scholarly journals Detection of Na, K, and Hα absorption in the atmosphere of WASP-52b using ESPRESSO

2020 ◽  
Vol 635 ◽  
pp. A171 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Chen ◽  
N. Casasayas-Barris ◽  
E. Pallé ◽  
F. Yan ◽  
M. Stangret ◽  
...  

WASP-52b is a low-density hot Jupiter orbiting a moderately active K2V star. Previous low-resolution studies have revealed a cloudy atmosphere and found atomic Na above the cloud deck. Here we report on the detection of excess absorption at the Na doublet, the Hα line, and the K D1 line. We derived a high-resolution transmission spectrum based on three transits of WASP-52b, observed with the ultra-stable, high-resolution spectrograph ESPRESSO at the Very Large Telescope array. We measured a line contrast of 1.09 ± 0.16% for Na D1, 1.31 ± 0.13% for Na D2, 0.86 ± 0.13% for Hα, and 0.46 ± 0.13% for K D1, with a line FWHM range of 11–22 km s−1. We also found that the velocity shift of these detected lines during the transit is consistent with the planet’s orbital motion, thus confirming their planetary origin. We did not observe any significant net blueshift or redshift that could be attributed to planetary winds. We used activity indicator lines as control but found no excess absorption. However, we did notice signatures arising from the Center-to-Limb variation (CLV) and the Rossiter-McLaughlin (RM) effect at these control lines. This highlights the importance of the CLV + RM correction in correctly deriving the transmission spectrum, which, if not corrected, could resemble or cancel out planetary absorption in certain cases. WASP-52b is the second non-ultra-hot Jupiter to show excess Hα absorption after HD 189733b. Future observations targeting non-ultra-hot Jupiters that show Hα could help reveal the relation between stellar activity and the heating processes in the planetary upper atmosphere.

2019 ◽  
Vol 490 (1) ◽  
pp. 1094-1110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diana Kossakowski ◽  
Néstor Espinoza ◽  
Rafael Brahm ◽  
Andrés Jordán ◽  
Thomas Henning ◽  
...  

Abstract We present the discovery of TYC9191-519-1b (TOI-150b, TIC 271893367) and HD271181b (TOI-163b, TIC 179317684), two hot Jupiters initially detected using 30-min cadence Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) photometry from Sector 1 and thoroughly characterized through follow-up photometry (CHAT, Hazelwood, LCO/CTIO, El Sauce, TRAPPIST-S), high-resolution spectroscopy (FEROS, CORALIE), and speckle imaging (Gemini/DSSI), confirming the planetary nature of the two signals. A simultaneous joint fit of photometry and radial velocity using a new fitting package juliet reveals that TOI-150b is a $1.254\pm 0.016\ \rm {R}_ \rm{J}$, massive ($2.61^{+0.19}_{-0.12}\ \rm {M}_ \rm{J}$) hot Jupiter in a 5.857-d orbit, while TOI-163b is an inflated ($R_ \rm{P}$ = $1.478^{+0.022}_{-0.029} \,\mathrm{ R}_ \rm{J}$, $M_ \rm{P}$ = $1.219\pm 0.11 \, \rm{M}_ \rm{J}$) hot Jupiter on a P = 4.231-d orbit; both planets orbit F-type stars. A particularly interesting result is that TOI-150b shows an eccentric orbit ($e=0.262^{+0.045}_{-0.037}$), which is quite uncommon among hot Jupiters. We estimate that this is consistent, however, with the circularization time-scale, which is slightly larger than the age of the system. These two hot Jupiters are both prime candidates for further characterization – in particular, both are excellent candidates for determining spin-orbit alignments via the Rossiter–McLaughlin (RM) effect and for characterizing atmospheric thermal structures using secondary eclipse observations considering they are both located closely to the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) Continuous Viewing Zone (CVZ).


2020 ◽  
Vol 494 (1) ◽  
pp. 363-377 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel H C Cabot ◽  
Nikku Madhusudhan ◽  
Luis Welbanks ◽  
Anjali Piette ◽  
Siddharth Gandhi

ABSTRACT The class of ultra-hot Jupiters comprises giant exoplanets undergoing intense irradiation from their host stars. They have proved to be a particularly interesting population for their orbital and atmospheric properties. One such planet, WASP-121b, is in a highly misaligned orbit close to its Roche limit, and its atmosphere exhibits a thermal inversion. These properties make WASP-121b an interesting target for additional atmospheric characterization. In this paper, we present analyses of archival high-resolution optical spectra obtained during transits of WASP-121b. We model the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect and the Centre-to-Limb Variation and find that they do not significantly affect the transmission spectrum in this case. However, we discuss scenarios where these effects warrant more careful treatment by modelling the WASP-121 system and varying its properties. We report a new detection of atmospheric absorption from H α in the planet with a transit depth of $1.87\pm 0.11{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$. We further confirm a previous detection of the Na i doublet, and report a new detection of Fe i via cross-correlation with a model template. We attribute the H α absorption to an extended Hydrogen atmosphere, potentially undergoing escape, and the Fe i to equilibrium chemistry at the planetary photosphere. These detections help to constrain the composition and chemical processes in the atmosphere of WASP-121b.


2020 ◽  
Vol 636 ◽  
pp. A117 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. R. Merritt ◽  
N. P. Gibson ◽  
S. K. Nugroho ◽  
E. J. W. de Mooij ◽  
M. J. Hooton ◽  
...  

Thermal inversions have long been predicted to exist in the atmospheres of ultra-hot Jupiters. However, the detection of two species thought to be responsible – titanium oxide and vanadium oxide – remains elusive. We present a search for TiO and VO in the atmosphere of the ultra-hot Jupiter WASP-121b (Teq ≳ 2400 K), an exoplanet with evidence of VO in its atmosphere at low resolution which also exhibits water emission features in its dayside spectrum characteristic of a temperature inversion. We observed its transmission spectrum with the UV-Visual Echelle Spectrograph at the Very Large Telescope and used the cross-correlation method – a powerful tool for the unambiguous identification of the presence of atomic and molecular species – in an effort to detect whether TiO or VO were responsible for the observed temperature inversion. No evidence for the presence of TiO or VO was found at the terminator of WASP-121b. By injecting signals into our data at varying abundance levels, we set rough detection limits of [VO] ≲−7.9 and [TiO] ≲−9.3. However, these detection limits are largely degenerate with scattering properties and the position of the cloud deck. Our results may suggest that neither TiO or VO are the main drivers of the thermal inversion in WASP-121b; however, until a more accurate line list is developed for VO, we cannot conclusively rule out its presence. Future works will consist of a search for other strong optically-absorbing species that may be responsible for the excess absorption in the red-optical.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Monika Stangret ◽  
Enric Palle ◽  
Núria Casasayas-Barris ◽  
Mahmoud Oshagh

<p>Ultra-hot Jupiters are defined as giant planets with equilibrium temperatures larger than 2000 K. Most of them are found orbiting bright A-F stars, making them extremely suitable object to study their atmospheres using high-resolution spectroscopy.</p> <p>TOI-1431b, also known as MASCARA-5b, a newly discovered planet with the temperature of 2375 K is a prefect example of ultra-hot Jupiter. We studied this object using three transit observations obtained with high-resolution spectrographs HARPS-N and EXPRES. Analysis of Rossiter-McLaughlin effect shows that the planet is in the polar orbit, which speaks about an interesting dynamical history, and perhaps indicating the presence of more than one planet in the early history of this system. Applying the cross-correlation and transmission spectroscopy method, we find no evidence of atoms and molecules in this planet. There results are at odds with the other studies of similar UHJs orbiting bright stars, where various species have been found.</p>


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Núria Casasayas-Barris ◽  
Jaume Orell-Miquel ◽  
Monika Stangret ◽  
Lisa Nortmann ◽  
Fei Yan ◽  
...  

<p>Currently, one of the most used techniques to study the atmosphere of the exoplanets is transmission spectroscopy by means of high-resolution facilities (R > 10<sup>5</sup>). This methodology has led to the detection of several species in the atmosphere of exoplanets, showing that ultra-hot Jupiters (T<sub>eq</sub> > 2000 K) are one of the most intriguing exoplanets, possessing the richest atmospheres measured to date. Here, using two transit observations with the high-resolution spectrograph CARMENES, we study the atmosphere of one of the most famous ultra-hot Jupiters: WASP-76b. We take advantage of the redder wavelength coverage of CARMENES, in comparison with the facilities used in previous studies of this same planet, and focus our analysis on the CaII IRT triplet at 850nm and the metastable HeI triplet at 1083nm. In line with recent studies, we detect ionised calcium in the atmosphere of WASP-76b and, additionally, find possible evidence of HeI. We contextualise our findings with previous atmospheric studies of other ultra-hot Jupiters and, in particular, with those showing the presence of CaII and HeI absorption in their transmission spectrum. We show that this planet is a potential candidate for further follow up studies of the HeI lines using high-resolution spectrographs located at larger telescopes, such as CRIRES+.</p>


2021 ◽  
Vol 502 (1) ◽  
pp. 1456-1468
Author(s):  
Engin Keles

ABSTRACT The study of exoplanet atmospheres showed large diversity compared to the planets in our Solar system. Especially Jupiter-type exoplanets orbiting their host star in close orbits, the so-called hot and ultra-hot Jupiters, have been studied in detail due to their enhanced atmospheric signature. Due to their tidally locked status, the temperature difference between the day- and nightside triggers atmospheric winds that can lead to various fingerprints in the observations. Spatially resolved absorption lines during transit such as sodium (Na) could be a good tracer for such winds. Different works resolved the Na absorption lines on different exoplanets which show different line widths. Assuming that this could be attributed to such zonal jet streams, this work models the effect of such winds on synthetic absorption lines. For this, transiting Jupiter-type planets with rotational velocities similar to hot and ultra-hot Jupiter are considered. The investigation shows that high wind velocities could reproduce the broadening of Na-line profiles inferred in different high-resolution transit observations. There is a tendency that the broadening values decrease for planets with lower equilibrium temperature. This could be explained by atmospheric drag induced by the ionization of alkali lines that slow down the zonal jet streams, favouring their existence on hot Jupiter rather than ultra-hot Jupiter.


2020 ◽  
Vol 642 ◽  
pp. A54 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Chen ◽  
N. Casasayas-Barris ◽  
E. Pallé ◽  
L. Welbanks ◽  
N. Madhusudhan ◽  
...  

Optical transmission spectroscopy provides crucial constraints on the reference pressure levels and scattering properties for the atmospheres of hot Jupiters. For certain planets, where alkali atoms are detected in the atmosphere, their line profiles could serve as a good probe to link upper and lower atmospheric layers. The planet WASP-21b is a Saturn-mass hot Jupiter orbiting a thick-disk star, with a low density and an equilibrium temperature of 1333 K, which makes it a good target for transmission spectroscopy. Here, we present a low-resolution transmission spectrum for WASP-21b based on one transit observed by the OSIRIS spectrograph at the 10.4 m Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC), and a high-resolution transmission spectrum based on three transits observed by HARPS-N at Telescopio Nazinale Galileo (TNG) and HARPS at the ESO 3.6 m telescope. We performed spectral retrieval analysis on GTC’s low-resolution transmission spectrum and report the detection of Na at a confidence level of >3.5-σ. The Na line exhibits a broad line profile that can be attributed to pressure broadening, indicating a mostly clear planetary atmosphere. The spectrum shows a tentative excess absorption at the K D1 line. Using HARPS-N and HARPS, we spectrally resolved the Na doublet transmission spectrum. An excess absorption at the Na doublet is detected during the transit, and shows a radial velocity shift consistent with the planet orbital motion. We proposed a metric to quantitatively distinguish hot Jupiters with relatively clear atmospheres from others, and WASP-21b has the largest metric value among all the characterized hot Jupiters. The detection of Na both in the lower and upper atmospheres of WASP-21b reveals that it is an ideal target for future follow-up observations, providing the opportunity to understand the nature of its atmosphere across a wide range of pressure levels.


2020 ◽  
Vol 637 ◽  
pp. A76 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. von Essen ◽  
M. Mallonn ◽  
S. Hermansen ◽  
M. C. Nixon ◽  
N. Madhusudhan ◽  
...  

We present an atmospheric transmission spectrum of the ultra-hot Jupiter WASP-76 b by analyzing archival data obtained with the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) on board the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). The dataset spans three transits, two with a wavelength coverage between 2900 and 5700 Å, and the third one between 5250 and 10 300 Å. From the one-dimensional, time dependent spectra we constructed white and chromatic light curves, the latter with typical integration band widths of ~200 Å. We computed the wavelength dependent planet-to-star radii ratios taking into consideration WASP-76’s companion. The resulting transmission spectrum of WASP-76 b is dominated by a spectral slope of increasing opacity towards shorter wavelengths of amplitude of about three scale heights under the assumption of planetary equilibrium temperature. If the slope is caused by Rayleigh scattering, we derive a lower limit to the temperature of ~870 K. Following-up on previous detection of atomic sodium derived from high resolution spectra, we re-analyzed HST data using narrower bands centered around sodium. From an atmospheric retrieval of this transmission spectrum, we report evidence of sodium at 2.9σ significance. In this case, the retrieved temperature at the top of the atmosphere (10−5 bar) is 2300−392+412 K. We also find marginal evidence for titanium hydride. However, additional high resolution ground-based data are required to confirm this discovery.


2020 ◽  
Vol 500 (2) ◽  
pp. 2711-2731
Author(s):  
Andrew Bunting ◽  
Caroline Terquem

ABSTRACT We calculate the conversion from non-adiabatic, non-radial oscillations tidally induced by a hot Jupiter on a star to observable spectroscopic and photometric signals. Models with both frozen convection and an approximation for a perturbation to the convective flux are discussed. Observables are calculated for some real planetary systems to give specific predictions. The photometric signal is predicted to be proportional to the inverse square of the orbital period, P−2, as in the equilibrium tide approximation. However, the radial velocity signal is predicted to be proportional to P−1, and is therefore much larger at long orbital periods than the signal corresponding to the equilibrium tide approximation, which is proportional to P−3. The prospects for detecting these oscillations and the implications for the detection and characterization of planets are discussed.


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