Space-based high-contrast imaging mission concepts for studying rocky exoplanets in reflected light are currently under community study. We develop an inverse modeling framework to estimate the ...science return of such missions given different instrument design considerations. By combining an exoplanet albedo model, instrument noise model, and ensemble Markov chain Monte Carlo sampler, we explore retrievals of atmospheric and planetary properties for Earth twins as a function of signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) and resolution (R). Our forward model includes Rayleigh-scattering, single-layer water clouds with patchy coverage, and pressure-dependent absorption due to water vapor, oxygen, and ozone. We simulate data at R = 70 and 140 from 0.4 to 1.0 m with S/N = 5, 10, 15, and 20 at 550 nm (i.e., for HabEx/LUVOIR-type instruments). At these same S/Ns, we simulate data for WFIRST paired with a starshade, which includes two photometric points between 0.48 and 0.6 m and R = 50 spectroscopy from 0.6 to 0.97 m. Given our noise model for WFIRST-type detectors, we find that weak detections of water vapor, ozone, and oxygen can be achieved with observations with at least R = 70/S/N = 15 or R = 140/S/N = 10 for improved detections. Meaningful constraints are only achieved with R = 140/S/N = 20 data. The WFIRST data offer limited diagnostic information, needing at least S/N = 20 to weakly detect gases. Most scenarios place limits on planetary radius but cannot constrain surface gravity and, thus, planetary mass.
Using the integral field spectrograph OSIRIS, on the Keck II telescope, broad near-infrared H- and K-band spectra of the young exoplanet HR8799b have been obtained. In addition, six new narrowband ...photometric measurements have been taken across the H and K bands. These data are combined with previously published photometry for an analysis of the planet's atmospheric properties. Thick photospheric dust cloud opacity is invoked to explain the planet's red near-IR colors and relatively smooth near-IR spectrum. Strong water absorption is detected, indicating a hydrogen-rich atmosphere. Only weak CH4 absorption is detected at K band, indicating efficient vertical mixing and a disequilibrium CO/CH4 ratio at photospheric depths. The H-band spectrum has a distinct triangular shape consistent with low surface gravity. New giant planet atmosphere models are compared to these data with best-fitting bulk parameters, T eff = 1100 K ?100 and log (g) = 3.5 ? 0.5 (for solar composition). Given the observed luminosity (log L obs/L ~ -- 5.1), these values correspond to a radius of 0.75 R Jup +0.17 -- 0.12 and a mass of ~0.72 M Jup +2.6 -- 0.6--strikingly inconsistent with interior/evolution models. Enhanced metallicity (up to ~10X that of the Sun) along with thick clouds and non-equilibrium chemistry are likely required to reproduce the complete ensemble of spectroscopic and photometric data and the low effective temperatures (<1000 K) required by the evolution models.
Abstract
We reanalyze the near-infrared spectra of the young extrasolar giant planet 51 Eridani b, which was originally presented in Macintosh et al. and Rajan et al. using modern atmospheric models, ...including a self-consistent treatment of disequilibrium chemistry due to turbulent vertical mixing. In addition, we investigate the possibility that significant opacity from micrometeors or other impactors in the planet’s atmosphere may be responsible for shaping the observed spectral energy distribution (SED). We find that disequilibrium chemistry is useful for describing the mid-infrared colors of the planet’s spectra, especially in regard to photometric data at the
M
band around 4.5
μ
m, which is the result of superequilibrium abundances of carbon monoxide, while the micrometeors are unlikely to play a pivotal role in shaping the SED. The best-fitting, micrometeoroid dust–free, disequilibrium chemistry, patchy cloud model has the following parameters: effective temperature
T
eff
= 681 K with clouds (or without clouds, i.e., the grid temperature
T
grid
= 900 K), surface gravity
g
= 1000 m s
−2
, sedimentation efficiency
f
sed
= 10, vertical eddy diffusion coefficient
K
zz
= 10
3
cm
2
s
−1
, cloud hole fraction
f
hole
= 0.2, and planet radius
R
planet
= 1.0
R
Jup
.
Direct imaging of exoplanetary systems is a powerful technique that can reveal Jupiter-like planets in wide orbits, can enable detailed characterization of planetary atmospheres, and is a key step ...toward imaging Earth-like planets. Imaging detections are challenging because of the combined effect of small angular separation and large luminosity contrast between a planet and its host star. High-contrast observations with the Keck and Gemini telescopes have revealed three planets orbiting the star HR 8799, with projected separations of 24, 38, and 68 astronomical units. Multi-epoch data show counter clockwise orbital motion for all three imaged planets. The low luminosity of the companions and the estimated age of the system imply planetary masses between 5 and 13 times that of Jupiter. This system resembles a scaled-up version of the outer portion of our solar system.
The properties of 2M1207b, a young (~8 Myr) planet-mass companion, have lacked a satisfactory explanation for some time. The combination of low luminosity, red near-IR colors, and L-type near-IR ...spectrum (previously consistent with T eff ~ 1600 K) implies an abnormally small radius. Early explanations for the apparent underluminosity of 2M1207b invoked an edge-on disk or the remnant of a recent protoplanetary collision. The discovery of a second planet-mass object (HR8799b) with similar luminosity and colors as 2M1207b indicates that a third explanation, one of a purely atmospheric nature, is more likely. By including clouds, non-equilibrium chemistry, and low gravity, an atmosphere with effective temperature consistent with evolution cooling-track predictions is revealed. Consequently, 2M1207b, and others like it, requires no new physics to explain nor do they belong to a new class of objects. Instead they most likely represent the natural extension of cloudy substellar atmospheres down to low T eff and log (g). If this atmosphere only explanation for 2M1207b is correct, then very young planet-mass objects with near-IR spectra similar to field T dwarfs may be rare.
We describe a Bayesian rejection-sampling algorithm designed to efficiently compute posterior distributions of orbital elements for data covering short fractions of long-period exoplanet orbits. Our ...implementation of this method, Orbits for the Impatient (OFTI), converges up to several orders of magnitude faster than two implementations of Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) in this regime. We illustrate the efficiency of our approach by showing that OFTI calculates accurate posteriors for all existing astrometry of the exoplanet 51 Eri b up to 100 times faster than a Metropolis-Hastings MCMC. We demonstrate the accuracy of OFTI by comparing our results for several orbiting systems with those of various MCMC implementations, finding the output posteriors to be identical within shot noise. We also describe how our algorithm was used to successfully predict the location of 51 Eri b six months in the future based on less than three months of astrometry. Finally, we apply OFTI to 10 long-period exoplanets and brown dwarfs, all but one of which have been monitored over less than 3% of their orbits, producing fits to their orbits from astrometric records in the literature.
We present optical and near-infrared high-contrast images of the transitional disk HD 100546 taken with the Magellan Adaptive Optics system (MagAO) and the Gemini Planet Imager (GPI). GPI data ...include both polarized intensity and total intensity imagery, and MagAO data are taken in Simultaneous Differential Imaging mode at H . The new GPI H-band total intensity data represent a significant enhancement in sensitivity and field rotation compared to previous data sets and enable a detailed exploration of substructure in the disk. The data are processed with a variety of differential imaging techniques (polarized, angular, reference, and simultaneous differential imaging) in an attempt to identify the disk structures that are most consistent across wavelengths, processing techniques, and algorithmic parameters. The inner disk cavity at 15 au is clearly resolved in multiple data sets, as are a variety of spiral features. While the cavity and spiral structures are identified at levels significantly distinct from the neighboring regions of the disk under several algorithms and with a range of algorithmic parameters, emission at the location of HD 100546 "c" varies from point-like under aggressive algorithmic parameters to a smooth continuous structure with conservative parameters, and is consistent with disk emission. Features identified in the HD 100546 disk bear qualitative similarity to computational models of a moderately inclined two-armed spiral disk, where projection effects and wrapping of the spiral arms around the star result in a number of truncated spiral features in forward-modeled images.
Abstract
The carbon-to-oxygen (C/O) ratio in an exoplanet atmosphere has been suggested as a potential diagnostic of planet formation. Now that a number of exoplanets have measured C/O ratios, it is ...possible to examine this diagnostic at a population level. Here, we present an analysis of currently measured C/O ratios of directly imaged and transit/eclipse planets. First, we derive atmospheric parameters for the substellar companion HD 284149 AB b using data taken with the OSIRIS integral field spectrograph at the W.M. Keck Observatory and report two non-detections from our ongoing imaging spectroscopy survey with Keck/OSIRIS. We find an effective temperature of
T
eff
= 2502 K, with a range of 2291–2624 K,
log
g
=
4.52
, with a range of 4.38–4.91, and M/H = 0.37, with a range of 0.10–0.55. We derive a C/O of
0.59
−
0.30
+
0.15
for HD 284149 AB b. We add this measurement to the list of C/O ratios for directly imaged planets and compare them with those from a sample of transit/eclipse planets. We also derive the first dynamical mass estimate for HD 284149 AB b, finding a mass of ∼28
M
Jup
. There is a trend in C/O ratio with companion mass (
M
Jup
), with a break seen around 4
M
Jup
. We run a Kolmogorov–Smirnov and an Anderson–Darling test on planets above and below this mass boundary, and find that they are two distinct populations. This could be additional evidence of two distinct populations possibly having two different formation pathways, with companion mass as an indicator of most likely formation scenario.
Multi-wavelength observations/spectroscopy of exoplanetary atmospheres are the basis of the emerging exciting field of comparative exoplanetology. The HR 8799 planetary system is an ideal laboratory ...to study our current knowledge gap between massive field brown dwarfs and the cold 5 Gyr old solar system planets. The HR 8799 planets have so far been imaged at J- to L-band, with only upper limits available at M-band. We present here deep high-contrast Keck II adaptive optics M-band observations that show the imaging detection of three of the four currently known HR 8799 planets. Such detections were made possible due to the development of an innovative LOCI-based background subtraction scheme that is three times more efficient than a classical median background subtraction for Keck II AO data, representing a gain in telescope time of up to a factor of nine. These M-band detections extend the broadband photometric coverage out to similar to 5 mu m and provide access to the strong CO fundamental absorption band at 4.5 mu m. The new M-band photometry shows that the HR 8799 planets are located near the L/T-type dwarf transition, similar to what was found by other studies. We also confirm that the best atmospheric fits are consistent with low surface gravity, dusty, and non-equilibrium CO/CH4 chemistry models.
Atmospheric characterization of directly imaged planets has thus far been limited to ground-based observations of young, self-luminous, Jovian planets. Near-term space- and ground- based facilities ...like WFIRST and ELTs will be able to directly image mature Jovian planets in reflected light, a critical step in support of future facilities that aim to directly image terrestrial planets in reflected light (e.g., HabEx, LUVOIR). These future facilities are considering the use of photometry to classify planets. Here, we investigate the intricacies of using colors to classify gas-giant planets by analyzing a grid of 9120 theoretical reflected light spectra spread across different metallicities, pressure-temperature profiles, cloud properties, and phase angles. We determine how correlated these planet parameters are with the colors in the WFIRST photometric bins and other photometric bins proposed in the literature. Then we outline under what conditions giant planet populations can be classified using several supervised multivariate classification algorithms. We find that giant planets imaged in reflected light can be classified by metallicity with an accuracy of >90% if they are a prior known to not have significant cloud coverage in the visible part of the atmosphere, and at least three filter observations are available. If the presence of clouds is not known a priori, directly imaged planets can be more accurately classified by their cloud properties, as oppposed to metallicity or temperature. Furthermore, we are able to distinguish between cloudy and cloud-free populations with >90% accuracy with three filter observations. Our statistical pipeline is available on GitHub and can be extended to optimize science yield of future mission concepts.
PDF
