We aim to construct a spectral energy distribution (SED) for the emission from the dayside atmosphere of the hot Jupiter WASP-46b and to investigate its energy budget. We observed a secondary eclipse of WASP-46b simultaneously in the grizJHK bands us
ing the GROND instrument on the MPG/ESO 2.2m telescope. Eclipse depths of the acquired light curves were derived to infer the brightness temperatures at multibands that cover the SED peak. We report the first detection of the thermal emission from the dayside of WASP-46b in the K band at 4.2-sigma level and tentative detections in the H (2.5-sigma) and J (2.3-sigma) bands, with flux ratios of 0.253 +0.063/-0.060%, 0.194 +/- 0.078%, and 0.129 +/- 0.055%, respectively. The derived brightness temperatures (2306 +177/-187K, 2462 +245/-302K, and 2453 +198/-258K, respectively) are consistent with an isothermal temperature profile of 2386K, which is significantly higher than the dayside-averaged equilibrium temperature, indicative of very poor heat redistribution efficiency. We also investigate the tentative detections in the gri bands and the 3-sigma upper limit in the z band, which might indicate the existence of reflective clouds if these tentative detections do not arise from systematics.
(Abridged) WASP-5b is a highly irradiated dense hot Jupiter orbiting a G4V star every 1.6 days. We observed two secondary eclipses of WASP-5b in the J, H and K bands simultaneously. Thermal emission of WASP-5b is detected in the J and K bands. The re
trieved planet-to-star flux ratios in the J and K bands are 0.168 +0.050/-0.052% and 0.269+/-0.062%, corresponding to brightness temperatures of 2996 +212/-261K and 2890 +246/-269K, respectively. No thermal emission is detected in the H band, with a 3-sigma upper limit of 0.166%, corresponding to a maximum temperature of 2779K. On the whole, our J, H, K results can be explained by a roughly isothermal temperature profile of ~2700K in the deep layers of the planetary dayside atmosphere that are probed at these wavelengths. Together with Spitzer observations, which probe higher layers that are found to be at ~1900K, a temperature inversion is ruled out in the range of pressures probed by the combined data set. While an oxygen-rich model is unable to explain all the data, a carbon-rich model provides a reasonable fit but violates energy balance.
(Abridged) We observed one transit and one occultation of the hot Jupiter WASP-43b simultaneously in the grizJHK bands using the GROND instrument on the MPG/ESO 2.2-meter telescope. From the transit event, we have independently derived WASP-43s syste
m parameters with high precision, and improved the period to be 0.81347437(13) days. No significant variation in transit depths is detected, with the largest deviations coming from the i, H, and K bands. Given the observational uncertainties, the broad-band transmission spectrum can be explained by either a flat featureless straight line that indicates thick clouds, synthetic spectra with absorption signatures of atomic Na/K or molecular TiO/VO that indicate cloud-free atmosphere, or a Rayleigh scattering profile that indicates high-altitude hazes. From the occultation event, we have detected planetary dayside thermal emission in the K-band with a flux ratio of 0.197 +/- 0.042%, which confirms previous detections obtained in the 2.09 micron narrow band and Ks-band. The K-band brightness temperature 1878 +108/-116 K favors an atmosphere with poor day- to night-side heat redistribution. We also have a marginal detection in the i-band (0.037 +0.023/-0.021%), which is either a false positive, a signature of non-blackbody radiation at this wavelength, or an indication of reflective hazes at high altitude.
We report new detections of thermal emission from the transiting hot Jupiter WASP-43b in the H and Ks-bands as observed at secondary eclipses. The observations were made with the WIRCam instrument on the CFHT. We obtained a secondary eclipse depth of
0.103$_{-0.017}^{+0.017}%$ and 0.194$_{-0.029}^{+0.029}%$ in the H and Ks-bands, respectively. The Ks band depth is consistent with previous measurement in the narrow band centered at 2.09um by Gillon et al. (2012). Our eclipse depths in both bands are consistent with a blackbody spectrum with a temperature of ~1850 K, slightly higher than the dayside equilibrium temperature without day-night energy redistribution. Based on theoretical models of the dayside atmosphere of WASP-43b, our data constrain the day-night energy redistribution in the planet to be $lesssim 15-25$%, depending on the metal content in the atmosphere. Combined with energy balance arguments our data suggest that a strong temperature inversion is unlikely in the dayside atmosphere of WASP-43b. However, a weak inversion cannot be strictly ruled out at the current time. Future observations are required to place detailed constraints on the chemical composition of the atmosphere.
EX Lup is the prototype of the EXor class of eruptive young stars. These objects show optical outbursts which are thought to be related to runaway accretion onto the star. In a previous study we observed in-situ crystal formation in the disk of EX Lu
p during its latest outburst in 2008, making the object an ideal laboratory to investigate circumstellar crystal formation and transport. This outburst was monitored by a campaign of ground-based and Spitzer Space Telescope observations. Here we modeled the spectral energy distribution of EX Lup in the outburst from optical to millimeter wavelengths with a 2D radiative transfer code. Our results showed that the shape of the SED at optical wavelengths was more consistent with a single temperature blackbody than a temperature distribution. We also found that this single temperature component emitted 80-100 % of the total accretion luminosity. We concluded that a thermal instability, the most widely accepted model of EXor outbursts, was likely not the triggering mechanism of the 2008 outburst of EX Lup. Our mid-infrared Spitzer spectra revealed that the strength of all crystalline bands between 8 and 30 um increased right after the end of the outburst. Six months later, however, the crystallinity in the 10 um silicate feature complex decreased. Our modeling of the mid-infrared spectral evolution of EXLup showed that, although vertical mixing should be stronger during the outburst than in the quiescent phase, fast radial transport of crystals (e.g., by stellar/disk wind) was required to reproduce the observed mid-infrared spectra.
(Note: this is a shortened version of the original A&A-style structured abstract). The physical nature of the strong photometric variability of T Tau Sa, the more massive member of the Southern infrared companion to T Tau, has long been debated. Intr
insic luminosity variations due to variable accretion were originally proposed but later challenged in favor of apparent fluctuations due to time-variable foreground extinction. In this paper we use the timescale of the variability as a diagnostic for the underlying physical mechanism. Because the IR emission emerging from Sa is dominantly thermal emission from circumstellar dust at <=1500K, we can derive a minimum size of the region responsible for the time-variable emission. In the context of the variable foreground extinction scenario, this region must be (un-) covered within the variability timescale, which implies a minimum velocity for the obscuring foreground material. If this velocity supercedes the local Kepler velocity we can reject foreground extinction as a valid variability mechanism. The variable accretion scenario allows for shorter variability timescales since the variations in luminosity occur on much smaller scales, essentially at the surface of the star, and the disk surface can react almost instantly on the changing irradiation with a higher or lower dust temperature and according brightness. We have detected substantial variations at long wavelengths in T Tau S: +26% within four days at 12.8 micron. We show that this short-term variability cannot be due to variable extinction and instead must be due to variable accretion. Using a radiative transfer model of the Sa disk we show that variable accretion can in principle also account for the much larger (several magnitude) variations observed on timescales of several years. For the long-term variability, however, also variable foreground extinction is a viable mechanism.
