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McGruder, C. D., Lopez-Morales, M., Kirk, J., Espinoza, N., Rackham, B. V., Alam, M. K., et al. (2022). ACCESS: Confirmation of a Clear Atmosphere for WASP-96b and a Comparison of Light Curve Detrending Techniques. Astron. J., 164(4), 134.
Abstract: One of the strongest Na I features was observed in WASP-96b. To confirm this novel detection, we provide a new 475-825 nm transmission spectrum obtained with Magellan/IMACS, which indeed confirms the presence of a broad sodium absorption feature. We find the same result when reanalyzing the 400-825 nm VLT/FORS2 data. We also utilize synthetic data to test the effectiveness of two common detrending techniques: (1) a Gaussian processes (GP) routine, and (2) common-mode correction followed by polynomial correction (CMC+Poly). We find that both methods poorly reproduce the absolute transit depths but maintain their true spectral shape. This emphasizes the importance of fitting for offsets when combining spectra from different sources or epochs. Additionally, we find that, for our data sets, both methods give consistent results, but CMC+Poly is more accurate and precise. We combine the Magellan/IMACS and VLT/FORS2 spectra with literature 800-1644 nm HST/ WFC3 spectra, yielding a global spectrum from 400 to 1644 nm. We used the PLATON and Exoretrievals retrieval codes to interpret this spectrum, and find that both yield relatively deeper pressures where the atmosphere is optically thick at log-pressures between 1.3(-1.1)(+1.0) and 0.29(-)(2.02)(+1.86) bars, respectively. Exoretrievals finds solar to supersolar Na I and H2O log-mixing ratios of -5.4(-1.9)(+2.0) and -4.5(-2.0)(+2.0), respectively, while PLATON finds an overall metallicity of log(10) (Z/Z(circle dot)) = -0.49(-0.37)(+1.0) dex. Therefore, our findings are in agreement with the literature and support the inference that the terminator of WASP-96b has few aerosols obscuring prominent features in the optical to near-infrared (near-IR) spectrum.
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Weaver, I. C., Lopez-Morales, M., Alam, M. K., Espinoza, N., Rackham, B. V., Goyal, J. M., et al. (2021). ACCESS: An Optical Transmission Spectrum of the High-gravity Hot Jupiter HAT-P-23b. Astron. J., 161(6), 278.
Abstract: We present a new ground-based visible transmission spectrum of the high-gravity, hot Jupiter HAT-P-23b, obtained as part of the ACCESS project. We derive the spectrum from five transits observed between 2016 and 2018, with combined wavelength coverage between 5200 angstrom and 9269 angstrom in 200 angstrom bins, and with a median precision of 247 ppm per bin. HAT-P-23b's relatively high surface gravity (g approximate to 30 m s(-2)), combined with updated stellar and planetary parameters from Gaia DR2, gives a five-scale-height signal of 384 ppm for a hydrogen-dominated atmosphere. Bayesian models favor a clear atmosphere for the planet with the tentative presence of TiO, after simultaneously modeling stellar contamination, using spots parameter constraints from photometry. If confirmed, HAT-P-23b would be the first example of a high-gravity gas giant with a clear atmosphere observed in transmission at optical/near-IR wavelengths; therefore, we recommend expanding observations to the UV and IR to confirm our results and further characterize this planet. This result demonstrates how combining transmission spectroscopy of exoplanet atmospheres with long-term photometric monitoring of the host stars can help disentangle the exoplanet and stellar activity signals.
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