Several models have been introduced in order to explain the radius distribution in exoplanet radii observed by Fulton et al. with one peak at , the other at , and the minimum at . In this paper we ...focus on the hypothesis that the exoplanet size distribution is caused by stellar X-ray and ultraviolet (XUV)-induced atmospheric loss. We evolve 106 synthetic exoplanets by exposing them to XUV irradiation from synthetic zero-age main-sequence stars. For each planet we set a different interior composition, which ranged from 100 wt% Fe (very dense), through to 100 wt% MgSiO3 (average density), and to 100 wt% ice (low density), with varying hydrogen envelope sizes that varied from 0 wt% (a negligible envelope) to 100 wt% (a negligible core). Our simulations were able to replicate the bimodal distribution in exoplanet radii. We argue that in order to reproduce the distribution by Fulton et al. it is mandatory for there to be a paucity of exoplanets with masses above . Furthermore, our best-fit result predicts an initial flat distribution in exoplanet occurrence for with a strong deficiency for planets with . Our results are consistent with the radius peak mostly encompassing denuded exoplanets, while the radius peak is mainly comprised of exoplanets with large hydrogen envelopes.
Context. X-rays and extreme ultraviolet radiation impacting a gas produce a variety of effects that, depending on the electron content, may provide significant heating of the illuminated region. In a ...planetary atmosphere of solar composition, stellar high energy radiation can heat the gas to very high temperatures and this could affect the stability of planetary atmospheres, in particular for close-in planets. Aims. We investigate the variations with stellar age in the occurring frequency of gas giant planets orbiting G and M stars, taking into account that the high energy luminosity of a low mass star evolves in time, both in intensity and hardness. Methods. Using the energy-limited escape approach we investigated the effects induced by the atmospheric mass loss on giant exoplanet distribution that is initially flat, at several distances from the parent star. We followed the dynamical evolution of the planet atmosphere, tracking the departures from the initial profile due to the atmospheric escape, until it reaches the final mass-radius configuration. Results. We find that a significant fraction of low mass Jupiter-like planets orbiting with periods lower than ~3.5 days either vaporize during the first billion years or lose a relevant part of their atmospheres. The planetary initial mass profile is significantly distorted; in particular, the frequency of occurrence of gas giants, less massive than 2 MJ, around young stars can be considerably greater than their occurrence around older stellar counterparts.
In this paper we propose an analytic function for the spherical albedo values of airless and near-airless magma ocean planets (AMOPs). We generated 2-D fractal surfaces with varying compositions onto ...which we individually threw 10,000 light rays. Using an approximate form of the Fresnel equations we measured how much of the incident light was reflected. Having repeated this algorithm on varying surface roughnesses we find the spherical albedo as a function of the Hurst exponent, the geochemical composition of the magma, and the wavelength. As a proof of concept, we used our model on Kepler-10b to demonstrate the applicability of our approach. We present the spherical albedo values produced from different lava compositions and multiple tests that can be applied to observational data in order to determine their characteristics. Currently, there is a strong degeneracy in the surface composition of AMOPs due to the large uncertainties in their measured spherical albedos. In spite of this, when applied to Kepler-10b we show that its high albedo could be caused by a moderately wavy ocean that is rich in oxidised metallic species such as FeO, Fe2O3, Fe3O4. This would imply that Kepler-10b is a coreless or near-coreless body.
•2-D ray tracing simulations on fractal magma ocean surfaces are used.•An analytic approximation is found for the spherical albedo of molten super-Earths.•Various materials and their properties are listed for easy usage within our model.•The high bolometric Bond albedo of Kepler-10b may be due to an Fe-rich magma ocean.•Our model can be implemented into general circulation and radiative transfer models.
Abstract The chromatic contamination that arises from photospheric heterogeneities, e.g., spots and faculae on the host star presents a significant noise source for exoplanet transmission spectra. If ...this contamination is not corrected for, it can introduce substantial bias in our analysis of the planetary atmosphere. We utilize two stellar models of differing complexity, StARPA (Stellar Activity Removal for Planetary Atmospheres) and ASteRA (Active Stellar Retrieval Algorithm), to explore the biases introduced by stellar contamination in retrieval under differing degrees of stellar activity. We use the retrieval framework TauREx3 and a grid of 27 synthetic, spot-contaminated transmission spectra to investigate potential biases and to determine how complex our stellar models must be in order to accurately extract the planetary parameters from transmission spectra. The input observation is generated using the more complex model ( StARPA ), in which the spot latitude is an additional, fixable parameter. This observation is then fed into a combined stellar-planetary retrieval, which contains a simplified stellar model ( ASteRA ). Our results confirm that the inclusion of stellar activity parameters in retrieval minimizes bias under all activity regimes considered. ASteRA performs very well under low-to-moderate activity conditions, retrieving the planetary parameters with a high degree of accuracy. For the most active cases, characterized by larger, higher-temperature contrast spots, some minor residual bias remains due to ASteRA neglecting the interplay between the spot and the limb-darkening effect. As a result of this, we find larger errors in retrieved planetary parameters for central spots (0°) and those found close to the limb (60°) than those at intermediate latitudes (30°).
Abstract
Radial velocity (RV) measurements of transiting multiplanet systems allow us to understand the densities and compositions of planets unlike those in the solar system. Kepler-102, which ...consists of five tightly packed transiting planets, is a particularly interesting system since it includes a super-Earth (Kepler-102d) and a sub-Neptune-sized planet (Kepler-102e) for which masses can be measured using RVs. Previous work found a high density for Kepler-102d, suggesting a composition similar to that of Mercury, while Kepler-102e was found to have a density typical of sub-Neptune size planets; however, Kepler-102 is an active star, which can interfere with RV mass measurements. To better measure the mass of these two planets, we obtained 111 new RVs using Keck/HIRES and Telescopio Nazionale Galileo/HARPS-N and modeled Kepler-102's activity using quasiperiodic Gaussian process regression. For Kepler-102d, we report a mass upper limit
M
d
< 5.3
M
⊕
(95% confidence), a best-fit mass
M
d
= 2.5 ± 1.4
M
⊕
, and a density
ρ
d
= 5.6 ± 3.2 g cm
−3
, which is consistent with a rocky composition similar in density to the Earth. For Kepler-102e we report a mass
M
e
= 4.7 ± 1.7
M
⊕
and a density
ρ
e
= 1.8 ± 0.7 g cm
−3
. These measurements suggest that Kepler-102e has a rocky core with a thick gaseous envelope comprising 2%–4% of the planet mass and 16%–50% of its radius. Our study is yet another demonstration that accounting for stellar activity in stars with clear rotation signals can yield more accurate planet masses, enabling a more realistic interpretation of planet interiors.
Since the first discovery of an extra-solar planet around a main-sequence star, in 1995, the number of detected exoplanets has increased enormously. Over the past two decades, observational ...instruments (both onboard and on ground-based facilities) have revealed an astonishing diversity in planetary physical features (i. e. mass and radius), and orbital parameters (e.g. period, semi-major axis, inclination). Exoplanetary atmospheres provide direct clues to understand the origin of these differences through their observable spectral imprints. In the near future, upcoming ground and space-based telescopes will shift the focus of exoplanetary science from an era of “species discovery” to one of “atmospheric characterization”. In this context, the Atmospheric Remote-sensing Infrared Exoplanet Large (Ariel) survey, will play a key role. As it is designed to observe and characterize a large and diverse sample of exoplanets, Ariel will provide constraints on a wide gamut of atmospheric properties allowing us to extract much more information than has been possible so far (e.g. insights into the planetary formation and evolution processes). The low resolution spectra obtained with Ariel will probe layers different from those observed by ground-based high resolution spectroscopy, therefore the synergy between these two techniques offers a unique opportunity to understanding the physics of planetary atmospheres. In this paper, we set the basis for building up a framework to effectively utilise, at near-infrared wavelengths, high-resolution datasets (analyzed via the cross-correlation technique) with spectral retrieval analyses based on Ariel low-resolution spectroscopy. We show preliminary results, using a benchmark object, namely HD 209458 b, addressing the possibility of providing improved constraints on the temperature structure and molecular/atomic abundances.
Abstract High-energy radiation from stars impacts planetary atmospheres, deeply affecting their chemistry and providing departures from chemical equilibrium. While the upper atmospheric layers are ...dominated by ionizations induced by extreme-ultraviolet radiation, deeper into the atmosphere, molecular abundances are controlled by a characteristic X-ray-dominated chemistry, mainly driven by an energetic secondary electron cascade. In this work, we aim at identifying molecular photochemically induced fingerprints in the transmission spectra of a giant planet atmosphere. We have developed a numerical code capable of synthesizing transmission spectra with arbitrary spectral resolution, exploiting updated infrared photoabsorption cross sections. Chemical mixing ratios are computed using a photochemical model tailored to investigate high-energy ionization processes. We find that in the case of high levels of stellar activity, synthetic spectra in both low and high resolutions show significant, potentially observable out-of-equilibrium signatures arising mainly from CO, CH 4 , C 2 H 2 , and HCN.
ARIEL, the Atmospheric Remote-sensing Infrared Exoplanet Large-survey, was selected as the fourth medium-class mission in ESA’s Cosmic Vision program. ARIEL is based on a 1 m class telescope ...optimized for spectroscopy in the waveband between 1.95 and 7.8 micron and operating in cryogenic conditions. Fabrication of the 1.1 m aluminum primary mirror for the ARIEL telescope requires technological advances in the three areas of substrate thermal stabilization, optical surface polishing and coating. This article describes the qualification of the three procedures that have been set up and tested to demonstrate the readiness level of the technological processes employed. Substrate thermal stabilization is required to avoid deformations of the optical surface during cool down of the telescope to the operating temperature below 50 K. Purpose of the process is to release internal stress in the substrate that can cause such shape deformations. Polishing of large aluminum surfaces to optical quality is notoriously difficult due to softness of the material, and required setup and test of a specific polishing recipe capable of reducing residual surface shape errors while maintaining surface roughness below 10 nm RMS. Finally, optical coating with protected silver must be qualified for environmental stability, particularly at cryogenic temperatures, and uniformity. All processes described in this article have been applied to aluminum samples of up to 150 mm of diameter, leading the way to the planned final test on a full size demonstrator of the ARIEL primary mirror.
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