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Ahrer, E. M., Alderson, L., Batalha, N. M., Batalha, N. E., Bean, J. L., Beatty, T. G., et al. (2023). Identification of carbon dioxide in an exoplanet atmosphere. Nature, Early Access.
Abstract: Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a key chemical species that is found in a wide range of planetary atmospheres. In the context of exoplanets, CO2 is an indicator of the metal enrichment (that is, elements heavier than helium, also called 'metallicity')(1-3), and thus the formation processes of the primary atmospheres of hot gas giants(4-6). It is also one of the most promising species to detect in the secondary atmospheres of terrestrial exoplanets(7-9). Previous photometric measurements of transiting planets with the Spitzer Space Telescope have given hints of the presence of CO2, but have not yielded definitive detections owing to the lack of unambiguous spectroscopic identification(10-12). Here we present the detection of CO2 in the atmosphere of the gas giant exoplanet WASP-39b from transmission spectroscopy observations obtained with JWST as part of the Early Release Science programme(13,14). The data used in this study span 3.0-5.5micrometres in wavelength and show a prominent CO2 absorption feature at 4.3micrometres (26-sigma significance). The overall spectrum is well matched by one-dimensional, ten-times solar metallicity models that assume radiative-convective-thermochemical equilibrium and have moderate cloud opacity. These models predict that the atmosphere should have water, carbon monoxide and hydrogen sulfide in addition to CO2, but little methane. Furthermore, we also tentatively detect a small absorption feature near 4.0micrometres that is not reproduced by these models.
Keywords: GIANT PLANETS; BROWN DWARFS; LINE LISTS; H2O; SKY
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Carmichael, T. W., Quinn, S. N., Mustill, A. J., Huang, C., Zhou, G., Persson, C. M., et al. (2020). Two Intermediate-mass Transiting Brown Dwarfs from the TESS Mission. Astron. J., 160(1), 15 pp.
Abstract: We report the discovery of two intermediate-mass transiting brown dwarfs (BDs), TOI-569b and TOI-1406b, from NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite mission. TOI-569b has an orbital period of P = 6.55604 0.00016 days, a mass of M-b = 64.1 1.9 , and a radius of R-b = 0.75 0.02 . Its host star, TOI-569, has a mass of M-star = 1.21 0.05, a radius of R-star = 1.47 0.03 dex, and an effective temperature of T-eff = 5768 110 K. TOI-1406b has an orbital period of P = 10.57415 0.00063 days, a mass of M-b = 46.0 2.7 , and a radius of R-b = 0.86 0.03 . The host star for this BD has a mass of M-star = 1.18 0.09 a radius of R-star = 1.35 0.03 dex, and an effective temperature of T-eff = 6290 100 K. Both BDs are in circular orbits around their host stars and are older than 3 Gyr based on stellar isochrone models of the stars. TOI-569 is one of two slightly evolved stars known to host a transiting BD (the other being KOI-415). TOI-1406b is one of three known transiting BDs to occupy the mass range of 40-50 and one of two to have a circular orbit at a period near 10 days (with the first being KOI-205b). Both BDs have reliable ages from stellar isochrones, in addition to their well-constrained masses and radii, making them particularly valuable as tests for substellar isochrones in the BD mass-radius diagram.
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Dong, J. Y., Huang, C. X., Dawson, R. I., Foreman-Mackey, D., Collins, K. A., Quinn, S. N., et al. (2021). Warm Jupiters in TESS Full-frame Images: A Catalog and Observed Eccentricity Distribution for Year 1. Astrophys. J. Suppl. Ser., 255(1), 6.
Abstract: Warm Jupiters-defined here as planets larger than 6 Earth radii with orbital periods of 8-200 days-are a key missing piece in our understanding of how planetary systems form and evolve. It is currently debated whether Warm Jupiters form in situ, undergo disk or high-eccentricity tidal migration, or have a mixture of origin channels. These different classes of origin channels lead to different expectations for Warm Jupiters' properties, which are currently difficult to evaluate due to the small sample size. We take advantage of the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) survey and systematically search for Warm Jupiter candidates around main-sequence host stars brighter than the TESS-band magnitude of 12 in the full-frame images in Year 1 of the TESS Prime Mission data. We introduce a catalog of 55 Warm Jupiter candidates, including 19 candidates that were not originally released as TESS objects of interest by the TESS team. We fit their TESS light curves, characterize their eccentricities and transit-timing variations, and prioritize a list for ground-based follow-up and TESS Extended Mission observations. Using hierarchical Bayesian modeling, we find the preliminary eccentricity distributions of our Warm-Jupiter-candidate catalog using a beta distribution, a Rayleigh distribution, and a two-component Gaussian distribution as the functional forms of the eccentricity distribution. Additional follow-up observations will be required to clean the sample of false positives for a full statistical study, derive the orbital solutions to break the eccentricity degeneracy, and provide mass measurements.
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Grieves, N., Bouchy, F., Lendl, M., Carmichael, T., Mireles, I., Shporer, A., et al. (2021). Populating the brown dwarf and stellar boundary: Five stars with transiting companions near the hydrogen-burning mass limit. Astron. Astrophys., 652.
Abstract: We report the discovery of five transiting companions near the hydrogen-burning mass limit in close orbits around main sequence stars originally identified by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) as TESS objects of interest (TOIs): TOI-148, TOI-587, TOI-681, TOI-746, and TOI-1213. Using TESS and ground-based photometry as well as radial velocities from the CORALIE, CHIRON, TRES, and FEROS spectrographs, we found the companions have orbital periods between 4.8 and 27.2 days, masses between 77 and 98 M-Jup , and radii between 0.81 and 1.66 R-Jup . These targets have masses near the uncertain lower limit of hydrogen core fusion (similar to 73-96 M-Jup ), which separates brown dwarfs and low-mass stars. We constrained young ages for TOI-587 (0.2 +/- 0.1 Gyr) and TOI-681 (0.17 +/- 0.03 Gyr) and found them to have relatively larger radii compared to other transiting companions of a similar mass. Conversely we estimated older ages for TOI-148 and TOI-746 and found them to have relatively smaller companion radii. With an effective temperature of 9800 +/- 200 K, TOI-587 is the hottest known main-sequence star to host a transiting brown dwarf or very low-mass star. We found evidence of spin-orbit synchronization for TOI-148 and TOI-746 as well as tidal circularization for TOI-148. These companions add to the population of brown dwarfs and very low-mass stars with well measured parameters ideal to test formation models of these rare objects, the origin of the brown dwarf desert, and the distinction between brown dwarfs and hydrogen-burning main sequence stars.
Keywords: brown dwarfs; stars; low-mass; binaries: eclipsing
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Psaridi, A., Bouchy, F., Lendl, M., Grieves, N., Stassun, K. G., Carmichael, T., et al. (2022). Three new brown dwarfs and a massive hot Jupiter revealed by TESS around early-type stars. Astron. Astrophys., 664, A94.
Abstract: ontext. The detection and characterization of exoplanets and brown dwarfs around massive AF-type stars is essential to investigate and constrain the impact of stellar mass on planet properties. However, such targets are still poorly explored in radial velocity (RV) surveys because they only feature a small number of stellar lines and those are usually broadened and blended by stellar rotation as well as stellar jitter. As a result, the available information about the formation and evolution of planets and brown dwarfs around hot stars is limited.
Aims. We aim to increase the sample and precisely measure the masses and eccentricities of giant planets and brown dwarfs transiting early-type stars detected by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). Methods. We followed bright (V < 12 mag) stars with T-eff > 6200 K that host giant companions (R > 7R(circle plus)) using ground-based photometric observations as well as high precision radial velocity measurements from the CORALIE, CHIRON, TRES, FEROS, and MINERVA-Australis spectrographs. Results. In the context of the search for exoplanets and brown dwarfs around early-type stars, we present the discovery of three brown dwarf companions, TOI-629b, TOI-1982b, and TOI-2543b, and one massive planet, TOI-1107b. From the joint analysis of TESS and ground-based photometry in combination with high precision radial velocity measurements, we find the brown dwarfs have masses between 66 and 68 M-Jup, periods between 7.54 and 17.17 days, and radii between 0.95 and 1.11 R-Jup. The hot Jupiter TOI-1107b has an orbital period of 4.08 days, a radius of 1.30 R-Jup, and a mass of 3.35 M-Jup. As a by-product of this program, we identified four low-mass eclipsing components (TOI-288b, TOI-446b, TOI-478b, and TOI-764b). Conclusions. Both TOI-1107b and TOI-1982b present an anomalously inflated radius with respect to the age of these systems. TOI-629 is among the hottest stars with a known transiting brown dwarf. TOI-629b and T01-1982b are among the most eccentric brown dwarfs. The massive planet and the three brown dwarfs add to the growing population of well-characterized giant planets and brown dwarfs transiting AF-type stars and they reduce the apparent paucity. |
Singla, M., Chakrabarty, A., & Sengupta, S. (2023). Effect of Multiple Scattering on the Transmission Spectra and the Polarization Phase Curves for Earth-like Exoplanets. Astrophys. J., 944(2), 155.
Abstract: It is the most appropriate time to characterize the Earth-like exoplanets in order to detect biosignature beyond the Earth because such exoplanets will be the prime targets of big-budget missions like JWST, Roman Space Telescope, HabEx, LUVOIR, Thirty Meter Telescope, Extremely Large Telescope, etc. We provide models for the transmission spectra of Earth-like exoplanets by incorporating the effects of multiple scattering. For this purpose we numerically solve the full multiple-scattering radiative transfer equations instead of using Beer-Bouguer-Lambert's law, which does not include the diffuse radiation due to scattering. Our models demonstrate that the effect of this diffuse transmission radiation can be observationally significant, especially in the presence of clouds. We also calculate the reflection spectra and polarization phase curves of Earth-like exoplanets by considering both cloud-free and cloudy atmospheres. We solve the 3D vector radiative transfer equations numerically and calculate the phase curves of albedo and disk-integrated polarization by using appropriate scattering phase matrices and integrating the local Stokes vectors over the illuminated part of the disks along the line of sight. We present the effects of the globally averaged surface albedo on the reflection spectra and phase curves as the surface features of such planets are known to significantly dictate the nature of these observational quantities. Synergic observations of the spectra and phase curves will certainly prove to be useful in extracting more information and reducing the degeneracy among the estimated parameters of terrestrial exoplanets. Thus, our models will play a pivotal role in driving future observations.
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