Absorption of high-energy radiation in planetary thermospheres is generally believed to lead to the formation of planetary winds. The resulting mass-loss rates can affect the evolution, particularly ...of small gas planets. We present 1D, spherically symmetric hydrodynamic simulations of the escaping atmospheres of 18 hot gas planets in the solar neighborhood. Our sample only includes strongly irradiated planets, whose expanded atmospheres may be detectable via transit spectroscopy using current instrumentation. The simulations were performed with the PLUTO-CLOUDY interface, which couples a detailed photoionization and plasma simulation code with a general MHD code. We study the thermospheric escape and derive improved estimates for the planetary mass-loss rates. Our simulations reproduce the temperature-pressure profile measured via sodium D absorption in HD 189733 b, but show still unexplained differences in the case of HD 209458 b. In contrast to general assumptions, we find that the gravitationally more tightly bound thermospheres of massive and compact planets, such as HAT-P-2 b are hydrodynamically stable. Compact planets dispose of the radiative energy input through hydrogen Lyα and free-free emission. Radiative cooling is also important in HD 189733 b, but it decreases toward smaller planets like GJ 436 b. Computing the planetary Lyα absorption and emission signals from the simulations, we find that the strong and cool winds of smaller planets mainly cause strong Lyα absorption but little emission. Compact and massive planets with hot, stable thermospheres cause small absorption signals but are strong Lyα emitters, possibly detectable with the current instrumentation. The absorption and emission signals provide a possible distinction between these two classes of thermospheres in hot gas planets. According to our results, WASP-80 and GJ 3470 are currently the most promising targets for observational follow-up aimed at detecting atmospheric Lyα absorption signals.
Ultra-hot Jupiters are emerging as a new class of exoplanets. Studying their chemical compositions and temperature structures will improve our understanding of their mass loss rate as well as their ...formation and evolution. We present the detection of ionized calcium in the two hottest giant exoplanets – KELT-9b and WASP-33b. By using transit datasets from CARMENES and HARPS-N observations, we achieved high-confidence-level detections of Ca II using the cross-correlation method. We further obtain the transmission spectra around the individual lines of the Ca II H&K doublet and the near-infrared triplet, and measure their line profiles. The Ca II H&K lines have an average line depth of 2.02 ± 0.17% (effective radius of 1.56 Rp) for WASP-33b and an average line depth of 0.78 ± 0.04% (effective radius of 1.47 Rp) for KELT-9b, which indicates that the absorptions are from very high upper-atmosphere layers close to the planetary Roche lobes. The observed Ca II lines are significantly deeper than the predicted values from the hydrostatic models. Such a discrepancy is probably a result of hydrodynamic outflow that transports a significant amount of Ca II into the upper atmosphere. The prominent Ca II detection with the lack of significant Ca I detection implies that calcium is mostly ionized in the upper atmospheres of the two planets.
Energy-limited escape revised Salz, M; Schneider, P C; Czesla, S ...
Astronomy and astrophysics (Berlin),
01/2016, Volume:
585
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Gas planets in close proximity to their host stars experience photoevaporative mass loss. The energy-limited escape concept is generally used to derive estimates for the planetary mass-loss rates. ...Our photoionization hydrodynamics simulations of the thermospheres of hot gas planets show that the energy-limited escape concept is valid only for planets with a gravitational potential lower than log sub(10)(-Phi sub(G)) < 13.11 ergg super(-1) because in these planets the radiative energy input is efficiently used to drive the planetary wind. Massive and compact planets with log sub(10)(-Phi sub(G)) > or =13.6 ergg super(-1) exhibit more tightly bound atmospheres in which the complete radiative energy input is re-emitted through hydrogen Ly alpha and free-free emission. These planets therefore host hydrodynamically stable thermospheres. Between these two extremes the strength of the planetary winds rapidly declines as a result of a decreasing heating efficiency. Small planets undergo enhanced evaporation because they host expanded atmospheres that expose a larger surface to the stellar irradiation. We present scaling laws for the heating efficiency and the expansion radius that depend on the gravitational potential and irradiation level of the planet. The resulting revised energy-limited escape concept can be used to derive estimates for the mass-loss rates of super-Earth-sized planets as well as massive hot Jupiters with hydrogen-dominated atmospheres.
High resolution transit spectroscopy has proven to be a reliable technique for the characterization of the chemical composition of exoplanet atmospheres. Taking advantage of the broad spectral ...coverage of the CARMENES spectrograph, we initiated a survey aimed at characterizing a broad range of planetary systems. Here, we report our observations of three transits of GJ 3470 b with CARMENES in search of He (2
3
S) absorption. On one of the nights, the He
I
region was heavily contaminated by OH
−
telluric emission and, thus, it was not useful for our purposes. The remaining two nights had a very different signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) due to weather. They both indicate the presence of He (2
3
S) absorption in the transmission spectrum of GJ 3470 b, although a statistically valid detection can only be claimed for the night with higher S/N. For that night, we retrieved a 1.5 ± 0.3% absorption depth, translating into a
R
p
(
λ
)∕
R
p
= 1.15 ± 0.14 at this wavelength. Spectro-photometric light curves for this same night also indicate the presence of extra absorption during the planetary transit with a consistent absorption depth. The He (2
3
S) absorption is modeled in detail using a radiative transfer code, and the results of our modeling efforts are compared to the observations. We find that the mass-loss rate,
Ṁ
, is confined to a range of 3 × 10
10
g s
−1
for
T
= 6000 K to 10 × 10
10
g s
−1
for
T
= 9000 K. We discuss the physical mechanisms and implications of the He
I
detection in GJ 3470 b and put it in context as compared to similar detections and non-detections in other Neptune-size planets. We also present improved stellar and planetary parameter determinations based on our visible and near-infrared observations.
Giant gas planets in close proximity to their host stars experience strong irradiation. In extreme cases photoevaporation causes a transonic, planetary wind and the persistent mass loss can possibly ...affect the planetary evolution. We have identified nine hot Jupiter systems in the vicinity of the Sun, in which expanded planetary atmospheres should be detectable through Lyα transit spectroscopy according to predictions. We use X-ray observations with Chandra and XMM-Newton of seven of these targets to derive the high-energy irradiation level of the planetary atmospheres and the resulting mass loss rates. We further derive improved Lyα luminosity estimates for the host stars including interstellar absorption. According to our estimates WASP-80 b, WASP-77 b, and WASP-43 b experience the strongest mass loss rates, exceeding the mass loss rate of HD 209458 b, where an expanded atmosphere has been confirmed. Furthermore, seven out of nine targets might be amenable to Lyα transit spectroscopy. Finally, we check the possibility of angular momentum transfer from the hot Jupiters to the host stars in the three binary systems among our sample, but find only weak indications for increased stellar rotation periods of WASP-77 and HAT-P-20.
The He
I
λ
10833 Å triplet is a powerful tool for characterising the upper atmosphere of exoplanets and tracing possible mass loss. Here, we analysed one transit of GJ 1214 b observed with the ...CARMENES high-resolution spectrograph to study its atmosphere via transmission spectroscopy around the He
I
triplet. Although previous studies using lower resolution instruments have reported non-detections of He
I
in the atmosphere of GJ 1214 b, we report here the first potential detection. We reconcile the conflicting results arguing that previous transit observations did not present good opportunities for the detection of He
I
, due to telluric H
2
O absorption and OH emission contamination. We simulated those earlier observations, and show evidence that the planetary signal was contaminated. From our single non-telluric-contaminated transit, we determined an excess absorption of 2.10
−0.50
+0.45
% (4.6
σ
) with a full width at half maximum (FWHM) of 1.30
−0.25
+0.30
Å. The detection of He
I
is statistically significant at the 4.6
σ
level, but repeatability of the detection could not be confirmed due to the availability of only one transit. By applying a hydrodynamical model and assuming an H/He composition of 98/2, we found that GJ 1214 b would undergo hydrodynamic escape in the photon-limited regime, losing its primary atmosphere with a mass-loss rate of (1.5–18) × 10
10
g s
−1
and an outflow temperature in the range of 2900–4400 K. Further high-resolution follow-up observations of GJ 1214 b are needed to confirm and fully characterise the detection of an extended atmosphere surrounding GJ 1214 b. If confirmed, this would be strong evidence that this planet has a primordial atmosphere accreted from the original planetary nebula. Despite previous intensive observations from space- and ground-based observatories, our He
I
excess absorption is the first tentative detection of a chemical species in the atmosphere of this benchmark sub-Neptune planet.
Aims. We explore the capabilities of CARMENES for characterising hot-Jupiter atmospheres by targeting multiple water bands, in particular, those at 1.15 and 1.4 μm. Hubble Space Telescope ...observations suggest that this wavelength region is relevant for distinguishing between hazy and/or cloudy and clear atmospheres. Methods. We observed one transit of the hot Jupiter HD 189733 b with CARMENES. Telluric and stellar absorption lines were removed using SYSREM, which performs a principal component analysis including proper error propagation. The residual spectra were analysed for water absorption with cross-correlation techniques using synthetic atmospheric absorption models. Results. We report a cross-correlation peak at a signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) of 6.6, revealing the presence of water in the transmission spectrum of HD 189733 b. The absorption signal appeared slightly blueshifted at –3.9 ± 1.3 km s−1. We measured the individual cross-correlation signals of the water bands at 1.15 and 1.4 μm, finding cross-correlation peaks at S/N of 4.9 and 4.4, respectively. The 1.4 μm feature is consistent with that observed with the Hubble Space Telescope. Conclusions. The water bands studied in this work have been mainly observed in a handful of planets from space. Being able also to detect them individually from the ground at higher spectral resolution can provide insightful information to constrain the properties of exoplanet atmospheres. Although the current multi-band detections can not yet constrain atmospheric haze models for HD 189733 b, future observations at higher S/N could provide an alternative way to achieve this aim.
Ultra-hot Jupiters (UHJs) are highly irradiated giant exoplanets with extremely high day-side temperatures, which lead to thermal dissociation of most molecular species. It is expected that the ...neutral hydrogen atom is one of the main species in the upper atmospheres of UHJs. Neutral hydrogen has been detected in several UHJs by observing their Balmer line absorption. In this work, we report four transit observations of the UHJ WASP-33b, performed with the CARMENES and HARPS-North spectrographs, and the detection of the H
α
, H
β
, and H
γ
lines in the planetary transmission spectrum. The combined H
α
transmission spectrum of the four transits has an absorption depth of 0.99 ± 0.05%, which corresponds to an effective radius of 1.31 ± 0.01
R
p
. The strong H
α
absorption indicates that the line probes the high-altitude thermosphere. We further fitted the three Balmer lines using the
PAWN
model, assuming that the atmosphere is hydrodynamic and in local thermodynamic equilibrium. We retrieved a thermosphere temperature 12 200
−1000
+1300
K and a mass-loss rate
Ṁ
= 1011.8
−0.5
+0.6
g s
−1
. The retrieved high mass-loss rate is compatible with the “Balmer-driven” atmospheric escape scenario, in which the stellar Balmer continua radiation in the near-ultraviolet is substantially absorbed by excited hydrogen atoms in the planetary thermosphere.
We report the detection of the secondary eclipse of HAT-P-11 b, a Neptune-sized planet orbiting an active K4 dwarf. Using all available short-cadence data of the Kepler mission, we derive refined ...planetary ephemeris increasing their precision by more than an order of magnitude. Our simultaneous primary and secondary transit modeling results in improved transit and orbital parameters. In particular, the precise timing of the secondary eclipse allows to pin down the orbital eccentricity to 0.26459-0.00048+0.00069. The secondary eclipse depth of 6.09-1.11+1.12 ppm corresponds to a 5.5σ detection and results in a geometric albedo of 0.39 ± 0.07 for HAT-P-11 b, close to Neptune’s value, which may indicate further resemblances between these two bodies. Due to the substantial orbital eccentricity, the planetary equilibrium temperature is expected to change significantly with orbital position and ought to vary between 630 K and 950 K, depending on the details of heat redistribution in the atmosphere of HAT-P-11 b.
The center-to-limb variation (CLV) describes the brightness of the stellar disk as a function of the limb angle. Across strong absorption lines, the CLV can vary quite significantly. We obtained a ...densely sampled time series of high-resolution transit spectra of the active planet host star HD 189733 with UVES. Using the passing planetary disk of the hot Jupiter HD 189733 b as a probe, we study the CLV in the wings of the Ca II H and K and Na I D sub(1) and D sub(2) Fraunhofer lines, which are not strongly affected by activity-induced variability. In agreement with model predictions, our analysis shows that the wings of the studied Fraunhofer lines are limb brightened with respect to the (quasi-(continuum. The strength of the CLV-induced effect can be on the same order as signals found for hot Jupiter atmospheres. Therefore, a careful treatment of the wavelength dependence of the stellar CLV in strong absorption lines is highly relevant in the interpretation of planetary transit spectroscopy.
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