The simulation of intraseasonal precipitation variability over China in extended
summer (May–October) is evaluated based on six climate simulations of the
Met Office Unified Model. Two simulations ...use the Global Atmosphere 6.0 (GA6)
and four the Global Coupled 2.0 (GC2) configuration. Model biases are large
such that mean precipitation and intraseasonal variability reach twice their
observed values, particularly in southern China. To test the impact of
air–sea coupling and horizontal resolution, GA6 and GC2 at horizontal
resolutions corresponding to ∼25, 60, and 135 km at 50∘ N are
analyzed. Increasing the horizontal resolution and adding air–sea coupling
have little effect on these biases. Pre-monsoon rainfall in the Yangtze River
basin is too strong in all simulations. Simulated rainfall amounts in June
are too high along the southern coast and persist in the coastal region
through July, with only a weak northward progression. The observed northward
propagation of the Meiyu–Baiu–Changma rainband from spring to late summer
is poor in all GA6 and GC2 simulations. To assess how well the MetUM
simulates spatial patterns of temporally coherent precipitation, empirical
orthogonal teleconnection (EOT) analysis is applied to pentad-mean
precipitation. Patterns are connected to large-scale processes by regressing
atmospheric fields onto the EOT pentad time series. Most observed patterns of
intraseasonal rainfall variability are found in all simulations, including
the associated observed mechanisms. This suggests that GA6 and GC2 may
provide useful predictions of summer intraseasonal variability despite their
substantial biases in mean precipitation and overall intraseasonal variance.
High-precision eclipse spectrophotometry of transiting terrestrial exoplanets represents a promising path for the first atmospheric characterizations of habitable worlds and the search for life ...outside our solar system. The detection of terrestrial planets transiting nearby late-type M-dwarfs could make this approach applicable within the next decade, with soon-to-come general facilities. In this context, we previously identified GJ 1214 as a high-priority target for a transit search, as the transit probability of a habitable planet orbiting this nearby M4.5 dwarf would be significantly enhanced by the transiting nature of GJ 1214 b, the super-Earth already known to orbit the star. Based on this observation, we have set up an ambitious high-precision photometric monitoring of GJ 1214 with the Spitzer Space Telescope to probe the inner part of its habitable zone in search of a transiting planet as small as Mars. We present here the results of this transit search. Unfortunately, we did not detect any other transiting planets. Assuming that GJ 1214 hosts a habitable planet larger than Mars that has an orbital period smaller than 20.9 days, our global analysis of the whole Spitzer dataset leads to an a posteriori no-transit probability of ~98%. Our analysis allows us to significantly improve the characterization of GJ 1214 b, to measure its occultation depth to be 70 ± 35 ppm at 4.5 μm, and to constrain it to be smaller than 205 ppm (3σ upper limit) at 3.6 μm. In agreement with the many transmission measurements published so far for GJ 1214 b, these emission measurements are consistent with both a metal-rich and a cloudy hydrogen-rich atmosphere.
Context. Transmission spectroscopy has proven to be a useful tool for the study of exoplanet atmospheres, because the absorption and scattering signatures of the atmosphere manifest themselves as ...variations in the planetary transit depth. Several planets have been studied with this technique, leading to the detection of a small number of elements and molecules (Na, K, H2O), but also revealing that many planets show flat transmission spectra consistent with the presence of opaque high-altitude clouds. Aims. We apply this technique to the MP = 0.40MJ, Rp = 1.20RJ, P = 2.78 d planet WASP-49b, aiming to characterize its transmission spectrum between 0.73 and 1 ¯m and search for the features of K and H2O. Owing to its density and temperature, the planet is predicted to possess an extended atmosphere and is thus a good target for transmission spectroscopy. Methods. Three transits of WASP-49b have been observed with the FORS2 instrument installed at the VLT/UT1 telescope at the ESO Paranal site. We used FORS2 in MXU mode with grism GRIS_600z, producing simultaneous multiwavelength transit light curves throughout the i′ and z′ bands. We combined these data with independent broadband photometry from the Euler and TRAPPIST telescopes to obtain a good measurement of the transit shape. Strong correlated noise structures are present in the FORS2 light curves, which are due to rotating flat-field structures that are introduced by inhomogeneities of the linear atmospheric dispersion corrector’s transparency. We accounted for these structures by constructing common noise models from the residuals of light curves bearing the same noise structures and used them together with simple parametric models to infer the transmission spectrum. Results. We present three independent transmission spectra of WASP-49b between 0.73 and 1.02 ¯m, as well as a transmission spectrum between 0.65 and 1.02 ¯m from the combined analysis of FORS2 and broadband data. The results obtained from the three individual epochs agree well. The transmission spectrum of WASP-49b is best fit by atmospheric models containing a cloud deck at pressure levels of 1 mbar or lower.
The nature of the TRAPPIST-1 exoplanets Grimm, Simon L.; Demory, Brice-Olivier; Gillon, Michaël ...
Astronomy and astrophysics (Berlin),
05/2018, Letnik:
613
Journal Article, Web Resource
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Context. The TRAPPIST-1 system hosts seven Earth-sized, temperate exoplanets orbiting an ultra-cool dwarf star. As such, it represents a remarkable setting to study the formation and evolution of ...terrestrial planets that formed in the same protoplanetary disk. While the sizes of the TRAPPIST-1 planets are all known to better than 5% precision, their densities have significant uncertainties (between 28% and 95%) because of poor constraints on the planet’s masses. Aims. The goal of this paper is to improve our knowledge of the TRAPPIST-1 planetary masses and densities using transit-timing variations (TTVs). The complexity of the TTV inversion problem is known to be particularly acute in multi-planetary systems (convergence issues, degeneracies and size of the parameter space), especially for resonant chain systems such as TRAPPIST-1. Methods. To overcome these challenges, we have used a novel method that employs a genetic algorithm coupled to a full N-body integrator that we applied to a set of 284 individual transit timings. This approach enables us to efficiently explore the parameter space and to derive reliable masses and densities from TTVs for all seven planets. Results. Our new masses result in a five- to eight-fold improvement on the planetary density uncertainties, with precisions ranging from 5% to 12%. These updated values provide new insights into the bulk structure of the TRAPPIST-1 planets. We find that TRAPPIST-1 c and e likely have largely rocky interiors, while planets b, d, f, g, and h require envelopes of volatiles in the form of thick atmospheres, oceans, or ice, in most cases with water mass fractions less than 5%.
We report the detection of the secondary eclipse of the hot Jupiter HD 209458 b in optical/visible light using the CHEOPS space telescope. Our measurement of 20.4
−3.3
+3.2
parts per million ...translates into a geometric albedo of
A
g
= 0.096 ± 0.016. The previously estimated dayside temperature of about 1500 K implies that our geometric albedo measurement consists predominantly of reflected starlight and is largely uncontaminated by thermal emission. This makes the present result one of the most robust measurements of
A
g
for any exoplanet. Our calculations of the bandpass-integrated geometric albedo demonstrate that the measured value of
A
g
is consistent with a cloud-free atmosphere, where starlight is reflected via Rayleigh scattering by hydrogen molecules, and the water and sodium abundances are consistent with stellar metallicity. We predict that the bandpass-integrated TESS geometric albedo is too faint to detect and that a phase curve of HD 209458 b observed by CHEOPS would have a distinct shape associated with Rayleigh scattering if the atmosphere is indeed cloud free.
The CHEOPS mission Benz, W.; Broeg, C.; Fortier, A. ...
Experimental astronomy,
2021, Letnik:
51, Številka:
1
Journal Article, Web Resource
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
The CHaracterising ExOPlanet Satellite (CHEOPS) was selected on October 19, 2012, as the first small mission (S-mission) in the ESA Science Programme and successfully launched on December 18, 2019, ...as a secondary passenger on a Soyuz-Fregat rocket from Kourou, French Guiana. CHEOPS is a partnership between ESA and Switzerland with important contributions by ten additional ESA Member States. CHEOPS is the first mission dedicated to search for transits of exoplanets using ultrahigh precision photometry on bright stars already known to host planets. As a follow-up mission, CHEOPS is mainly dedicated to improving, whenever possible, existing radii measurements or provide first accurate measurements for a subset of those planets for which the mass has already been estimated from ground-based spectroscopic surveys. The expected photometric precision will also allow CHEOPS to go beyond measuring only transits and to follow phase curves or to search for exo-moons, for example. Finally, by unveiling transiting exoplanets with high potential for in-depth characterisation, CHEOPS will also provide prime targets for future instruments suited to the spectroscopic characterisation of exoplanetary atmospheres. To reach its science objectives, requirements on the photometric precision and stability have been derived for stars with magnitudes ranging from 6 to 12 in the V band. In particular, CHEOPS shall be able to detect Earth-size planets transiting G5 dwarf stars (stellar radius of 0.9
R
⊙
) in the magnitude range 6 ≤
V
≤ 9 by achieving a photometric precision of 20 ppm in 6 hours of integration time. In the case of K-type stars (stellar radius of 0.7
R
⊙
) of magnitude in the range 9 ≤
V
≤ 12, CHEOPS shall be able to detect transiting Neptune-size planets achieving a photometric precision of 85 ppm in 3 hours of integration time. This precision has to be maintained over continuous periods of observation for up to 48 hours. This precision and stability will be achieved by using a single, frame-transfer, back-illuminated CCD detector at the focal plane assembly of a 33.5 cm diameter, on-axis Ritchey-Chrétien telescope. The nearly 275 kg spacecraft is nadir-locked, with a pointing accuracy of about 1 arcsec rms, and will allow for at least 1 Gbit/day downlink. The sun-synchronous dusk-dawn orbit at 700 km altitude enables having the Sun permanently on the backside of the spacecraft thus minimising Earth stray light. A mission duration of 3.5 years in orbit is foreseen to enable the execution of the science programme. During this period, 20% of the observing time is available to the wider community through yearly ESA call for proposals, as well as through discretionary time approved by ESA’s Director of Science. At the time of this writing, CHEOPS commissioning has been completed and CHEOPS has been shown to fulfill all its requirements. The mission has now started the execution of its science programme.
Context.
55 Cnc e is in a 0.73 day orbit transiting a Sun-like star. It has been observed that the occultation depth of this super-Earth, with a mass of 8
M
⊕
and radius of 2
R
⊕
, changes ...significantly over time at mid-infrared wavelengths. Observations with
Spitzer
measured a change in its day-side brightness temperature of 1200 K, possibly driven by volcanic activity, magnetic star-planet interaction, or the presence of a circumstellar torus of dust.
Aims.
Previous evidence for the variability in occultation was in the infrared range. Here we aim to explore if the variability also exists in the optical range.
Methods.
The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) observed 55 Cnc during sectors 21, 44, and 46. We carefully detrended the data and fitted a transit and occultation model for each sector in a Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) routine. In a later stage, we used the leave-one-out (LOO) cross-validation statistic to compare with a model of constant occultation for the complete set and a model with no occultation.
Results.
We report an occultation depth of 8 ± 2.5 ppm for the complete set of TESS observations. In particular, we measured a depth of 15 ± 4 ppm for sector 21, while for sector 44 we detected no occultation. In sector 46 we measured a weak occultation of 8 ± 5 ppm. The occultation depth varies from one sector to the next between 1.6 and 3.4
σ
significance. We derived the possible contribution on reflected light and thermal emission and set an upper limit on the geometric albedo. Based on our model comparison, the presence of an occultation is favoured considerably over no occultation, and the model with varying occultation across sectors takes most of the statistical weight.
Conclusions.
Our analysis confirms a detection of the occultation in TESS. Moreover, our results weakly lean towards a varying occultation depth between each sector, while the transit depth is constant across visits.
Evidence is presented, based on an ensemble of climate change scenarios performed with a global general circulation model of the atmosphere with high horizontal resolution over Europe, to suggest ...that the end-of-century anthropogenic climate change over the North Atlantic–European region strongly projects onto the positive phase of the North Atlantic Oscillation during wintertime. It is reflected in a doubling of the residence frequency of the climate system in the associated circulation regime, in agreement with the nonlinear climate perspective. The strong increase in the amplitude of the response, compared to coarse-resolution coupled model studies, suggests that improved model representation of regional climate is needed to achieve more reliable projections of anthropogenic climate change on European climate.
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