Thermal Phase Curves of XO-3b: An Eccentric Hot Jupiter at the Deuterium Burning Limit

We report Spitzer full-orbit phase observations of the eccentric hot Jupiter XO-3b at 3.6 and 4.5 μm. Our new eclipse depth measurements of 1770 ± 180 ppm at 3.6 μm and 1610 ± 70 ppm at 4.5 μm show no evidence of the previously reported dayside temperature inversion. We also empirically derive the mass and radius of XO-3b and its host star using Gaia DR3's parallax measurement and find a planetary mass M p = 11.79 ± 0.98 M Jup and radius R p = 1.295 ± 0.066 R Jup. We compare our Spitzer observations with multiple atmospheric models to constrain the radiative and advective properties of XO-3b. While the decorrelated 4.5 μm observations are pristine, the 3.6 μm phase curve remains polluted with detector systematics due to larger amplitude intrapixel sensitivity variations in this channel. We focus our analysis on the more reliable 4.5 μm phase curve and fit an energy balance model with solid body rotation to estimate the zonal wind speed and the pressure of the bottom of the mixed layer. Our energy balance model fit suggests an eastward equatorial wind speed of 3.13 − 0.83 + 0.26 km s−1, an atmospheric mixed layer down to 2.40 − 0.16 + 0.92 bars, and a Bond albedo of 0.106 − 0.106 + 0.008 . We assume that the wind speed and mixed layer depth are constant throughout the orbit. We compare our observations with 1D planet-averaged model predictions at apoapse and periapse and 3D general circulation model predictions for XO-3b. We also investigate the inflated radius of XO-3b and find that it would require an unusually large amount of internal heating to explain the observed planetary radius.

Mapping the Pressure-dependent Day–Night Temperature Contrast of a Strongly Irradiated Atmosphere with HST Spectroscopic Phase Curve

Many brown dwarfs are on ultrashort-period and tidally locked orbits around white dwarf hosts. Because of these small orbital separations, the brown dwarfs are irradiated at levels similar to hot Jupiters. Yet, they are easier to observe than hot Jupiters because white dwarfs are fainter than main-sequence stars at near-infrared wavelengths. Irradiated brown dwarfs are, therefore, ideal hot Jupiter analogs for studying the atmospheric response under strong irradiation and fast rotation. We present the 1.1–1.67 μm spectroscopic phase curve of the irradiated brown dwarf (SDSS1411-B) in the SDSS J141126.20 + 200911.1 brown dwarf–white dwarf binary with the near-infrared G141 grism of the Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field Camera 3. SDSS1411-B is a 50M Jup brown dwarf with an irradiation temperature of 1300 K and has an orbital period of 2.02864 hr. Our best-fit model suggests a phase-curve amplitude of 1.4% and places an upper limit of 11° for the phase offset from the secondary eclipse. After fitting the white dwarf spectrum, we extract the phase-resolved brown dwarf emission spectra. We report a highly wavelength-dependent day–night spectral variation, with a water-band flux variation of about 360% ± 70% and a comparatively small J-band flux variation of 37% ± 2%. By combining the atmospheric modeling results and the day–night brightness temperature variations, we derive a pressure-dependent temperature contrast. We discuss the difference in the spectral features of SDSS1411-B and hot Jupiter WASP-43b, as well as the lower-than-predicted day–night temperature contrast of J4111-BD. Our study provides the high-precision observational constraints on the atmospheric structures of an irradiated brown dwarf at different orbital phases.

TOI-1431b/MASCARA-5b: A Highly Irradiated Ultrahot Jupiter Orbiting One of the Hottest and Brightest Known Exoplanet Host Stars

We present the discovery of a highly irradiated and moderately inflated ultrahot Jupiter, TOI-1431b/MASCARA-5 b (HD 201033b), first detected by NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite mission (TESS) and the Multi-site All-Sky Camera (MASCARA). The signal was established to be of planetary origin through radial velocity measurements obtained using SONG, SOPHIE, FIES, NRES, and EXPRES, which show a reflex motion of K = 294.1 ± 1.1 m s−1. A joint analysis of the TESS and ground-based photometry and radial velocity measurements reveals that TOI-1431b has a mass of M p = 3.12 ± 0.18 M J (990 ± 60 M ⊕), an inflated radius of R p = 1.49 ± 0.05 R J (16.7 ± 0.6 R ⊕), and an orbital period of P = 2.650237 ± 0.000003 days. Analysis of the spectral energy distribution of the host star reveals that the planet orbits a bright (V = 8.049 mag) and young ( 0.29 − 0.19 + 0.32 Gyr) Am type star with T eff = 7690 − 250 + 400 K, resulting in a highly irradiated planet with an incident flux of 〈 F 〉 = 7.24 − 0.64 + 0.68 × 109 erg s−1 cm−2 ( 5300 − 470 + 500 S ⊕ ) and an equilibrium temperature of T eq = 2370 ± 70 K. TESS photometry also reveals a secondary eclipse with a depth of 127 − 5 + 4 ppm as well as the full phase curve of the planet’s thermal emission in the red-optical. This has allowed us to measure the dayside and nightside temperature of its atmosphere as T day = 3004 ± 64 K and T night = 2583 ± 63 K, the second hottest measured nightside temperature. The planet’s low day/night temperature contrast (∼420 K) suggests very efficient heat transport between the dayside and nightside hemispheres. Given the host star brightness and estimated secondary eclipse depth of ∼1000 ppm in the K band, the secondary eclipse is potentially detectable at near-IR wavelengths with ground-based facilities, and the planet is ideal for intensive atmospheric characterization through transmission and emission spectroscopy from space missions such as the James Webb Space Telescope and the Atmospheric Remote-sensing Infrared Exoplanet Large-survey.

Diurnal variations in the stratosphere of an ultrahot exoplanet

The temperature profile of a planetary atmosphere is a key diagnostic of radiative and dynamical processes governing the absorption, redistribution, and emission of energy. Observations have revealed dayside stratospheres that either cool [1,2] or warm [3,4] with altitude for a small number of gas giant exoplanets, while others are consistent with constant temperatures [5,6,7,8]. Here we report spectroscopic phase curve measurements for the gas giant WASP-121b,[9] which constrain stratospheric temperatures throughout the diurnal cycle. Variations measured for a water vapor spectral feature reveal a temperature profile that transitions from warming with altitude on the dayside hemisphere to cooling with altitude on the nightside hemisphere. The data are well explained by models assuming chemical equilibrium, with water molecules thermally dissociating at low pressures on the dayside and recombining on the nightside [10,11]. Nightside temperatures are low enough for perovskite (CaTiO3) to condense, which could deplete titanium from the gas phase [12,13] and explain recent non-detections at the day-night terminator [14,15,16,17]. Nightside temperatures are also low enough for refractory species, such as magnesium, iron, and vanadium, to condense. Detections [16,17,18,19] of these metals at the day-night terminator suggest, however, that if they do form nightside clouds, cold trapping is not as effective at removing them from the upper atmosphere. Note: Numbered references have been entered into the "Manuscript Comment" box.

Python app for drawing Bode diagram asymptotes of transfer function for minimum and non-minimal phase systems

The purpose of this article is to introduce an application to draw the asymptotes of Bode diagram module and phase from each constituent elementary factors of any transfer function for minimum and non-minimal phase systems without transport delay. The Bode diagram is the most used tool in the frequency response method. Python was used to program the application to perform the operations as well as the Qt5 Design for the simple graphical interface for the application and all this in the Linux operating system. The application purpose is to assist students in learning the concept and drawing of Bode diagram. For students the non-minimum phase system Bode diagram is more difficult to draw than a minimum phase system due to the presence of zeros and/or poles on right half of s-plane. The phase asymptotes of a quadratic factor was closest to the real phase curve around the corresponding undamped natural frequency and this can be observed in the example showed in this article. This example must be used as a help and not a simply to solve a problem.

TOI-2109: An Ultrahot Gas Giant on a 16 hr Orbit

We report the discovery of an ultrahot Jupiter with an extremely short orbital period of 0.67247414 ± 0.00000028 days (∼16 hr). The 1.347 ± 0.047 R Jup planet, initially identified by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) mission, orbits TOI-2109 (TIC 392476080)—a T eff ∼ 6500 K F-type star with a mass of 1.447 ± 0.077 M ☉, a radius of 1.698 ± 0.060 R ☉, and a rotational velocity of v sin i * = 81.9 ± 1.7 km s−1. The planetary nature of TOI-2109b was confirmed through radial-velocity measurements, which yielded a planet mass of 5.02 ± 0.75 M Jup. Analysis of the Doppler shadow in spectroscopic transit observations indicates a well-aligned system, with a sky-projected obliquity of λ = 1.°7 ± 1.°7. From the TESS full-orbit light curve, we measured a secondary eclipse depth of 731 ± 46 ppm, as well as phase-curve variations from the planet’s longitudinal brightness modulation and ellipsoidal distortion of the host star. Combining the TESS-band occultation measurement with a K s -band secondary eclipse depth (2012 ± 80 ppm) derived from ground-based observations, we find that the dayside emission of TOI-2109b is consistent with a brightness temperature of 3631 ± 69 K, making it the second hottest exoplanet hitherto discovered. By virtue of its extreme irradiation and strong planet–star gravitational interaction, TOI-2109b is an exceptionally promising target for intensive follow-up studies using current and near-future telescope facilities to probe for orbital decay, detect tidally driven atmospheric escape, and assess the impacts of H2 dissociation and recombination on the global heat transport.

Atmospheric characterization of hot Jupiters using hierarchical models of Spitzer observations

The field of exoplanet atmospheric characterization is trending towards comparative studies involving many planetary systems, and using Bayesian hierarchical modelling is a natural next step. Here we demonstrate two use cases. We first use hierarchical modelling to quantify variability in repeated observations by reanalyzing a suite of ten Spitzer secondary eclipse observations of the hot Jupiter XO-3b. We compare three models: one where we fit ten separate eclipse depths, one where we use a single eclipse depth for all ten observations, and a hierarchical model. By comparing the Widely Applicable Information Criterion of each model, we show that the hierarchical model is preferred over the others. The hierarchical model yields less scatter across the suite of eclipse depths—and higher precision on the individual eclipse depths—than does fitting the observations separately. We find that the hierarchical eclipse depth uncertainty is larger than the uncertainties on the individual eclipse depths, which suggests either slight astrophysical variability or that single eclipse observations underestimate the true eclipse depth uncertainty. Finally, we fit a suite of published dayside brightness measurements for 37 planets using a hierarchical model of brightness temperature versus irradiation temperature. The hierarchical model gives tighter constraints on the individual brightness temperatures than the non-hierarchical model. Although we tested hierarchical modelling on Spitzer eclipse data of hot Jupiters, it is applicable to observations of smaller planets like hot neptunes and super earths, as well as for photometric and spectroscopic transit or phase curve observations.

A Ku-Band Foldable Reflectarray Based on a Maltese-Cross Microstrip Element

Introduction. Reflectarrays have a number of design and functional advantages over their closest analogue - reflector antennas (RA). Although microstrip elements are the most preferred reflectarray elements, single-layer microstrip elements do not allow accurate phase control due to the limited phase adjustment range and a high phase slope. The use of multilayer elements significantly complicates the antenna design and increases its cost. The development of a single-layer element that allows more than 360° phase adjustment and a low phase curve slope is urgent.Aim. To develop a single-layer microstrip phase-correcting element with a phase adjustment range of more than 360° and to design a reflectarray on its basis for operation in satellite communication networks.Materials and methods. Numerical studies were carried out using finite element analysis and the finite-difference time-domain method. Radiation patterns were measured using the near-field scanning method in an anechoic chamber.Results. A phase-correcting element based on a single-layer Maltese cross-shaped microstrip element with close to linear dependence of element size on the phase of the reradiated wave and more than 360° phase adjustment range was developed. On the basis of the investigated element, a foldable reflectarray was designed. The reflector consists of four subarrays, which provide its compact folding for transportation. The results of experimental studies confirmed a high efficiency of the reflectarray, the gain of which is 1.5 dB lower than that of an identical overall dimensions RA in a 7 % operating frequency band. The operating frequency band of the reflectarray in 1 dB gain zone was 11 %.Conclusion. On the basis of a Maltese cross microstrip element, it is possible to implement a single-layer reflectarray with a more than 10 % frequency band. The developed prototype showed the possibility of creating highly efficient foldable reflectarrays for operation in satellite communication and television terminals.