3,051 research outputs found
Observability of hydrogen-rich exospheres in Earth-like exoplanets
(Abridged) The existence of an extended neutral hydrogen exosphere around
small planets can be used as an evidence for the presence of water in their
lower atmosphere but, to date, such feature has not been securely detected in
rocky exoplanets. Planetary exospheres can be observed using transit
spectroscopy of the Lyman- line, which is limited mainly by
interstellar medium absorption in the core of the line, and airglow
contamination from the geocorona when using low-orbit space telescopes. Our
objective is to assess the detectability of the neutral hydrogen exosphere of
an Earth-like planet transiting a nearby M dwarf using Lyman-
spectroscopy and provide the necessary strategies to inform future
observations. The spatial distribution in the upper atmosphere is provided by
an empirical model of the geocorona, and we assume a velocity distribution
based on radiative pressure as the main driver in shaping the exosphere. We
compute the excess absorption in the stellar Lyman- line while in
transit, and use realistic estimates of the uncertainties involved in
observations to determine the observability of the signal. We found that the
signal in Lyman- of the exosphere of an Earth-like exoplanet transiting
M dwarfs with radii between 0.1 and 0.6 R produces an excess absorption
between 50 and 600 ppm. The Lyman- flux of stars decays exponentially
with distance because of interstellar medium absorption, which is the main
observability limitation. Other limits are related to the stellar radial
velocity and instrumental setup. The excess absorption in Lyman- is
observable using LUVOIR/LUMOS in M dwarfs up to a distance of 15 pc. The
analysis of noise-injected data suggests that it would be possible to detect
the exosphere of an Earth-like planet transiting TRAPPIST-1 within 20 transits.Comment: 12 pages, 13 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy &
Astrophysic
Rayleigh scattering in the transit spectrum of HD 189733b
The transit spectrum of the exoplanet HD 189733b has recently been obtained
between 0.55 and 1.05 microns. Here we present an analysis of this spectrum. We
develop first-order equations to interpret absorption spectra. In the case of
HD 189733b, we show that the observed slope of the absorption as a function of
wavelength is characteristic of extinction proportional to the inverse of the
fourth power of the wavelength (lambda^-4). Assuming an extinction dominated by
Rayleigh scattering, we derive an atmospheric temperature of 1340+/-150 K. If
molecular hydrogen is responsible for the Rayleigh scattering, the atmospheric
pressure at the planetary characteristic radius of 0.1564 stellar radius must
be 410+/-30 mbar. However the preferred scenario is scattering by condensate
particles. Using the Mie approximation, we find that the particles must have a
low value for the imaginary part of the refraction index. We identify MgSiO3 as
a possible abundant condensate whose particle size must be between 0.01 and 0.1
microns. For this condensate, assuming solar abundance, the pressure at 0.1564
stellar radius is found to be between a few microbars and few millibars, and
the temperature is found to be in the range 1340-1540 K, and both depend on the
particle size.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A Lette
Sparse aperture masking at the VLT II. Detection limits for the eight debris disks stars Pic, AU Mic, 49 Cet, Tel, Fomalhaut, g Lup, HD181327 and HR8799
Context. The formation of planetary systems is a common, yet complex
mechanism. Numerous stars have been identified to possess a debris disk, a
proto-planetary disk or a planetary system. The understanding of such formation
process requires the study of debris disks. These targets are substantial and
particularly suitable for optical and infrared observations. Sparse Aperture
masking (SAM) is a high angular resolution technique strongly contributing to
probe the region from 30 to 200 mas around the stars. This area is usually
unreachable with classical imaging, and the technique also remains highly
competitive compared to vortex coronagraphy. Aims. We aim to study debris disks
with aperture masking to probe the close environment of the stars. Our goal is
either to find low mass companions, or to set detection limits. Methods. We
observed eight stars presenting debris disks ( Pictoris, AU
Microscopii, 49 Ceti, Telescopii, Fomalhaut, g Lupi, HD181327 and
HR8799) with SAM technique on the NaCo instrument at the VLT. Results. No close
companions were detected using closure phase information under 0.5 of
separation from the parent stars. We obtained magnitude detection limits that
we converted to Jupiter masses detection limits using theoretical isochrones
from evolutionary models. Conclusions. We derived upper mass limits on the
presence of companions in the area of few times the diffraction limit of the
telescope around each target star.Comment: 7 pages, All magnitude detection limits maps are only available in
electronic form at the CDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr
(130.79.128.5
Prospects for Detection of Exoplanet Magnetic Fields Through Bow-Shock Observations During Transits
An asymmetry between the ingress and egress times was observed in the near-UV
light curve of the transit planet WASP-12b. Such asymmetry led us to suggest
that the early ingress in the UV light curve of WASP-12b, compared to the
optical observations, is caused by a shock around the planet, and that shocks
should be a common feature in transiting systems. Here, we classify all the
transiting systems known to date according to their potential for producing
shocks that could cause observable light curve asymmetries. We found that 36/92
of known transiting systems would lie above a reasonable detection threshold
and that the most promising candidates to present shocks are: WASP-19b,
WASP-4b, WASP-18b, CoRoT-7b, HAT-P-7b, CoRoT-1b, TrES-3, and WASP-5b. For
prograde planets orbiting outside the co-rotation radius of fast rotating
stars, the shock position, instead of being ahead of the planetary motion as in
WASP-12b, trails the planet. In this case, we predict that the light curve of
the planet should present a late-egress asymmetry. We show that CoRoT-11b is a
potential candidate to host such a behind shock and show a late egress. If
observed, these asymmetries can provide constraints on planetary magnetic
fields. For instance, for a planet that has a magnetic field intensity similar
to Jupiter's field (~ 14 G) orbiting a star whose magnetic field is between 1
and 100G, the stand-off distance between the shock and the planet, which we
take to be the size of the planet's magnetosphere, ranges from 1 to 40
planetary radii.Comment: 7 pages (including the complete version of Table 1), 2 Tables, 3
Figures. Accepted by MNRAS Letter
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&
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