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Register a new userA Search for Methane in the Atmosphere of GJ 1214b via GTC Narrow-Band Transmission Spectrophotometry
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Paul Anthony Wilson
Publication date
2013
fields
Physics
and research's language is
English
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We present narrow-band photometric measurements of the exoplanet GJ 1214b using the 10.4 m Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC) and the OSIRIS instrument. Using tuneable filters we observed a total of five transits, three of which were observed at two wavelengths nearly simultaneously, producing a total of eight individual light curves, six of these probed the possible existence of a methane absorption feature in the 8770 - 8850 {AA} region at high resolution. We detect no increase in the planet-to-star radius ratio across the methane feature with a change in radius ratio of $Delta$R = -0.0007 $pm$ 0.0017 corresponding to a scale height (H) change of -0.5 $pm$ 1.2 H across the methane feature, assuming a hydrogen dominated atmosphere. We find a variety of water and cloudy atmospheric models fit the data well, but find that cloud-free models provide poor fits. These observations support a flat transmission spectrum resulting from the presence of a high-altitude haze or a water-rich atmosphere, in agreement with previous studies. In this study the observations are predominantly limited by the photometric quality and the limited number of data points (resulting from a long observing cadence), which make the determination of the systematic noise challenging. With tuneable filters capable of high resolution measurements (R ~ 600 - 750) of narrow absorption features, the interpretation of our results are also limited by the absence of high resolution methane models below 1 $mu$m.
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The super-earth planet GJ 1214b has recently been the focus of several studies, using the transit spectroscopy technique, trying to determine the nature of its atmosphere. Here we focus on the Halpha line as a tool to further restrict the nature of GJ1214s atmosphere. We used the Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC) OSIRIS instrument to acquire narrow band photometry with tunable filters. With our observations, we were able to observe the primary transit of the super-Earth GJ 1214b in three bandpasses: two centered in the continuum around Halpha (653.5 nm and 662.0 nm) and one centered at the line core (656.3 nm). We measure the depth of the planetary transit at each wavelength interval.By fitting analytic models to the measured light curves we were able to compute the depth of the transit at the three bandpasses. Taking the difference in the computed planet to star radius ratio between the line and the comparison continuum filters, we find Delta (Rp/Rstar)_{Halpha-653.5} = (6.60 +/- 3.54) 10^-3 and Delta (Rp/Rstar)_{Halpha-662.0} = (3.30 +/- 3.61) 10^-3. Although the planet radius is found to be larger in the Halpha line than in the surrounding continuum, the quality of our observations and the sigma level of the differences (1.8 and 1.0, respectively) does not allow us to claim an Halpha excess in GJ1214s atmosphere. Further observations will be needed to resolve this issue.
Recent observations of the super-Earth GJ 1214b show that it has a relatively featureless transmission spectrum. One suggestion is that these observations indicate that the planets atmosphere is vertically compact, perhaps due to a water-rich composition that yields a large mean molecular weight. Another suggestion is that the atmosphere is hydrogen/helium-rich with clouds that obscure predicted absorption features. Previous models that incorporate clouds have included their effect without a strong physical motivation for their existence. Here, we present model atmospheres of GJ 1214b that include physically-motivated clouds of two types. We model the clouds that form as a result of condensation in chemical equilibrium, as they likely do on brown dwarfs, which include KCl and ZnS for this planet. We also include clouds that form as a result of photochemistry, forming a hydrocarbon haze layer. We use a photochemical kinetics model to understand the vertical distribution and available mass of haze-forming molecules. We model both solar and enhanced-metallicity cloudy models and determine the cloud properties necessary to match observations. In enhanced-metallicity atmospheres, we find that the equilibrium clouds can match the observations of GJ 1214b if they are lofted high into the atmosphere and have a low sedimentation efficiency (fsed=0.1). We find that models with a variety of hydrocarbon haze properties can match the observations. Particle sizes from 0.01 to 0.25 micron can match the transmission spectrum with haze-forming efficiencies as low as 1-5%.
Most exoplanets detected by direct imaging so far have been characterized by relatively hot (> ~1000 K) and cloudy atmospheres. A surprising feature in some of their atmospheres has been a distinct lack of methane, possibly implying non-equilibrium chemistry. Recently, we reported the discovery of a planetary companion to the Sun-like star GJ 504 using Subaru/HiCIAO within the SEEDS survey. The planet is substantially colder (<600 K) than previously imaged planets, and has indications of fewer clouds, which implies that it represents a new class of planetary atmospheres with expected similarities to late T-type brown dwarfs in the same temperature range. If so, one might also expect the presence of significant methane absorption, which is characteristic of such objects. Here, we report the detection of deep methane absorption in the atmosphere of GJ 504 b, using the Spectral Differential Imaging mode of HiCIAO to distinguish the absorption feature around 1.6 um. We also report updated JHK photometry based on new Ks-band data and a re-analysis of the existing data. The results support the notion that GJ 504 b has atmospheric properties distinct from other imaged exoplanets, and will become a useful reference object for future planets in the same temperature range.
GJ 1214 is orbited by a transiting super-Earth-mass planet. It is a primary target for ongoing efforts to understand the emerging population of super-Earth-mass planets around M dwarfs. We present new precision astrometric measurements, a re-analysis of HARPS radial velocity measurements, and medium-resolution infrared spectroscopy of GJ 1214. We combine these measurements with recent transit follow-up observations and new catalog photometry to provide a comprehensive update of the star-planet properties. The distance is obtained with 0.6% relative uncertainty using CAPScam astrometry. The new value increases the nominal distance to the star by ~10% and is significantly more precise than previous measurements. Updated Doppler measurements combined with published transit observations significantly refine the constraints on the orbital solution. The analysis of the infrared spectrum and photometry confirm that the star is enriched in metals compared to the Sun. Using all this information, combined with empirical mass-luminosity relations for low mass stars, we derive updated values for the bulk properties of the star-planet system. We also use infrared absolute fluxes to estimate the stellar radius and to re-derive the star-planet properties. Both approaches provide very consistent values for the system. Our analysis shows indicates that the favoured mean density of GJ 1214b is 1.6 +/-0.6 g cm^{-3}. We illustrate how fundamental properties of M dwarfs are of paramount importance in the proper characterization of the low mass planetary candidates orbiting them. Given that the distance is now known to better than 1%, interferometric measurements of the stellar radius, additional high precision Doppler observations, and/or or detection of the secondary transit (occultation), are necessary to further improve the constraints on the GJ 1214 star-planet properties.
Some of the exoplanets so far observed show featureless or flat transmission spectra, possibly indicating the existence of clouds and/or haze in their atmospheres. Thanks to its large aperture size and broad wavelength coverage, JWST is expected to enable detailed investigation of exoplanet atmospheres, which could provide important constraints on the atmospheric composition obscured by clouds/haze. Here, we use four warm ($lesssim 1000$ K) planets suitable for atmospheric characterization via transmission spectroscopy, GJ 1214b, GJ 436b, HD 97658b, and Kepler-51b, as examples to explore molecular absorption features detectable by JWST even in the existence of hydrocarbon haze in the atmospheres. We simulate photochemistry, the growth of hydrocarbon haze particles, and transmission spectra for the atmospheres of these four planets. Among the planetary parameters considered, super-Earths with hazy, relatively hydrogen-rich atmospheres are mostly expected to produce detectable molecular absorption features such as a quite prominent $mathrm{CH_4}$ feature at 3.3 ${rm mu}$m even for the extreme case of the most efficient production of photochemical haze. For a planet that has extremely low gravity, such as Kepler-51b, haze particles grow significantly large in the upper atmosphere due to the small sedimentation velocity, resulting in the featureless or flat transmission spectrum in a wide wavelength range. This investigation shows that the transmission spectra with muted features measured by HST in most cases do not preclude strong features at the longer wavelengths accessible by JWST.
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