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The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) recently observed 18 transits of the hot Jupiter WASP-4b. The sequence of transits occurred 81.6 $pm$ 11.7 seconds earlier than had been predicted, based on data stretching back to 2007. This is unlikely to be the result of a clock error, because TESS observations of other hot Jupiters (WASP-6b, 18b, and 46b) are compatible with a constant period, ruling out an 81.6-second offset at the 6.4$sigma$ level. The 1.3-day orbital period of WASP-4b appears to be decreasing at a rate of $dot{P} = -12.6 pm 1.2$ milliseconds per year. The apparent period change might be caused by tidal orbital decay or apsidal precession, although both interpretations have shortcomings. The gravitational influence of a third body is another possibility, though at present there is minimal evidence for such a body. Further observations are needed to confirm and understand the timing variation.
We present 2,241 exoplanet candidates identified with data from the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) during its two-year prime mission. We list these candidates in the TESS Objects of Interest (TOI) Catalog, which includes both new planet candidates found by TESS and previously-known planets recovered by TESS observations. We describe the process used to identify TOIs and investigate the characteristics of the new planet candidates, and discuss some notable TESS planet discoveries. The TOI Catalog includes an unprecedented number of small planet candidates around nearby bright stars, which are well-suited for detailed follow-up observations. The TESS data products for the Prime Mission (Sectors 1-26), including the TOI Catalog, light curves, full-frame images, and target pixel files, are publicly available on the Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes.
We set out to look at the overlap between CHEOPS sky coverage and TESS primary mission monotransits to determine what fraction of TESS monotransits may be observed by CHEOPS. We carry out a simulation of TESS transits based on the stellar population in TICv8 in the primary TESS mission. We then select the monotransiting candidates and determine their CHEOPS observing potential. We find that TESS will discover approximately 433 monotransits during its primary mission. Using a baseline observing efficiency of 40% we then find that 387 of these ($sim$89%) will be observable by CHEOPS with an average observing time of $sim$60 days per year. Based on the individual observing times and orbital periods of each system we predict that CHEOPS could observe additional transits for approximately 302 of the 433 TESS primary mission monotransits ($sim$70%). Given that CHEOPS will require some estimate of period before observing a target we estimate that up to 250 ($sim$58%) TESS primary mission monotransits could have solved periods prior to CHEOPS observations using a combination of photometry and spectroscopy.
Secondary eclipses are a powerful tool to measure directly the thermal emission from extrasolar planets, and to constrain their type and physical parameters. We started a project to obtain reliable broad-band measurements of the thermal emission of transiting exoplanets. Ground-based high-cadence near-infrared relative photometry was used to obtain sub-millimagnitude precision light curve of a secondary eclipse of WASP-4b -- a 1.12 M_J hot Jupiter on a 1.34 day orbit around G7V star. The data show a clear ~10-sigma detection of the planets thermal emission at 2.2 mu m. The calculated thermal emission corresponds to a fractional eclipse depth of 0.185^{+0.014}_{-0.013}%, with a related brightness temperature in Ks of T_B = 1995 pm 40 K, centered at T_C = 2455102.61162^{+0.00071}_{-0.00077} HJD. We could set a limit on the eccentricity of e cos omega=0.0027 pm 0.0018, compatible with a near-circular orbit. The calculated brightness temperature, as well as the specific models suggest a highly inefficient redistribution of heat from the day-side to the night-side of the planet, and a consequent emission mainly from the day-side. The high-cadence ground-based technique is capable of detecting the faint signal of the secondary eclipse of extrasolar planets, making it a valuable complement to space-based mid-IR observations.
We present photometry of the giant extrasolar planet WASP-4b at 3.6 and 4.5 micron taken with the Infrared Array Camera on board the Spitzer Space Telescope as part of Spitzers extended warm mission. We find secondary eclipse depths of 0.319+/-0.031% and 0.343+/-0.027% for the 3.6 and 4.5 micron bands, respectively and show model emission spectra and pressure-temperature profiles for the planetary atmosphere. These eclipse depths are well fit by model emission spectra with water and other molecules in absorption, similar to those used for TrES-3 and HD 189733b. Depending on our choice of model, these results indicate that this planet has either a weak dayside temperature inversion or no inversion at all. The absence of a strong thermal inversion on this highly irradiated planet is contrary to the idea that highly irradiated planets are expected to have
We report twelve new transit observations of the exoplanet WASP-4b from the Transit Monitoring in the South Project (TraMoS) project. These transits are combined with all previously published transit data for this planet to provide an improved radius measurement of Rp = 1.395 +- 0.022 Rjup and improved transit ephemerides. In a new homogeneous analysis in search for Transit Timing Variations (TTVs) we find no evidence of those with RMS amplitudes larger than 20 seconds over a 4-year time span. This lack of TTVs rules out the presence of additional planets in the system with masses larger than about 2.5 M_earth, 2.0 M_earth, and 1.0 M_earth around the 1:2, 5:3 and 2:1 orbital resonances. Our search for the variation of other parameters, such as orbital inclination and transit depth also yields negative results over the total time span of the transit observations. Finally we perform a simple study of stellar spots configurations of the system and conclude that the star rotational period is about 34 days.