Brown dwarfs are massive analogs of extrasolar giant planets and may host types of atmospheric circulation not seen in the solar system. We analyzed a long-term Spitzer Space Telescope infrared ...monitoring campaign of brown dwarfs to constrain cloud cover variations over a total of 192 rotations. The infrared brightness evolution is dominated by beat patterns caused by planetary-scale wave pairs and by a small number of bright spots. The beating waves have similar amplitudes but slightly different apparent periods because of differing velocities or directions. The power spectrum of intermediate-temperature brown dwarfs resembles that of Neptune, indicating the presence of zonal temperature and wind speed variations. Our findings explain three previously puzzling behaviors seen in brown dwarf brightness variations.
ABSTRACT We present new astrometric measurements from our ongoing monitoring campaign of the HR 8799 directly imaged planetary system. These new data points were obtained with NIRC2 on the W.M. Keck ...II 10 m telescope between 2009 and 2014. In addition, we present updated astrometry from previously published observations in 2007 and 2008. All data were reduced using the SOSIE algorithm, which accounts for systematic biases present in previously published observations. This allows us to construct a self-consistent data set derived entirely from NIRC2 data alone. From this data set, we detect acceleration for two of the planets (HR 8799b and e) at >3 . We also assess possible orbital parameters for each of the four planets independently. We find no statistically significant difference in the allowed inclinations of the planets. Fitting the astrometry while forcing coplanarity also returns χ2 consistent to within 1 of the best fit values, suggesting that if inclination offsets of 20° are present, they are not detectable with current data. Our orbital fits also favor low eccentricities, consistent with predictions from dynamical modeling. We also find period distributions consistent to within 1 with a 1:2:4:8 resonance between all planets. This analysis demonstrates the importance of minimizing astrometric systematics when fitting for solutions to highly undersampled orbits.
AU Microscopii’s debris disc is one of the most famous and best-studied debris discs and one of only two resolved debris discs around M stars. We perform in-depth collisional modelling of the AU Mic ...disc including stellar radiative and corpuscular forces (stellar winds), aiming at a comprehensive understanding of the dust production and the dust and planetesimal dynamics in the system. Our models are compared to a suite of observational data for thermal and scattered light emission, ranging from the ALMA radial surface brightness profile at 1.3 mm to spatially resolved polarisation measurements in the visible. Most of the data are shown to be reproduced with dust production in a belt of planetesimals with an outer edge at around 40 au and subsequent inward transport of dust by stellar winds. A low dynamical excitation of the planetesimals with eccentricities up to 0.03 is preferred. The radial width of the planetesimal belt cannot be constrained tightly. Belts that are 5 au and 17 au wide, as well as a broad 44 au-wide belt, are consistent with observations. All models show surface density profiles that increase with distance from the star up to ≈40 au, as inferred from observations. The best model is achieved by assuming a stellar mass loss rate that exceeds the solar one by a factor of 50. The models reproduce the spectral energy distribution and the shape of the ALMA radial profile well, but deviate from the scattered light observations more strongly. The observations show a bluer disc colour and a lower degree of polarisation for projected distances <40 au than predicted by the models. These deviations may be reduced by taking irregularly shaped dust grains which have scattering properties different from the Mie spheres used in this work. From tests with a handful of selected dust materials, we favour mixtures of silicate, carbon, and ice of moderate porosity. We also address the origin of the unresolved central excess emission detected by ALMA and show that it cannot stem from an additional inner belt alone. Instead, it should derive, at least partly, from the chromosphere of the central star.
HIP 65426 b is a recently discovered exoplanet imaged during the course of the SPHERE-SHINE survey. Here we present new L′ and M′ observations of the planet from the NACO instrument at the VLT from ...the NACO-ISPY survey, as well as a new Y –H spectrum and K-band photometry from SPHERE-SHINE. Using these data, we confirm the nature of the companion as a warm, dusty planet with a mid-L spectral type. From comparison of its SED with the BT-Settl atmospheric models, we derive a best-fit effective temperature of Teff = 1618 ± 7 K, surface gravity log g = 3.78−0.03+0.04 $\log g\,{=}\,3.78^{+0.04}_{-0.03}$logg = 3.78−0.03+0.04 and radius R = 1.17 ± 0.04RJ (statistical uncertainties only). Using the DUSTY and COND isochrones we estimate a mass of 8 ± 1MJ. Combining the astrometric measurements from our new datasets and from the literature, we show the first indications of orbital motion of the companion (2.6σ significance)and derive preliminary orbital constraints. We find a highly inclined orbit ( i = 1.07−10+13 $i\,{=}\,107^{+13}_{-10}$i = 107−10+13 deg) with an orbital period of 800−400+1200 $800^{+1200}_{-400}$800−400+1200 yr. We also report SPHERE sparse aperture masking observations that investigate the possibility that HIP 65426 b was scattered onto its current orbit by an additional companion at a smaller orbital separation. From this data we rule out the presence of brown dwarf companions with masses greater than 16 MJ at separations larger than 3 AU, significantly narrowing the parameter space for such a companion.
ABSTRACT
We obtained linear polarization photometry (J-band) and low-resolution spectroscopy (ZJ-bands) of TRAPPIST-1, which is a planetary system formed by an M8-type low-mass star and seven ...temperate, Earth-sized planets. The photopolarimetric monitoring campaign covered 6.5 h of continuous observations including one full transit of planet TRAPPIST-1d and partial transits of TRAPPIST-1b and e. The spectrophotometric data and the photometric light curve obtained over epochs with no planetary transits indicate that the low-mass star has very low level of linear polarization compatible with a null value. However, the ‘in transit’ observations reveal an enhanced linear polarization signal with peak values of $p^* = 0.1\, {{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ with a confidence level of 3σ, particularly for the full transit of TRAPPIST-1d, thus confirming that the atmosphere of the M8-type star is very likely dusty. Additional observations probing different atmospheric states of TRAPPIST-1 are needed to confirm our findings, as the polarimetric signals involved are low. If confirmed, polarization observations of transiting planetary systems with central ultracool dwarfs can become a powerful tool for the characterization of the atmospheres of the host dwarfs and the validation of transiting planet candidates that cannot be corroborated by any other method.
We report results from the preliminary trials of Colibri, a dedicated fast-photometry array for the detection of small Kuiper Belt objects (KBOs) through serendipitous stellar occultations. Colibri’s ...novel data processing pipeline analyzed 4000 star hours with two overlapping-field EMCCD cameras, detecting no KBOs and one false positive occultation event in a high ecliptic latitude field. No occultations would be expected at these latitudes, allowing these results to provide a control sample for the upcoming main Colibri campaign. The empirical false positive rate found by the processing pipeline is consistent with the 0.002% simulation-determined false positive rate. We also describe Colibri’s software design, kernel sets for modeling stellar occultations, and method for retrieving occultation parameters from noisy diffraction curves. Colibri’s main campaign will begin in mid-2018, operating at a 40 Hz sampling rate.
We have established a new simple behavioral paradigm in Drosophila melanogaster to determine how genes and the environment influence the behavior of flies within a social group. Specifically, we ...measure social space as the distance between two flies. The majority of Canton-s flies, regardless of their gender, are within two body lengths from each other. Their social experience affects this behavior, with social isolation reducing and mating enhancing social space respectively, in both males and females. Unlike several other social behaviors in the fly, including the formation of social groups themselves (a well-described behavior), social space does not require the perception of the previously identified aggregation pheromone cis-vaccenyl acetate. Conversely, performance of the assay in darkness or mutations in the eye pigmentation gene white increased social space. Our results establish a new assay for the genetic dissection of a fundamental mode of social interaction.
ABSTRACT
Spatially resolved images of debris discs are necessary to determine disc morphological properties and the scattering phase function (SPF) thatantifies the brightness of scattered light as a ...function of phase angle. Current high-contrast imaging instruments have successfully resolved several dozens of debris discs around other stars, but few studies have investigated trends in the scattered-light, resolved population of debris discs in a uniform and consistent manner. We have combined Karhunen-Loeve Image Projection (KLIP) with radiative-transfer disc forward modelling in order to obtain the highest-quality image reductions and constrain disc morphological properties of eight debris discs imaged by the Gemini Planet Imager at H-band with a consistent and uniformly applied approach. In describing the scattering properties of our models, we assume a common SPF informed from solar system dust scattering measurements and apply it to all systems. We identify a diverse range of dust density properties among the sample, including critical radius, radial width, and vertical width. We also identify radially narrow and vertically extended discs that may have resulted from substellar companion perturbations, along with a tentative positive trend in disc eccentricity with relative disc width. We also find that using a common SPF can achieve reasonable model fits for discs that are axisymmetric and asymmetric when fitting models to each side of the disc independently, suggesting that scattering behaviour from debris discs may be similar to Solar system dust.
We present the discovery of a brown dwarf companion to the star HD 203030: a G8 V Solar analog with an estimated age between 130 and 400 Myr old G8 V. Separated by 11."9 (487 AU in projection) from ...its host star, HD 203030B has an estimated mass of 0.023 super(+0.008-0.011) M sub( ). The K-band spectral type of L7.5 c 0.5 places HD 203030B near the critical L/T transition in brown dwarfs, which is characterized by the rapid disappearance of dust in substellar photospheres. From a comparative analysis with well-characterized field L/T transition dwarfs, we find that, despite its young age, HD 203030B has a bolometric luminosity similar to the >1 Gyr old field dwarfs. Adopting a radius from current models of substellar evolution, we hence obtain that the effective temperature of HD 203030B is only 1206 super(+74-116) K, markedly lower than the -1440 K effective temperatures of field L/T transition dwarfs. The temperature discrepancy can be resolved if either (1) the ages of field brown dwarfs have been overestimated by a factor of -1.5, leading to underestimated radii, or (2) the lower effective temperature of HD 203030B is related to its young age, implying that the effective temperature at the L/T transition is gravity dependent.
We present Hubble Space Telescope optical coronagraphic polarization imaging observations of the dusty debris disk HD 61005. The scattered light intensity image and polarization structure reveal a ...highly inclined disk with a clear asymmetric, swept back component, suggestive of significant interaction with the ambient interstellar medium (ISM). The combination of our new data with the published 1.1 Delta *mm discovery image shows that the grains are blue scattering with no strong color gradient as a function of radius, implying predominantly submicron-sized grains. We investigate possible explanations that could account for the observed swept back, asymmetric morphology. Previous work has suggested that HD 61005 may be interacting with a cold, unusually dense interstellar cloud. However, limits on the intervening interstellar gas column density from an optical spectrum of HD 61005 in the Na I D lines render this possibility unlikely. Instead, HD 61005 may be embedded in a more typical warm, low-density cloud that introduces secular perturbations to dust grain orbits. This mechanism can significantly distort the ensemble disk structure within a typical cloud crossing time. For a counterintuitive relative flow direction-parallel to the disk midplane-we find that the structures generated by these distortions can very roughly approximate the HD 61005 morphology. Future observational studies constraining the direction of the relative ISM flow will thus provide an important constraint for future modeling. Independent of the interpretation for HD 61005, we expect that interstellar gas drag likely plays a role in producing asymmetries observed in other debris disk systems, such as HD 15115 and Delta *d Velorum.
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