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Register a new userRuling out the orbital decay of the WASP-43b
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We present 15 new transit observations of the exoplanet WASP-43b in the $i$,$g$, and $R$ filters with the 1.0-m telescopes of Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope (LCOGT) Network and the IAC80 telescope. We combine our 15 new light curves with 52 others from literature, to analyze homogeneously all the available transit light curves of this exoplanet. By extending the time span of the monitoring of the transits to more than $5~yr$, and by analyzing the individual mid-times of 72 transits, we study the proposed shortening of the orbital period of WASP-43b. We estimate that the times of transit are well-matched by our updated ephemeris equation, using a constant orbital period. We estimate an orbital period change rate no larger than $dot{P}=-0.02 pm 6.6~ms~yr^{-1}$, which is fully consistent with a constant period. Based on the timing analysis, we discard stellar tidal dissipation factors $Q_{*}<10^{5}$. In addition, with the modelling of the transits we update the system parameters: $a/Rs=4.867(23)$, $i=82.11(10)^{circ}$ and $R_p/R_s=0.15942(41)$, noticing a difference in the relative size of the planet between optical and NIR bands.
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Motivated by the previously reported high orbital decay rate of the planet WASP-43b, eight newly transit light curves are obtained and presented. Together with other data in literature, we perform a self-consistent timing analysis with data covering a timescale of 1849 epochs. The results give an orbital decay rate dP/dt = -0.02890795pm 0.00772547 sec/year, which is one order smaller than previous values. This slow decay rate corresponds to a normally assumed theoretical value of stellar tidal dissipation factor. In addition, through the frequency analysis, the transit timing variations presented here are unlikely to be periodic, but could be signals of a slow orbital decay.
We have conducted a re-analysis of publicly available Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field Camera 3 (HST WFC3) transmission data for the hot-Jupiter exoplanet WASP-43b, using the Bayesian retrieval package Tau-REx. We report evidence of AlO in transmission to a high level of statistical significance (> 5-sigma in comparison to a flat model, and 3.4-sigma in comparison to a model with H2O only). We find no evidence of the presence of CO, CO2, or CH4 based on the available HST WFC3 data or on Spitzer IRAC data. We demonstrate that AlO is the molecule that fits the data to the highest level of confidence out of all molecules for which high-temperature opacity data currently exists in the infrared region covered by the HST WFC3 instrument, and that the subsequent inclusion of Spitzer IRAC data points in our retrieval further supports the presence of AlO. H2O is the only other molecule we find to be statistically significant in this region. AlO is not expected from the equilibrium chemistry at the temperatures and pressures of the atmospheric layer that is being probed by the observed data. Its presence therefore implies direct evidence of some disequilibrium processes with links to atmospheric dynamics. Implications for future study using instruments such as the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) are discussed, along with future opacity needs. Comparisons are made with previous studies into WASP-43b.
Thermal phase variations of short period planets indicate that they are not spherical cows: day-to-night temperature contrasts range from hundreds to thousands of degrees, rivaling their vertical temperature contrasts. Nonetheless, the emergent spectra of short-period planets have typically been fit using one-dimensional (1D) spectral retrieval codes that only account for vertical temperature gradients. The popularity of 1D spectral retrieval codes is easy to understand: they are robust and have a rich legacy in Solar System atmospheric studies. Exoplanet researchers have recently introduced multi-dimensional retrieval schemes for interpreting the spectra of short-period planets, but these codes are necessarily more complex and computationally expensive than their 1D counterparts. In this paper we present an alternative: phase-dependent spectral observations are inverted to produce longitudinally resolved spectra that can then be fitted using standard 1D spectral retrieval codes. We test this scheme on the iconic phase-resolved spectra of WASP-43b and on simulated JWST observations using the open-source pyratbay 1D spectral retrieval framework. Notably, we take the model complexity of the simulations one step further over previous studies by allowing for longitudinal variations in composition in addition to temperature. We show that performing 1D spectral retrieval on longitudinally resolved spectra is more accurate than applying 1D spectral retrieval codes to disk-integrated emission spectra, despite being identical in terms of computational load. We find that for the extant Hubble and Spitzer observations of WASP-43b the difference between the two approaches is negligible but that JWST phase measurements should be treated with longitudinally textbf{re}solved textbf{spect}ral retrieval (ReSpect).
The large day--night temperature contrast of WASP-43b has so far eluded explanation. We revisit the energy budget of this planet by considering the impact of reflected light on dayside measurements, and the physicality of implied nightside temperatures. Previous analyses of the infrared eclipses of WASP-43b have assumed reflected light from the planet is negligible and can be ignored. We develop a phenomenological eclipse model including reflected light, thermal emission, and water absorption, and use it to fit published Hubble and Spitzer eclipse data. We infer a near-infrared geometric albedo of 27$pm1%$ and a cooler dayside temperature of $1527 pm 10~$K. Additionally, we perform lightcurve inversion on the three published orbital phase curves of WASP-43b and find that each requires unphysical, negative flux on the nightside. By requiring non-negative brightnesses at all longitudes, we correct the unphysical parts of the maps and obtain a much hotter nightside effective temperature of $1076 pm 11~$K. The cooler dayside and hotter nightside suggests a heat recirculation efficiency of $47%$ for WASP-43b, essentially the same as for HD 209458b, another hot Jupiter with nearly the same temperature. Our analysis therefore reaffirms the trend that planets with lower irradiation temperatures have more efficient day-night heat transport. Moreover, we note that 1) reflected light may be significant for many near-IR eclipse measurements of hot Jupiters, and 2) phase curves should be fit with physically possible longitudinal brightness profiles --- it is insufficient to only require that the disk-integrated lightcurve be non-negative.
Three optical telescopes located at the San Pedro Martir National Observatory were used for the first time to obtain multi-filter defocused photometry of the transiting extrasolar planets WASP-39b and WASP-43b. We observed WASP-39b with the 2.12m telescope in the U filter for the first time, and additional observations were carried out in the R and I filters using the 0.84m telescope. WASP-43b was observed in VRI with the same instrument, and in the i filter with the robotic 1.50m telescope. We reduced the data using different pipelines and performed aperture photometry with the help of custom routines, in order to obtain the light curves. The fit of the light curves (1.5--2.5mmag rms), and of the period analysis, allowed a revision of the orbital and physical parameters, revealing for WASP-39b a period ($4.0552947 pm 9.65 times 10^{-7}$ days) which is $3.084 pm 0.774$ seconds larger than previously reported. Moreover, we find for WASP-43b a planet/star radius ($0.1738 pm 0.0033$) which is $0.01637 pm 0.00371$ larger in the i filter with respect to previous works, and that should be confirmed with additional observations. Finally, we confirm no evidence of constant period variations in WASP-43b.
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