Carone, L., Molliere, P., Zhou, Y. F., Bouwman, J., Yan, F., Baeyens, R., et al. (2021). Indications for very high metallicity and absence of methane in the eccentric exo-Saturn WASP-117b. Astron. Astrophys., 646, A168.
Abstract: Aims. We investigate the atmospheric composition of the long-period (P-orb = 10 days) eccentric exo-Saturn WASP-117b. WASP-117b could be similar in atmospheric temperature and chemistry to WASP-107b. In mass and radius, WASP-117b is similar to WASP-39b, which allows a comparative study of these planets.Methods. We analyzed a near-infrared transmission spectrum of WASP-117b taken with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) WFC3 G141, which was reduced with two independent pipelines. High-resolution measurements were taken with VLT/ESPRESSO in the optical.Results. We report the robust (3 sigma) detection of a water spectral feature. In a 1D atmosphere model with isothermal temperature, uniform cloud deck, and equilibrium chemistry, the Bayesian evidence of a retrieval analysis of the transmission spectrum indicates a preference for a high atmospheric metallicity
[Fe/H] = 2.58(-0.37)(+0.26)
[Fe/H]=2.58-0.37+0.26 and clear skies. The data are also consistent with a lower metallicity composition [Fe/H] < 1.75 and a cloud deck between 10(-2.2) and 10(-5.1) bar, but with weaker Bayesian preference. We retrieve a low CH4 abundance of <10(-4) volume fraction within 1 sigma and <2 x 10(-1) volume fraction within 3<sigma>. We cannot constrain the equilibrium temperature between theoretically imposed limits of 700 and 1000 K. Further observations are needed to confirm quenching of CH4 with K-zz >= 10(8) cm(2) s(-1). We report indications of Na and K in the VLT/ESPRESSO high-resolution spectrum with substantial Bayesian evidence in combination with HST data.
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Sedaghati, E., Sanchez-Lopez, A., Czesla, S., Lopez-Puertas, M., Amado, P. J., Palle, E., et al. (2022). Moderately misaligned orbit of the warm sub-Saturn HD 332231 b. Astron. Astrophys., 659, A44.
Abstract: Measurements of exoplanetary orbital obliquity angles for different classes of planets are an essential tool in testing various planet formation theories. Measurements for those transiting planets on relatively large orbital periods (P > 10 d) present a rather difficult observational challenge. Here we present the obliquity measurement for the warm sub-Saturn planet HD 332231 b, which was discovered through Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite photometry of sectors 14 and 15, on a relatively large orbital period (18.7 d). Through a joint analysis of previously obtained spectroscopic data and our newly obtained CARMENES transit observations, we estimated the spin-orbit misalignment angle, lambda to be -42.0(-10.6)(+11.3) deg, which challenges Laplacian ideals of planet formation. Through the addition of these new radial velocity data points obtained with CARMENES, we also derived marginal improvements on other orbital and bulk parameters for the planet, as compared to previously published values. We showed the robustness of the obliquity measurement through model comparison with an aligned orbit. Finally, we demonstrated the inability of the obtained data to probe any possible extended atmosphere of the planet, due to a lack of precision, and place the atmosphere in the context of a parameter detection space.
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