Secondary organic aerosol (SOA) is transformed after its initial formation, but this chemical aging of SOA is poorly understood. Experiments were conducted in the Carnegie Mellon environmental ...chamber to form secondary organic aerosol (SOA) from the photo-oxidation of toluene and other small aromatic volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the presence of NOx under different oxidizing conditions. The effects of the oxidizing condition on organic aerosol (OA) composition, mass yield, volatility, and hygroscopicity were explored. Higher exposure to the hydroxyl radical resulted in different OA composition, average carbon oxidation state (OSc), and mass yield. The OA oxidation state generally increased during photo-oxidation, and the final OA OSc ranged from -0.29 to 0.16 in the performed experiments. The volatility of OA formed in these different experiments varied by as much as a factor of 30, demonstrating that the OA formed under different oxidizing conditions can have a significantly different saturation concentration. There was no clear correlation between hygroscopicity and oxidation state for this relatively hygroscopic SOA.
Context.
The Multi-site All-Sky CAmeRA (MASCARA) and bRing are both photometric ground-based instruments with multiple stations that rely on interline charge-coupled devices with wide-field lenses to ...monitor bright stars in the local sky for variability. MASCARA has already discovered several planets in the northern sky, which are among the brightest known transiting hot Jupiter systems.
Aims.
In this paper, we aim to characterize a transiting planetary candidate in the southern skies found in the combined MASCARA and bRing data sets of HD 85628, an A7V star of
V
= 8.2 mag at a distance 172 pc, to establish its planetary nature.
Methods.
The candidate was originally detected in data obtained jointly with the MASCARA and bRing instruments using a Box Least-Square search for transit events. Further photometry was taken by the 0.7 m Chilean-Hungarian Automated Telescope (CHAT), and radial velocity measurements with the Fiber Dual Echelle Optical Spectrograph on the European Southern Observatory 1.0 m Telescope. High-resolution spectra during a transit were taken with the CTIO high-resolution spectrometer (CHIRON) on the Small and Moderate Aperture Research Telescope System 1.5 m telescope to target the Doppler shadow of the candidate.
Results.
We confirm the existence of a hot Jupiter transiting the bright A7V star HD 85628, which we co-designate as MASCARA-4b and bRing-1b. It is in an orbit of 2.824 days, with an estimated planet radius of 1.53
−0.04
+0.07
R
Jup
and an estimated planet mass of 3.1 ± 0.9
M
Jup
, putting it well within the planetary regime. The CHAT observations show a partial transit, reducing the probability that the transit was around a faint background star. The CHIRON observations show a clear Doppler shadow, implying that the transiting object is in a retrograde orbit with |
λ
| =244.9
−3.6
+2.7
°. The planet orbits at a distance of 0.047 ± 0.004 AU from the star and has a zero-albedo equilibrium temperature of 2100 ± 100 K. In addition, we find that HD 85628 has a previously unreported stellar companion star in the
Gaia
DR2 data demonstrating common proper motion and parallax at 4.3′′ separation (projected separation ~740 AU), and with absolute magnitude consistent with being a K/M dwarf.
Conclusions.
MASCARA-4 b/bRing-1 b is the brightest transiting hot Jupiter known to date in a retrograde orbit. It further confirms that planets in near-polar and retrograde orbits are more common around early-type stars. Due to its high apparent brightness and short orbital period, the system is particularly well suited for further atmospheric characterization.
Aims. We describe the design and first light observations from the β Pictoris b Ring (“bRing”) project. The primary goal is to detect photometric variability from the young star β Pictoris due to ...circumplanetary material surrounding the directly imaged young extrasolar gas giant planet β Pictoris b. Methods. Over a nine month period centred on September 2017, the Hill sphere of the planet will cross in front of the star, providing a unique opportunity to directly probe the circumplanetary environment of a directly imaged planet through photometric and spectroscopic variations. We have built and installed the first of two bRing monitoring stations (one in South Africa and the other in Australia) that will measure the flux of β Pictoris, with a photometric precision of 0.5% over 5 min. Each station uses two wide field cameras to cover the declination of the star at all elevations. Detection of photometric fluctuations will trigger spectroscopic observations with large aperture telescopes in order to determine the gas and dust composition in a system at the end of the planet-forming era. Results. The first three months of operation demonstrate that bRing can obtain better than 0.5% photometry on β Pictoris in five minutes and is sensitive to nightly trends enabling the detection of any transiting material within the Hill sphere of the exoplanet.
Aims. MASCARA and bRing are photometric surveys designed to detect variability caused by exoplanets in stars with mV < 8.4. Such variability signals are typically small and require an accurate ...calibration algorithm, tailored to the survey, in order to be detected. This paper presents the methods developed to calibrate the raw photometry of the MASCARA and bRing stations and characterizes the performance of the methods and instruments. Methods. For the primary calibration, a modified version of the coarse decorrelation algorithm is used, which corrects for the extinction due to the earth’s atmosphere, the camera transmission, and intrapixel variations. Residual trends are removed from the light curves of individual stars using empirical secondary calibration methods. In order to optimize these methods, as well as characterize the performance of the instruments, transit signals were injected in the data. Results. After optimal calibration an RMS scatter of 10 mmag at mV ~ 7.5 is achieved in the light curves. By injecting transit signals with periods between one and five days in the MASCARA data obtained by the La Palma station over the course of one year, we demonstrate that MASCARA La Palma is able to recover 84.0, 60.5 and 20.7% of signals with depths of 2, 1 and 0.5%, respectively, with a strong dependency on the observed declination, recovering 65.4% of all transit signals at δ > 0° versus 35.8% at δ < 0°. Using the full three years of data obtained by MASCARA La Palma to date, similar recovery rates are extended to periods up to ten days. We derive a preliminary occurrence rate for hot Jupiters around A-stars of >0.4%, knowing that many hot Jupiters are still overlooked. In the era of TESS, MASCARA and bRing will provide an interesting synergy for finding long-period (>13.5 days) transiting gas-giant planets around the brightest stars.
Context. The 16 Myr old star 1SWASP J140747.93-394542.6 (V1400 Cen) underwent a series of complex eclipses in May 2007, interpreted as the transit of a giant Hill sphere filling debris ring system ...around a secondary companion, J1407b. No other eclipses have since been detected, although other measurements have constrained but not uniquely determined the orbital period of J1407b. Finding another eclipse towards J1407 will help determine the orbital period of the system, the geometry of the proposed ring system and enable planning of further observations to characterize the material within these putative rings. Aims. We carry out a search for other eclipses in photometric data of J1407 with the aim of constraining the orbital period of J1407b. Methods. We present photometry from archival photographic plates from the Harvard DASCH survey, and Bamberg and Sonneberg Observatories, in order to place additional constraints on the orbital period of J1407b by searching for other dimming and eclipse events. Using a visual inspection of all 387 plates and a period-folding algorithm we performed a search for other eclipses in these data sets. Results. We find no other deep eclipses in the data spanning from 1890 to 1990, nor in recent time-series photometry from 2012–2018. Conclusions. We rule out a large fraction of putative orbital periods for J1407b from 5 to 20 yr. These limits are still marginally consistent with a large Hill sphere filling ring system surrounding a brown dwarf companion in a bound elliptical orbit about J1407. Issues with the stability of any rings combined with the lack of detection of another eclipse, suggests that J1407b may not be bound to J1407.
Type I interferons (IFNs) represent a crucial component of the innate immune response to viruses. An important downstream effector of IFN is the Mx gene, which is activated solely through this ...pathway. Mx proteins are characterized by a tripartite GTP-binding domain, dynamin family signature, and leucine zipper motif. Mx genes are transcribed upon activation of an interferon-stimulated response element (ISRE) located in the Mx promoter region. In this article, we describe the cloning and analysis of an Mx gene and its corresponding promoter from the zebrafish (
Danio rerio). The deduced amino acid sequence of zebrafish Mx contains the conserved GTP-binding domain, dynamin family signature, and leucine zipper motif common to Mx proteins, and shows a 50% identity to human MxA and 69% identity both to rainbow trout and to Atlantic salmon. Zebrafish liver cells produced high levels of Mx mRNA in response to induction by the known IFN-inducer polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid (PolyI:C). The zebrafish Mx promoter contains two ISREs homologous to those found in the promoter regions of many IFN-inducible genes, and was able to drive transcription of a luciferase reporter gene when induced by either purified zebrafish IFN or PolyI:C.
The hygroscopic nature of atmospheric aerosol has generally been associated with its inorganic fraction. In this study, a group contribution method is used to predict the water absorption of ...secondary organic aerosol (SOA). Compared against growth measurements of mixed inorganic−organic particles, this method appears to provide a first-order approximation in predicting SOA water absorption. The growth of common SOA species is predicted to be significantly less than common atmospheric inorganic salts such as (NH4)2SO4 and NaCl. Using this group contribution method as a tool in predicting SOA water absorption, an integrated modeling approach is developed combining available SOA and inorganic aerosol models to predict overall aerosol behavior. The effect of SOA on water absorption and nitrate partitioning between the gas and aerosol phases is determined. On average, it appears that SOA accounts for approximately 7% of total aerosol water and increases aerosol nitrate concentrations by approximately 10%. At high relative humidity (≥85%) and low SOA mass fractions (<20% of total PM2.5), the role of SOA in nitrate partitioning and its contribution to total aerosol water is negligible. However, the water absorption of SOA appears to be less sensitive to changes in relative humidity than that of inorganic species, and thus at low relative humidity (∼50%) and high SOA mass fraction concentrations (∼30% of total PM2.5), SOA is predicted to account for approximately 20% of total aerosol water and a 50% increase in aerosol nitrate concentrations. These findings could improve the results of modeling studies where aerosol nitrate has often been underpredicted.
Context. Exoplanet properties crucially depend on the parameters of their host stars: more accurate stellar parameters yield more accurate exoplanet characteristics. When the exoplanet host star ...shows pulsations, asteroseismology can be used for an improved description of the stellar parameters. Aims. We aim to revisit the pulsational properties of β Pic and identify its pulsation modes from normalized amplitudes in five different passbands. We also investigate the potential presence of a magnetic field. Methods. We conducted a frequency analysis using three seasons of BRITE-Constellation observations in the two BRITE filters, the about 620-day-long bRing light curve, and the nearly 8-year-long SMEI photometric time series. We calculated normalized amplitudes using all passbands and including previously published values obtained from ASTEP observations. We investigated the magnetic properties of β Pic using spectropolarimetric observations conducted with the HARPSpol instrument. Using 2D rotating models, we fit the normalized amplitudes and frequencies through Monte Carlo Markov chains. Results. We identify 15 pulsation frequencies in the range from 34 to 55 d−1, where two, F13 at 53.6917 d−1 and F11 at 50.4921 d−1, display clear amplitude variability. We use the normalized amplitudes in up to five passbands to identify the modes as three ℓ = 1, six ℓ = 2, and six ℓ = 3 modes. β Pic is shown to be non-magnetic with an upper limit of the possible undetected dipolar field of 300 Gauss. Conclusions. Multiple fits to the frequencies and normalized amplitudes are obtained, including one with a near equator-on inclination for β Pic, which corresponds to our expectations based on the orbital inclination of β Pic b and the orientation of the circumstellar disk. This solution leads to a rotation rate of 27% of the Keplerian breakup velocity, a radius of 1.497 ± 0.025 R⊙, and a mass of 1.797 ± 0.035 M⊙. The ∼2% errors in radius and mass do not account for uncertainties in the models and a potentially erroneous mode-identification.
Aims.
Photometric monitoring of
β
Pic in 1981 showed anomalous fluctuations of up to 4% over several days, consistent with foreground material transiting the stellar disk. The subsequent discovery of ...the gas giant planet
β
Pic b and the predicted transit of its Hill sphere to within a 0.1 au projected separation of the planet provided an opportunity to search for the transit of a circumplanetary disk (CPD) in this 21 ± 4 Myr-old planetary system. We aim to detect, or put an upper limit on, the density and nature of the material in the circumplanetary environment of the planet via the continuous photometric monitoring of the Hill sphere transit that occurred in 2017 and 2018.
Methods.
Continuous broadband photometric monitoring of
β
Pic requires ground-based observatories at multiple longitudes to provide redundancy and to provide triggers for rapid spectroscopic follow-up. These include the dedicated
β
Pic monitoring bRing observatories in Sutherland and Siding Springs, the ASTEP400 telescope at Concordia, and the space observatories BRITE and the
Hubble
Space Telescope (HST). We search the combined light curves for evidence of short-period transient events caused by rings as well as for longer-term photometric variability due to diffuse circumplanetary material.
Results.
We find no photometric event that matches with the event seen in November 1981, and there is no systematic photometric dimming of the star as a function of the Hill sphere radius.
Conclusions.
We conclude that the 1981 event was not caused by the transit of a CPD around
β
Pic b. The upper limit on the long-term variability of
β
Pic places an upper limit of 1.8 × 10
22
g of dust within the Hill sphere (comparable to the ~100 km radius asteroid 16 Psyche). Circumplanetary material is either condensed into a disk that does not transit
β
Pic, condensed into a disk with moons that has an obliquity that does not intersect with the path of
β
Pic behind the Hill sphere, or is below our detection threshold. This is the first time that a dedicated international campaign has mapped the Hill sphere transit of an extrasolar gas giant planet at 10 au.
Aims. Photometric monitoring of β Pic in 1981 showed anomalous fluctuations of up to 4% over several days, consistent with foreground material transiting the stellar disk. The subsequent discovery of ...the gas giant planet β Pic b and the predicted transit of its Hill sphere to within a 0.1 au projected separation of the planet provided an opportunity to search for the transit of a circumplanetary disk (CPD) in this 21 ± 4 Myr-old planetary system. We aim to detect, or put an upper limit on, the density and nature of the material in the circumplanetary environment of the planet via the continuous photometric monitoring of the Hill sphere transit that occurred in 2017 and 2018. Methods. Continuous broadband photometric monitoring of β Pic requires ground-based observatories at multiple longitudes to provide redundancy and to provide triggers for rapid spectroscopic follow-up. These include the dedicated β Pic monitoring bRing observatories in Sutherland and Siding Springs, the ASTEP400 telescope at Concordia, and the space observatories BRITE and the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). We search the combined light curves for evidence of short-period transient events caused by rings as well as for longer-term photometric variability due to diffuse circumplanetary material. Results. We find no photometric event that matches with the event seen in November 1981, and there is no systematic photometric dimming of the star as a function of the Hill sphere radius. Conclusions. We conclude that the 1981 event was not caused by the transit of a CPD around β Pic b. The upper limit on the long-term variability of β Pic places an upper limit of 1.8 × 10 22 g of dust within the Hill sphere (comparable to the ~100 km radius asteroid 16 Psyche). Circumplanetary material is either condensed into a disk that does not transit β Pic, condensed into a disk with moons that has an obliquity that does not intersect with the path of β Pic behind the Hill sphere, or is below our detection threshold. This is the first time that a dedicated international campaign has mapped the Hill sphere transit of an extrasolar gas giant planet at 10 au.
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