Subscribe to the gold package and get unlimited access to Shamra Academy
Register a new userA new upper limit on the reflected starlight from Tau Bootis b
112
0
0.0
(
0
)
Ask ChatGPT about the research
No Arabic abstract
Using improved doppler tomographic signal-analysis techniques we have carried out a deep search for starlight reflected from the giant planet orbiting the star Tau Bootis. We combined echelle spectra secured at the 4.2 m William Herschel telescope in 1998 and 1999 (which yielded a tentative detection of a reflected starlight component from the orbiting companion) with new data obtained in 2000 (which failed to confirm the detection). The combined dataset comprises 893 high resolution spectra with a total integration time of 75 hr 32 min spanning 17 nights. We establish an upper limit on the planets geometric albedo p<0.39 (at the 99.9 % significance level) at the most probable orbital inclination i=36 degrees, assuming a grey albedo, a Venus-like phase function and a planetary radius R_p=1.2 R_Jup. We are able to rule out some combinations of the predicted planetary radius and atmospheric albedo models with high, reflective cloud decks. Although a weak candidate signal appears near to the most probable radial velocity amplitude, its statistical significance is insufficient for us to claim a detection with any confidence.
rate research
Read More
Context: It has been speculated for many years that some extrasolar planets may emit strong cyclotron emission at low radio frequencies in the range 10-100 MHz. Despite several attempts no such emission has yet been seen. Aims: The hot Jupiter system tau Bootis is one of the nearest (d=15 pc) exoplanets known to date. The gravitational influence of this massive hot Jupiter (M=6 M_jup) has locked the star-planet system, making the star rotate in P~3.3 days, similar to the orbital period of the planet. From the well established correlation between stellar rotation and radio luminosity, it is conceivable that the tau Bootis system emits strong radio emission at significantly higher frequencies than currently probed, which we aimed to investigate with this work. Methods: We observed tau Bootis with the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope (WSRT) at a frequency of 1.7 GHz. for 12 hours in spectral line mode, reaching a noise level of 42 microJy/beam at the position of the target. Results: No 18cm radio emission is detected from tau Bootis, resulting in a 3 sigma upper limit of 0.13 mJy, corresponding to a 18cm radio luminosity of <3.7e13 erg/s/Hz. We observe tau Bootis to be two orders of magnitude fainter than expected from the stellar relation between radio luminosity and rotation velocity. Conclusions: This implies that either the tau Bootis system is underluminous in the radio compared to similar fast-rotating stars, or that we happened to observe the target during a low state of radio emission.
It is challenging to measure the starlight reflected from exoplanets because of the extreme contrast with their host stars. For hot Jupiters, this contrast is in the range of $10^{-6}$ to $10^{-4}$, depending on their albedo, radius and orbital distance. Searches for reflected light have been performed since the first hot Jupiters were discovered, but with very limited success because hot Jupiters tend to have low albedo values due to the general absence of reflective cloud decks. The aim of this study is to search for reflected light from $tau$ Boo b, a hot Jupiter with one of the brightest host stars. Since its discovery in 1997, it has been the subject of several reflected-light searches using high-dispersion spectroscopy. Here we aim to combine these data in to a single meta-analysis. We analysed more than 2,000 archival high-dispersion spectra obtained with the UVES, ESPaDOnS, NARVAL UES and HARPS-N spectrographs during various epochs between 1998 and 2013. Each spectrum was first cleaned of the stellar spectrum and subsequently cross-correlated with a PHOENIX model spectrum. These were then Doppler shifted to the planet rest-frame and co-added in time, weighted according to the expected signal-to-noise of the planet signal. We reach a 3$sigma$ upper limit of the planet to star contrast of $1.5 times 10^{-5}$. Assuming a planet radius of 1.15 $R_J$, this corresponds to an optical albedo of 0.12 between 400-700 nm. This low albedo is in line with secondary eclipse and phase curve observations of other hot Jupiters using space-based observatories, as well as theoretical predictions of their reflective properties.
DH Tau is a young ($sim$1 Myr) classical T Tauri star. It is one of the few young PMS stars known to be associated with a planetary mass companion, DH Tau b, orbiting at large separation and detected by direct imaging. DH Tau b is thought to be accreting based on copious H${alpha}$ emission and exhibits variable Paschen Beta emission. NOEMA observations at 230 GHz allow us to place constraints on the disk dust mass for both DH Tau b and the primary in a regime where the disks will appear optically thin. We estimate a disk dust mass for the primary, DH Tau A of $17.2pm1.7,M_{oplus}$, which gives a disk-to-star mass ratio of 0.014 (assuming the usual Gas-to-Dust mass ratio of 100 in the disk). We find a conservative disk dust mass upper limit of 0.42$M_{oplus}$ for DH Tau b, assuming that the disk temperature is dominated by irradiation from DH Tau b itself. Given the environment of the circumplanetary disk, variable illumination from the primary or the equilibrium temperature of the surrounding cloud would lead to even lower disk mass estimates. A MCFOST radiative transfer model including heating of the circumplanetary disk by DH Tau b and DH Tau A suggests that a mass averaged disk temperature of 22 K is more realistic, resulting in a dust disk mass upper limit of 0.09$M_{oplus}$ for DH Tau b. We place DH Tau b in context with similar objects and discuss the consequences for planet formation models.
In data from three clear nights of a WHT/UES run in 2000 Oct/Nov, and using improved Doppler tomographic signal-analysis techniques, we have carried out a deep search for starlight reflected from the innermost of upsilon Ands three planets. We place upper limits on the planets radius R_p as functions of its projected orbital velocity K_p ~ 139 sin i km/sec for various assumptions about the wavelength-dependent geometric albedo spectrum p(lambda) of its atmosphere. For a grey albedo p we find R_p sqrt{p} < 0.98 R_Jup with 0.1 percent false-alarm probability (4-sigma). For a Sudarsky et al (2000) Class V model atmosphere, the mean albedo in our 380-676 nm bandpass is <p> ~ 0.42, requiring R_p < 1.51 R_Jup, while an (isolated) Class IV model with <p> ~ 0.19 requires R_p < 2.23 R_Jup. The stars v sin{i} ~ 10 km/sec and estimated rotation period P_{rot} ~ 10 d suggest a high orbital inclination i ~ 70-80 degrees. We also develop methods for assessing the false-alarm probabilities of faint candidate detections, and for extracting information about the albedo spectrum and other planetary parameters from faint reflected-light signals.
The giant planet orbiting tau Bootis was among the first extrasolar planets to be discovered through the reflex motion of its host star. It is one of the brightest known and most nearby planets with an orbital period of just a few days. Over the course of more than a decade, measurements of its orbital inclination have been announced and refuted, and have subsequently remained elusive until now. Here we report on the detection of carbon monoxide absorption in the thermal day-side spectrum of tau Bootis b. At a spectral resolution of R~100,000, we trace the change in the radial velocity of the planet over a large range in phase, determining an orbital inclination of i=44.5+-1.5 degrees and a true planet mass of 5.95+-0.28 MJup. This result extends atmospheric characterisation to non-transiting planets. The strong absorption signal points to an atmosphere with a temperature that is decreasing towards higher altitudes. This is a stark contrast to the temperature inversion invoked for other highly irradiated planets, and supports models in which the absorbing compounds believed to cause such atmospheric
Log in to be able to interact and post comments
comments
Fetching comments
Sign in to be able to follow your search criteria
