellar atmospheric abundances. We measure abundances of 25 elements for both
stars with a range of condensation temperature K, achieving
typical precisions of dex. The North component shows abundances in
all elements higher by dex on average, with a mean
difference of +0.078 dex for elements with K. The
significance of the XO-2N abundance difference relative to XO-2S is at the
level for almost all elements. We discuss the possibility that this
result could be interpreted as the signature of the ingestion of material by
XO-2N or depletion in XO-2S due to locking of heavy elements by the planetary
companions. We estimate a mass of several tens of in heavy
elements. The difference in abundances between XO-2N and XO-2S shows a positive
correlation with the condensation temperatures of the elements, with a slope of
dex K, which could mean that both
components have not formed terrestrial planets, but that first experienced the
accretion of rocky core interior to the subsequent giant planets.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures, accepted by Astronomy & Astrophysics. Numbering
of the series change
The Hubble Space Telescope Treasury Program on the Orion Nebula Cluster
The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Treasury Program on the Orion Nebula Cluster
has used 104 orbits of HST time to image the Great Orion Nebula region with the
Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS), the Wide-Field/Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2)
and the Near Infrared Camera and Multi Object Spectrograph (NICMOS) instruments
in 11 filters ranging from the U-band to the H-band equivalent of HST. The
program has been intended to perform the definitive study of the stellar
component of the ONC at visible wavelengths, addressing key questions like the
cluster IMF, age spread, mass accretion, binarity and cirumstellar disk
evolution. The scanning pattern allowed to cover a contiguous field of
approximately 600 square arcminutes with both ACS and WFPC2, with a typical
exposure time of approximately 11 minutes per ACS filter, corresponding to a
point source depth AB(F435W) = 25.8 and AB(F775W)=25.2 with 0.2 magnitudes of
photometric error. We describe the observations, data reduction and data
products, including images, source catalogs and tools for quick look preview.
In particular, we provide ACS photometry for 3399 stars, most of them detected
at multiple epochs, WFPC2 photometry for 1643 stars, 1021 of them detected in
the U-band, and NICMOS JH photometry for 2116 stars. We summarize the early
science results that have been presented in a number of papers. The final set
of images and the photometric catalogs are publicly available through the
archive as High Level Science Products at the STScI Multimission Archive hosted
by the Space Telescope Science Institute.Comment: Accepted for publication on the Astrophysical Journal Supplement
Series, March 27, 201
The GAPS programme at TNG XXVI. Magnetic activity in M stars: spectroscopic monitoring of AD Leonis
Understanding stellar activity in M dwarfs is fundamental to improving our
knowledge of the physics of stellar atmospheres and for planet search
programmes. High levels of stellar activity (also with flare events) can cause
additional variations in the stellar emission that contaminate the signal
induced by a planet and that need to be corrected. The study of activity
indicators in active stars can improve our capability of modelling this signal.
Our aim is to understand the behaviour of stellar chromospheres of M stars,
studying the more sensitive chromospheric activity indicators, characterising
their variability and on finding the correlations among these indicators to
obtain information on the origin of the magnetic activity in low-mass stars. We
studied the main optical activity indicators (Ca II H&K, Balmer lines, Na I
D doublet, He I D and other helium lines) measured for AD Leonis
using the data provided by HARPS-N in 2018 and by HARPS in 2006. We measured
excess flux of the selected activity indicators and analysed the correlation
between the different indicators as well as the temporal evolution of fluxes. A
stellar flare was identified during the 2018 observing run and the H,
H, He I 4471 A and He I 5876 A lines were analysed in detail by fitting
the line profiles with two Gaussian components. We found that the Ca II H&K
flux excesses are strongly correlated with each other, but the Ca II H&K
doublet is generally less correlated with the other indicators. Moreover,
H is correlated with Na I doublet and helium lines. Analysing the time
variability of flux of the studied lines, we found a higher level of activity
of the star during the observations in 2018 than in 2006, while Ca II H&K
showed more intense emission on spectra obtained during the observations in
2006. We investigated the flare evaluating the mass motion during the event.Comment: 18 pages, 6 figures, 12 tables. Accepted for publication in Section
8. Stellar atmospheres of Astronomy and Astrophysics. The official date of
acceptance is 31/07/2020. Abstract shortened for the arXiv listin
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