Consideration of both low- and high-resolution transmission spectroscopy is key for obtaining a comprehensive picture of exoplanet atmospheres. In studies of transmission spectra, the continuum ...information is well established with low-resolution spectra, while the shapes of individual lines are best constrained with high-resolution observations. In this work, we aim to merge high- with low-resolution transmission spectroscopy to place tighter constraints on physical parameters of the atmospheres. We present the analysis of three primary transits of WASP-69 b in the visible (VIS) channel of the CARMENES instrument and perform a combined low- and high-resolution analysis using additional data from HARPS-N, OSIRIS/GTC, and WFC3/HST already available in the literature. We investigate the Na
I
D
1
and D
2
doublet, H
α
, the Ca
II
infra-red triplet (IRT), and K
I
λ
7699 Å lines, and we monitor the stellar photometric variability by performing long-term photometric observations with the STELLA telescope. During the first CARMENES observing night, we detected the planet Na
I
D
2
and D
1
lines at ~7 and ~3
σ
significance levels, respectively. We measured a D
2
/D
1
intensity ratio of 2.5 ± 0.7, which is in agreement with previous HARPS-N observations. Our modelling of WFC3 and OSIRIS data suggests strong Rayleigh scattering, solar to super-solar water abundance, and a highly muted Na feature in the atmosphere of this planet, in agreement with previous investigations of this target. We use the continuum information retrieved from the low-resolution spectroscopy as a prior to break the degeneracy between the Na abundance, reference pressure, and thermosphere temperature for the high-resolution spectroscopic analysis. We fit the Na
I
D
1
and D
2
lines individually and find that the posterior distributions of the model parameters agree with each other within 1
σ
. Our results suggest that local thermodynamic equilibrium processes can explain the observed D
2
/D
1
ratio because the presence of haze opacity mutes the absorption features.
Transit events of extrasolar planets offer a wealth of information for planetary characterization. However, for many known targets, the uncertainty of their predicted transit windows prohibits an ...accurate scheduling of follow-up observations. In this work, we refine the ephemerides of 21 hot Jupiter exoplanets with the largest timing uncertainties. We collected 120 professional and amateur transit light curves of the targets of interest, observed with a range of telescopes of 0.3 m–2.2 m, and analyzed them along with the timing information of the planets discovery papers. In the case of WASP-117b, we measured a timing deviation compared to the known ephemeris of about 3.5 h, and for HAT-P-29b and HAT-P-31b the deviation amounted to about 2 h and more. For all targets, the new ephemeris predicts transit timings with uncertainties of less than 6 min in the year 2018 and less than 13 min until 2025. Thus, our results allow for an accurate scheduling of follow-up observations in the next decade.
We report the discovery by the CoRoT space mission of a transiting brown dwarf orbiting a F7V star with an orbital period of 3.06 days. CoRoT-15b has a radius of 1.12SUP+0.30/SUPSUB-0.15/SUB {R}_Jup ...and a mass of 63.3 ± 4.1 {M}_Jup, and is thus the second transiting companion lying in the theoretical mass domain of brown dwarfs. CoRoT-15b is either very young or inflated compared to standard evolution models, a situation similar to that of M-dwarf stars orbiting close to solar-type stars. Spectroscopic constraints and an analysis of the lightcurve imply a spin period in the range 2.9-3.1 days for the central star, which is compatible with a double-synchronisation of the system. The CoRoT space mission, launched on December 27th 2006, has been developed and is operated by CNES, with the contribution of Austria, Belgium, Brazil, ESA (RSSD and Science Programme), Germany, and Spain. Observations made with HARPS spectrograph at ESO La Silla Observatory (184.C-0639).
We report the discovery of Kepler-77b (alias KOI-127.01), a Saturn-mass transiting planet in a 3.6-day orbit around a metal-rich solar-like star. We combined the publicly available Kepler photometry ...(quarters 1−13) with high-resolution spectroscopy from the Sandiford at McDonald and FIES at NOT spectrographs. We derived the system parameters via a simultaneous joint fit to the photometric and radial velocity measurements. Our analysis is based on the Bayesian approach and is carried out by sampling the parameter posterior distributions using a Markov chain Monte Carlo simulation. Kepler-77b is a moderately inflated planet with a mass of Mp = 0.430 ± 0.032 MJup, a radius of Rp = 0.960 ± 0.016 RJup, and a bulk density of ρp = 0.603 ± 0.055 g cm-3. It orbits a slowly rotating (Prot = 36 ± 6 days) G5 V star with M⋆ = 0.95 ± 0.04 M⊙, R⋆ = 0.99 ± 0.02 R⊙, Teff = 5520 ± 60 K, M/H = 0.20 ± 0.05 dex, that has an age of 7.5 ± 2.0 Gyr. The lack of detectable planetary occultation with a depth higher than ~10 ppm implies a planet geometric and Bond albedo of Ag ≤ 0.087 ± 0.008 and AB ≤ 0.058 ± 0.006, respectively, placing Kepler-77b among the gas-giant planets with the lowest albedo known so far. We found neither additional planetary transit signals nor transit-timing variations at a level of ~0.5 min, in accordance with the trend that close-in gas giant planets seem to belong to single-planet systems. The 106 transitsobserved in short-cadence mode by Kepler for nearly 1.2 years show no detectable signatures of the planet’s passage in front of starspots. We explored the implications of the absence of detectable spot-crossing events for the inclination of the stellar spin-axis, the sky-projected spin-orbit obliquity, and the latitude of magnetically active regions.
Of the over 400 known exoplanets, there are about 70 planets that transit their central star, a situation that permits the derivation of their basic parameters and facilitates investigations of their ...atmospheres. Some short-period planets, including the first terrestrial exoplanet (CoRoT-7b), have been discovered using a space mission designed to find smaller and more distant planets than can be seen from the ground. Here we report transit observations of CoRoT-9b, which orbits with a period of 95.274 days on a low eccentricity of 0.11 +/- 0.04 around a solar-like star. Its periastron distance of 0.36 astronomical units is by far the largest of all transiting planets, yielding a 'temperate' photospheric temperature estimated to be between 250 and 430 K. Unlike previously known transiting planets, the present size of CoRoT-9b should not have been affected by tidal heat dissipation processes. Indeed, the planet is found to be well described by standard evolution models with an inferred interior composition consistent with that of Jupiter and Saturn.
We performed subtractive and differential hybridization for transcript comparison between murine fibroblasts and isogenic epithelium, and observed only a few novel intracellular genes which were ...relatively specific for fibroblasts. One such gene encodes a filament-associated, calcium-binding protein, fibroblast-specific protein 1 (FSP1). The promoter/enhancer region driving this gene is active in fibroblasts but not in epithelium, mesangial cells or embryonic endoderm. During development, FSP1 is first detected by in situ hybridization after day 8.5 as a postgastrulation event, and is associated with cells of mesenchymal origin or of fibroblastic phenotype. Polyclonal antiserum raised to recombinant FSP1 protein stained the cytoplasm of fibroblasts, but not epithelium. Only occasional cells stain with specific anti-FSP1 antibodies in normal parenchymal tissue. However, in kidneys fibrosing from persistent inflammation, many fibroblasts could be identified in interstitial sites of collagen deposition and also in tubular epithelium adjacent to the inflammatory process. This pattern of anti-FSP1 staining during tissue fibrosis suggests, as a hypothesis, that fibroblasts in some cases arise, as needed, from the local conversion of epithelium. Consistent with this notion that FSP1 may be involved in the transition from epithelium to fibroblasts are experiments in which the in vitro overexpression of FSP1 cDNA in tubular epithelium is accompanied by conversion to a mesenchymal phenotype, as characterized by a more stellate and elongated fibroblast-like appearance, a reduction in cytokeratin, and new expression of vimentin. Similarly, tubular epithelium submerged in type I collagen gels exhibited the conversion to a fibroblast phenotype which includes de novo expression of FSP1 and vimentin. Use of the FSP1 marker, therefore, should further facilitate both the in vivo studies of fibrogenesis and the mapping of cell fate among fibroblasts.
Summary
This work presents the preparation of modified titanates nanotubes with tetraethyl orthosilicate (TNT‐TEOS) and their use in the synthesis of TNT‐TEOS/polyurethane nanocomposite by in situ ...polymerization. The filler was added in a proportion of 1% (w/w) relative to the polyol weight. The TNT‐TEOS presented a specific surface area of 127 m2/g lower than that obtained for TNT (177 m2/g). The addition of TNT‐TEOS in a polyurethane matrix promoted an increase in thermal stability of the polymer when compared to the pure PU and in crystallinity as observed by increase in melting and crystallization enthalpies. This effect can be attributed to good filler dispersion into polymer matrix and the interaction between the filler and the soft segments of the polyurethane.
Context. The space telescope CoRoT searches for transiting extrasolar planets by continuously monitoring the optical flux of thousands of stars in several fields of view. Aims: We report the ...discovery of CoRoT-10b, a giant planet on a highly eccentric orbit (e = 0.53 ± 0.04) revolving in 13.24 days around a faint (V = 15.22) metal-rich K1V star. Methods: We used CoRoT photometry, radial velocity observations taken with the HARPS spectrograph, and UVES spectra of the parent star to derive the orbital, stellar, and planetary parameters. Results: We derive a radius of the planet of 0.97 ± 0.07 RSUBJup/SUB and a mass of 2.75 ± 0.16 MSUBJup/SUB. The bulk density, ρSUBp/SUB = 3.70 ± 0.83 g cmSUP-3/SUP, is ~2.8 that of Jupiter. The core of CoRoT-10b could contain up to 240 M_⊕ of heavy elements. Moving along its eccentric orbit, the planet experiences a 10.6-fold variation in insolation. Owing to the long circularisation time, τSUBcirc/SUB > 7 Gyr, a resonant perturber is not required to excite and maintain the high eccentricity of CoRoT-10b. The CoRoT space mission, launched on December 27th 2006, has been developed and is operated by CNES, with the contribution of Austria, Belgium, Brazil, ESA (RSSD and Science Programme), Germany and Spain.
We report the detection of CoRoT-18b, a massive hot Jupiter transiting in front of its host star with a period of 1.9000693 ± 0.0000028 days. This planet was discovered thanks to photometric data ...secured with the CoRoT satellite combined with spectroscopic and photometric ground-based follow-up observations. The planet has a mass MSUBp/SUB = 3.47 ± 0.38 MSUBJup/SUB, a radius RSUBp/SUB = 1.31 ± 0.18 RSUBJup/SUB, and a density ρSUBp/SUB = 2.2 ± 0.8 g cmSUP-3/SUP. It orbits a G9V star with a mass MSUB⋆/SUB = 0.95 ± 0.15 MSUB /SUB, a radius RSUB⋆/SUB = 1.00 ± 0.13 RSUB /SUB, and arotation period PSUBrot/SUB = 5.4 ± 0.4 days. The age of the system remains uncertain, with stellar evolution models pointing either to a few tens Ma or several Ga, while gyrochronology and lithium abundance point towards ages of a few hundred Ma. This mismatch potentially points to a problem in our understanding of the evolution of young stars, with possibly significant implications for stellar physics and the interpretation of inferred sizes of exoplanets around young stars. We detected the Rossiter-McLaughlin anomaly in the CoRoT-18 system thanks to the spectroscopic observation of a transit. We measured the obliquity ψ = 20° ± 20° (sky-projected value λ = -10° ± 20°), indicating that the planet orbits in the same way as the star is rotating and that this prograde orbit is nearly aligned with the stellar equator. The CoRoT space mission, launched on 2006 December 27, has been developed and is operated by CNES, with the contribution of Austria, Belgium, Brazil, ESA (RSSD and Science Programme), Germany and Spain.Table 2 is available in electronic form at http://www.aanda.org
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