Context.
Clouds are ubiquitous in exoplanet atmospheres and they represent a challenge for the model interpretation of their spectra. When generating a large number of model spectra, complex cloud ...models often prove too costly numerically, whereas more efficient models may be overly simplified.
Aims.
We aim to constrain the atmospheric properties of the directly imaged planet HR 8799e with a free retrieval approach.
Methods.
We used our radiative transfer code petitRADTRANS for generating the spectra, which we coupled to the PyMultiNest tool. We added the effect of multiple scattering which is important for treating clouds. Two cloud model parameterizations are tested: the first incorporates the mixing and settling of condensates, the second simply parameterizes the functional form of the opacity.
Results.
In mock retrievals, using an inadequate cloud model may result in atmospheres that are more isothermal and less cloudy than the input. Applying our framework on observations of HR 8799e made with the GPI, SPHERE, and GRAVITY, we find a cloudy atmosphere governed by disequilibrium chemistry, confirming previous analyses. We retrieve that C/O = 0.60
−0.08
+0.07
. Other models have not yet produced a well constrained C/O value for this planet. The retrieved C/O values of both cloud models are consistent, while leading to different atmospheric structures: either cloudy or more isothermal and less cloudy. Fitting the observations with the self-consistent Exo-REM model leads to comparable results, without constraining C/O.
Conclusions.
With data from the most sensitive instruments, retrieval analyses of directly imaged planets are possible. The inferred C/O ratio of HR 8799e is independent of the cloud model and thus appears to be a robust. This C/O is consistent with stellar, which could indicate that the HR 8799e formed outside the CO
2
or CO iceline. As it is the innermost planet of the system, this constraint could apply to all HR 8799 planets.
Helium is the second-most abundant element in the Universe after hydrogen and is one of the main constituents of gas-giant planets in our Solar System. Early theoretical models predicted helium to be ...among the most readily detectable species in the atmospheres of exoplanets, especially in extended and escaping atmospheres
. Searches for helium, however, have hitherto been unsuccessful
. Here we report observations of helium on an exoplanet, at a confidence level of 4.5 standard deviations. We measured the near-infrared transmission spectrum of the warm gas giant
WASP-107b and identified the narrow absorption feature of excited metastable helium at 10,833 angstroms. The amplitude of the feature, in transit depth, is 0.049 ± 0.011 per cent in a bandpass of 98 angstroms, which is more than five times greater than what could be caused by nominal stellar chromospheric activity. This large absorption signal suggests that WASP-107b has an extended atmosphere that is eroding at a total rate of 10
to 3 × 10
grams per second (0.1-4 per cent of its total mass per billion years), and may have a comet-like tail of gas shaped by radiation pressure.
We present the discovery of a transiting mini-Neptune around TOI-1201, a relatively bright and moderately young early M dwarf (
J
≈ 9.5 mag, ~600–800 Myr) in an equal-mass ~8 arcsecond-wide binary ...system, using data from the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, along with follow-up transit observations. With an orbital period of 2.49 d, TOI-1201 b is a warm mini-Neptune with a radius of
R
b
= 2.415 ± 0.090
R
⊕
. This signal is also present in the precise radial velocity measurements from CARMENES, confirming the existence of the planet and providing a planetary mass of
M
b
= 6.28 ± 0.88
M
⊕
and, thus, an estimated bulk density of 2.45
−0.42
+0.48
g cm
−3
. The spectroscopic observations additionally show evidence of a signal with a period of 19 d and a long periodic variation of undetermined origin. In combination with ground-based photometric monitoring from WASP-South and ASAS-SN, we attribute the 19 d signal to the stellar rotation period (
P
rot
= 19–23 d), although we cannot rule out that the variation seen in photometry belongs to the visually close binary companion. We calculate precise stellar parameters for both TOI-1201 and its companion. The transiting planet is anexcellent target for atmosphere characterization (the transmission spectroscopy metric is 97
−16
+21
) with the upcoming
James Webb
Space Telescope. It is also feasible to measure its spin-orbit alignment via the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect using current state-of-the-art spectrographs with submeter per second radial velocity precision.
Context. The GRAVITY beam-combiner at the Very Large Telescope Interferometer has recently made important contributions to many different fields of astronomy, from observations of the Galactic centre ...to the study of massive stars, young stellar objects, exoplanet atmospheres, and active galactic nuclei. These achievements were only made possible by the development of several key technologies, including the development of reliable and high-performance fringe trackers. These systems compensate for disturbances ranging from atmospheric turbulence to vibrations in the optical system, enabling long exposures and ensuring the stability of interferometric measurements. Aims. As part of the ongoing GRAVITY+ upgrade of the Very Large Telescope Interferometer infrastructure, we aim to improve the performance of the GRAVITY fringe tracker, and to enable its use by other instruments. Methods. We modified the group-delay controller to consistently maintain tracking in the white-light fringe, which is characterised by a minimum group delay. Additionally, we introduced a novel approach in which fringe-tracking is performed in the non-observable optical path length state-space using a covariance-weighted Kalman filter and an auto-regressive model of the disturbance. We outline this new state-space representation and the formalism we used to propagate the state vector and generate the control signal. While our approach is presented specifically in the context of GRAVITY/GRAVITY+, it can easily be adapted to other instruments or interfero-metric facilities. Results. We successfully demonstrate phase-delay tracking within a single fringe, with any spurious phase jumps detected and corrected in less than 100 ms. We also report a significant performance improvement, as shown by a reduction of ~30 to 40% in phase residuals, and a much better behaviour under sub-optimal atmospheric conditions. Compared to what was observed in 2019, the median residuals have decreased from 150 nm to 100 nm on the Auxiliary Telescopes and from 250 nm to 150 nm on the Unit Telescopes. Conclusions. The improved phase-delay tracking combined with white-light fringe tracking means that from now on, the GRAVITY fringe tracker can be used by other instruments operating in different wavebands. The only limitation remains the need for an adjustment of the optical path dispersion.
Giant exoplanets have been directly imaged over orders of magnitude of orbital separations, prompting theoretical and observational investigations of their formation pathways. In this paper, we ...present new VLTI/GRAVITY astrometric data of HIP 65426 b, a cold, giant exoplanet which is a particular challenge for most formation theories at a projected separation of 92 au from its primary. Leveraging GRAVITY's astrometric precision, we present an updated eccentricity posterior that disfavors large eccentricities. The eccentricity posterior is still prior dependent, and we extensively interpret and discuss the limits of the posterior constraints presented here. We also perform updated spectral comparisons with self-consistent forward-modeled spectra, finding a best-fit ExoREM model with solar metallicity and C/O = 0.6. An important caveat is that it is difficult to estimate robust errors on these values, which are subject to interpolation errors as well as potentially missing model physics. Taken together, the orbital and atmospheric constraints paint a preliminary picture of formation inconsistent with scattering after disk dispersal. Further work is needed to validate this interpretation. Analysis code used to perform this work is available on GitHub: https://github.com/sblunt/hip65426.
Abstract
Young, low-mass brown dwarfs orbiting early-type stars, with low mass ratios (
q
≲ 0.01), appear to be intrinsically rare and present a formation dilemma: could a handful of these objects be ...the highest-mass outcomes of “planetary” formation channels (bottom up within a protoplanetary disk), or are they more representative of the lowest-mass “failed binaries” (formed via disk fragmentation or core fragmentation)? Additionally, their orbits can yield model-independent dynamical masses, and when paired with wide wavelength coverage and accurate system age estimates, can constrain evolutionary models in a regime where the models have a wide dispersion depending on the initial conditions. We present new interferometric observations of the 16 Myr substellar companion HD 136164 Ab (HIP 75056 Ab) made with the Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI)/GRAVITY and an updated orbit fit including proper motion measurements from the Hipparcos–Gaia Catalog of Accelerations. We estimate a dynamical mass of 35 ± 10
M
J
(
q
∼ 0.02), making HD 136164 Ab the youngest substellar companion with a dynamical mass estimate. The new mass and newly constrained orbital eccentricity (
e
= 0.44 ± 0.03) and separation (22.5 ± 1 au) could indicate that the companion formed via the low-mass tail of the initial mass function. Our atmospheric fit to a
SPHINX
M-dwarf model grid suggests a subsolar C/O ratio of 0.45 and 3 × solar metallicity, which could indicate formation in a circumstellar disk via disk fragmentation. Either way, the revised mass estimate likely excludes bottom-up formation via core accretion in a circumstellar disk. HD 136164 Ab joins a select group of young substellar objects with dynamical mass estimates; epoch astrometry from future Gaia data releases will constrain the dynamical mass of this crucial object further.
Abstract
Tension remains between the observed and modeled properties of substellar objects, but objects in binary orbits, with known dynamical masses, can provide a way forward. HD 72946 B is a ...recently imaged brown dwarf companion to a nearby, solar-type star. We achieve ∼100
μ
as relative astrometry of HD 72946 B in the
K
band using VLTI/GRAVITY, unprecedented for a benchmark brown dwarf. We fit an ensemble of measurements of the orbit using
orbitize!
and derive a strong dynamical mass constraint
M
B
= 69.5 ± 0.5
M
Jup
assuming a strong prior on the host star mass
M
A
= 0.97 ± 0.01
M
⊙
from an updated stellar analysis. We fit the spectrum of the companion to a grid of self-consistent
BT-Settl-CIFIST
model atmospheres, and perform atmospheric retrievals using
petitRADTRANS
. A dynamical mass prior only marginally influences the sampled distribution of effective temperature, but has a large influence on the surface gravity and radius, as expected. The dynamical mass alone does not strongly influence retrieved pressure–temperature or cloud parameters within our current retrieval setup. Independently of the cloud prescription and prior assumptions, we find agreement within ±2
σ
between the C/O of the host (0.52 ± 0.05) and brown dwarf (0.43–0.63), as expected from a molecular cloud collapse formation scenario, but our retrieved metallicities are implausibly high (0.6–0.8) in light of the excellent agreement of the data with the solar-abundance model grid. Future work on our retrieval framework will seek to resolve this tension. Additional study of low surface gravity objects is necessary to assess the influence of a dynamical mass prior on atmospheric analysis.
The metal mass fractions of gas giants are a powerful tool for constraining their formation mechanisms and evolution. The metal content is inferred by comparing mass and radius measurements with ...interior structure and evolution models. In the midst of the JWST, CHEOPS, TESS, and the forthcoming PLATO era, we are at the brink of obtaining unprecedented precision in radius, age, and atmospheric metallicity measurements. To prepare for this wealth of data, we present the GAS gianT modeL for Interiors (GASTLI), an easy-to-use, publicly available Python package. The code is optimized to rapidly calculate mass--radius relations, and radius and luminosity thermal evolution curves for a variety of envelope compositions and core mass fractions. Its applicability spans planets with masses of $17 \ oplus < M < 6 \ Jup $, and equilibrium temperatures of $T_ eq < 1000$ K. The interior model is stratified in a core composed of water and rock, and an envelope constituted by H/He and metals (water). The interior is coupled to a grid of self-consistent, cloud-free atmospheric models to determine the atmospheric and boundary interior temperature, as well as the contribution of the atmosphere to the total radius. We successfully validate GASTLI by comparing it to previous work and data of the gas giants of the Solar System and Neptune. We also test GASTLI on the Neptune-mass exoplanet HAT-P-26 b, finding a bulk metal mass fraction of between 0.60 and 0.78 and a core mass of 8.5-14.4 $M_ oplus $. Finally, we explore the impact of different equations of state and assumptions, such as C/O ratio and transit pressure, in the estimation of bulk metal mass fraction. These differences between interior models entail a change in radius of up to 2.5<!PCT!> for Jupiter-mass planets, but of more than 10<!PCT!> for Neptune-mass. These are equivalent to variations in core mass fraction of 0.07, or 0.10 in envelope metal mass fraction.
Many post-processing algorithms have been developed in order to better separate the signal of a companion from the bright light of the host star, but the effect of such algorithms on the shape of ...exoplanet spectra extracted from integral field spectrograph data is poorly understood. The resulting spectra are affected by noise that is correlated in wavelength space due to both optical and data processing effects. Within the framework of Bayesian atmospheric retrievals, we aim to understand how these correlations and other systematic effects impact the inferred physical parameters. We consider three algorithms (KLIP, PynPoint, and ANDROMEDA), optimising the choice of algorithmic parameters using a series of injection tests on archival SPHERE and GPI data of the HR 8799 system. The wavelength-dependent covariance matrix was calculated to provide a measure of instrumental and algorithmic systematics. We perform atmospheric retrievals using petit RADTRANS on optimally extracted spectra to measure how these data processing systematics influence the retrieved parameter distributions. The choice of data processing algorithm and parameters significantly impact the accuracy of retrieval results, with the mean posterior parameter bias ranging from 1 to 3
σ
from the true input parameters. Including the full covariance matrix in the likelihood improves the accuracy of the inferred parameters, and cannot be accounted for using ad hoc scaling parameters in the retrieval framework. Using the Bayesian information criterion and other statistical measures as heuristic goodness-of-fit metrics, the retrievals including the full covariance matrix are favoured when compared to using only the diagonal elements.
Transmission spectroscopy
of exoplanets has revealed signatures of water vapour, aerosols and alkali metals in a few dozen exoplanet atmospheres
. However, these previous inferences with the Hubble ...and Spitzer Space Telescopes were hindered by the observations' relatively narrow wavelength range and spectral resolving power, which precluded the unambiguous identification of other chemical species-in particular the primary carbon-bearing molecules
. Here we report a broad-wavelength 0.5-5.5 µm atmospheric transmission spectrum of WASP-39b
, a 1,200 K, roughly Saturn-mass, Jupiter-radius exoplanet, measured with the JWST NIRSpec's PRISM mode
as part of the JWST Transiting Exoplanet Community Early Release Science Team Program
. We robustly detect several chemical species at high significance, including Na (19σ), H
O (33σ), CO
(28σ) and CO (7σ). The non-detection of CH
, combined with a strong CO
feature, favours atmospheric models with a super-solar atmospheric metallicity. An unanticipated absorption feature at 4 µm is best explained by SO
(2.7σ), which could be a tracer of atmospheric photochemistry. These observations demonstrate JWST's sensitivity to a rich diversity of exoplanet compositions and chemical processes.
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