Search

In the last few decades, planet search surveys have been focusing on solar-type stars, and only recently the high-mass regimes. This is mostly due to challenges arising from the lack of instrumental precision, and more importantly, the inherent active nature of fast-rotating massive stars. Here, we report NGTS-33b (TOI-6442b), a super-Jupiter planet with mass, radius, and orbital period of 3.6 |$\pm$| 0.3 M |$_{\rm J}$|⁠ , 1.64 |$\pm$| 0.07 R |$_{\rm J}$|⁠ , and |$2.827\,972 \pm 0.000\,001$|  d, respectively. The host is a fast-rotating (⁠|$0.6654 \pm 0.0006$|  d) and hot (T |$_{\rm eff}$| = 7437 |$\pm$| 72 K) A9V type star, with a mass and radius of 1.60 |$\pm$| 0.11 M |$_{\odot }$| and 1.47 |$\pm$| 0.06 R |$_{\odot }$|⁠ , respectively. Planet structure and gyrochronology models show that NGTS-33 is also very young with age limits of 10–50 Myr. In addition, membership analysis points towards the star being part of the Vela OB2 association, which has an age of |$\sim$| 20–35 Myr, thus providing further evidence about the young nature of NGTS-33. Its low bulk density of 0.19 |$\pm$| 0.03 g cm |$^{-3}$| is 13 per cent smaller than expected when compared to transiting hot Jupiters (HJs) with similar masses. Such cannot be solely explained by its age, where an up to 15 per cent inflated atmosphere is expected from planet structure models. Finally, we found that its emission spectroscopy metric is similar to JWST community targets, making the planet an interesting target for atmospheric follow-up. Therefore, NGTS-33b's discovery will not only add to the scarce population of young, massive and HJs, but will also help place further strong constraints on current formation and evolution models for such planetary systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context. Hot and warm Jupiters might have undergone the same formation and evolution path, but the two populations exhibit different distributions of orbital parameters. This challenges our understanding of their actual origin. Aims. We report the results of our warm Jupiters survey, which was carried out with the CHIRON spectrograph within the KESPRINT collaboration. We addressed the question of the population origin by studying two planets that might help to bridge the gap between the two populations. Methods. We confirm two planets and determine their mass. One is a hot Jupiter (with an orbital period shorter than 10 days), TOI-2420 b, and the other is a warm Jupiter, TOI-2485 b. We analyzed them using a wide variety of spectral and photometric data in order to characterize these planetary systems. Results. We found that TOI-2420 b has an orbital period of Pb=5.8 days, a mass of Mb=0.9 MJ, and a radius of Rb=1.3 RJ, with a planetary density of 0.477 g cm−3. TOI-2485 b has an orbital period of Pb=11.2 days, a mass of Mb=2.4 MJ, and a radius of Rb=1.1 RJ with a density of 2.36 g cm−3. Conclusions. With the current parameters, the migration history for TOI-2420 b and TOI-2485 b is unclear: Scenarios of a high-eccentricity migration cannot be ruled out, and the characteristics of TOI-2485 b even support this scenario. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tidal orbital decay plays a vital role in the evolution of hot Jupiter systems. As of now, this has only been observationally confirmed for the WASP-12 system. There are a few other candidates, including WASP-4 b, but no conclusive result could be obtained for these systems as of yet. In this study, we present an analysis of new TESS data of WASP-4 b together with archival data, taking the light–time effect (LTE) induced by the second planetary companion into account as well. We make use of three different Markov chain Monte Carlo models: a circular orbit with a constant orbital period, a circular orbit with a decaying orbit, and an elliptical orbit with apsidal precession. This analysis is repeated for four cases. The first case features no LTE correction, with the remaining three cases featuring three different timing correction approaches because of the large uncertainties of the ephemeris of planet c. Comparison of these models yields no conclusive answer to the cause of WASP-4 b's apparent transit timing variations. A broad range of values of the orbital decay and apsidal precession parameters are possible, depending on the LTE correction. However, the LTE caused by planet c can explain on its own—in full—the observed transit timing variations of planet b, with no orbital decay or apsidal precession being required at all. This work highlights the importance of continued photometric and spectroscopic monitoring of hot Jupiters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We assess broadband color filters for the two fast cameras on the PLAnetary Transits and Oscillations of stars (PLATO) space mission with respect to exoplanetary atmospheric characterization. We focus on Ultra Hot Jupiters and Hot Jupiters placed 25pc and 100pc away from the Earth and warm Super-Earths placed 10pc and 25pc away. Our analysis takes as input literature values for the difference in transit depth between the broadband lower (500-675 nm) wavelength interval (hereafter referred to as" blue") and the upper (675-1125nm) broadband wavelength interval (hereafter referred to as" red") for transmission, occultation and phase curve analyses. Planets orbiting main sequence central stars with stellar classes F, G, K and M are investigated. We calculate the signal-to-noise ratio with respect to photon and instrument noise for detecting the difference in transit depth between the two spectral intervals. Results suggest that bulk atmospheric composition and planetary geometric albedos could be detected for (Ultra) Hot Jupiters up to ~ 100pc (~25pc) with strong (moderate) Rayleigh extinction. Phase curve information could be extracted for Ultra Hot Jupiters orbiting K and G dwarf stars up to 25pc away. For warm Super-Earths, basic atmospheric types (primary and water-dominated) and the presence of sub-micron hazes in the upper atmosphere could be distinguished for up to a handful of cases up to ~ 10pc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Next Generation Transit Survey (NGTS) is a photometric survey for transiting exoplanets, consisting of 12 identical 0.2‐m telescopes. We report a measurement of the transit of HD 106315 c using a novel observing mode in which multiple NGTS telescopes observed the same target, with the aim of increasing the signal‐to‐noise ratio. Combining the data allows the robust detection of the transit, which has a depth less than 0.1%, rivaling the performance of much larger telescopes. We demonstrate the capability of NGTS to contribute to the follow‐up of K2 and Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite discoveries using this observing mode. In particular, NGTS is well‐suited to the measurement of shallow transits of bright targets. This is particularly important to improve orbital ephemerides of relatively long‐period planets, where only a small number of transits are observed from space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We determine rotation periods for 127 stars in the ∼115-Myr-old Blanco 1 open cluster using ∼200 d of photometric monitoring with the Next Generation Transit Survey. These stars span F5–M3 spectral types (1.2 M⊙ ≳  M  ≳ 0.3 M⊙) and increase the number of known rotation periods in Blanco 1 by a factor of four. We determine rotation periods using three methods: Gaussian process (GP) regression, generalized autocorrelation function (G-ACF), and Lomb–Scargle (LS) periodogram, and find that the GP and G-ACF methods are more applicable to evolving spot modulation patterns. Between mid-F and mid-K spectral types, single stars follow a well-defined rotation sequence from ∼2 to 10 d, whereas stars in photometric multiple systems typically rotate faster. This may suggest that the presence of a moderate-to-high mass ratio companion inhibits angular momentum loss mechanisms during the early pre-main sequence, and this signature has not been erased at ∼100 Myr. The majority of mid-F to mid-K stars display evolving modulation patterns, whereas most M stars show stable modulation signals. This morphological change coincides with the shift from a well-defined rotation sequence (mid-F to mid-K stars) to a broad rotation period distribution (late-K and M stars). Finally, we compare our rotation results for Blanco 1 to the similarly aged Pleiades: the single-star populations in both clusters possess consistent rotation period distributions, which suggests that the angular momentum evolution of stars follows a well-defined pathway that is, at least for mid-F to mid-K stars, strongly imprinted by ∼100 Myr. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context. The characterisation of the atmosphere of exoplanets is one of the main goals of exoplanet science in the coming decades. Aims. We investigate the detectability of atmospheric spectral features of Earth-like planets in the habitable zone (HZ) around M dwarfs with the future James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). Methods. We used a coupled 1D climate-chemistry-model to simulate the influence of a range of observed and modelled M-dwarf spectra on Earth-like planets. The simulated atmospheres served as input for the calculation of the transmission spectra of the hypothetical planets, using a line-by-line spectral radiative transfer model. To investigate the spectroscopic detectability of absorption bands with JWST we further developed a signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) model and applied it to our transmission spectra. Results. High abundances of methane (CH4) and water (H2O) in the atmosphere of Earth-like planets around mid to late M dwarfs increase the detectability of the corresponding spectral features compared to early M-dwarf planets. Increased temperatures in the middle atmosphere of mid- to late-type M-dwarf planets expand the atmosphere and further increase the detectability of absorption bands. To detect CH4, H2O, and carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere of an Earth-like planet around a mid to late M dwarf observing only one transit with JWST could be enough up to a distance of 4 pc and less than ten transits up to a distance of 10 pc. As a consequence of saturation limits of JWST and less pronounced absorption bands, the detection of spectral features of hypothetical Earth-like planets around most early M dwarfs would require more than ten transits. We identify 276 existing M dwarfs (including GJ 1132, TRAPPIST-1, GJ 1214, and LHS 1140) around which atmospheric absorption features of hypothetical Earth-like planets could be detected by co-adding just a few transits. Conclusions. The TESS satellite will likely find new transiting terrestrial planets within 15 pc from the Earth. We show that using transmission spectroscopy, JWST could provide enough precision to be able to partly characterise the atmosphere of TESS findings with an Earth-like composition around mid to late M dwarfs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report the discovery and characterization of an eclipsing M5Vdwarf star, orbiting a slightly evolved F7V main sequence star. In contrast to previous claims in the literature, we confirm that the system does not belong to the galactic open cluster Ruprecht 147. We determine its fundamental parameters combining K2 time-series data with spectroscopic observations from the McDonald Observatory, FIES@NOT, and HIRES@KECK. The very precise photometric data from the K2 mission allows us to measure variations caused by the beaming effect (relativistic doppler boosting), ellipsoidal variation, reflection, and the secondary eclipse. We determined the radial velocity using spectroscopic observations and compare it to the radial velocity determined from the beaming effect observed in the photometric data. The M5V star has a radius of $$0.200 ^{+0.007 }_{ -0.008}$$   R⊙ and a mass of $$0.187 ^{+0.012 }_{ -0.013}$$   M⊙. The primary star has a radius of $$1.518 ^{+0.038 }_{ -0.049}$$  R⊙ and a mass of $$1.008 ^{+0.081 }_{ -0.097}$$  M⊙. The orbital period is 5.441995 ± 0.000007 d. The system is one of the few eclipsing systems with observed beaming effect and spectroscopic radial velocity measurements and it can be used as a test case for the modelling of the beaming effect. Current and forthcoming space missions such as TESS and PLATO might benefit from the analysis of the beaming effect to estimate the mass of transiting companions without the need for radial velocity follow up observations, provided that the systematic sources of noise affecting this method are well understood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

State-of-the art exoplanet transit surveys are producing ever increasing quantities of data. To make the best use of this resource, in detecting interesting planetary systems or in determining accurate planetary population statistics, requires new automated methods. Here, we describe a machine learning algorithm that forms an integral part of the pipeline for the NGTS transit survey, demonstrating the efficacy of machine learning in selecting planetary candidates from multi-night ground-based survey data. Our method uses a combination of random forests and self-organizing maps to rank planetary candidates, achieving an AUC score of 97.6 per cent in ranking 12368 injected planets against 27496 false positives in the NGTS data. We build on past examples by using injected transit signals to form a training set, a necessary development for applying similar methods to upcoming surveys. We also make the autovet code used to implement the algorithm publicly accessible. autovet is designed to perform machine-learned vetting of planetary candidates, and can utilize a variety of methods. The apparent robustness of machine learning techniques, whether on space-based or the qualitatively different ground-based data, highlights their importance to future surveys such as TESS and PLATO and the need to better understand their advantages and pitfalls in an exoplanetary context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Next Generation Transit Survey (NGTS), operating in Paranal since 2016, is a wide-field survey to detect Neptunes and super-Earths transiting bright stars, which are suitable for precise radial velocity follow-up and characterization. Thereby, its sub-mmag photometric precision and ability to identify false positives are crucial. Particularly, variable background objects blended in the photometric aperture frequently mimic Neptune-sized transits and are costly in follow-up time. These objects can best be identified with the centroiding technique: if the photometric flux is lost off-centre during an eclipse, the flux centroid shifts towards the centre of the target star. Although this method has successfully been employed by the Kepler mission, it has previously not been implemented from the ground. We present a fully automated centroid vetting algorithm developed for NGTS, enabled by our high-precision autoguiding. Our method allows detecting centroid shifts with an average precision of 0.75 milli-pixel (mpix), and down to 0.25 mpix for specific targets, for a pixel size of 4.97 arcsec. The algorithm is now part of the NGTS candidate vetting pipeline and automatically employed for all detected signals. Further, we develop a joint Bayesian fitting model for all photometric and centroid data, allowing to disentangle which object (target or background) is causing the signal, and what its astrophysical parameters are. We demonstrate our method on two NGTS objects of interest. These achievements make NGTS the first ground-based wide-field transit survey ever to successfully apply the centroiding technique for automated candidate vetting, enabling the production of a robust candidate list before follow-up. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We derive the 0.01-μmbinned transmission spectrum, between 0.74 and 1.0 μm, ofWASP-80b from low-resolution spectra obtained with the Focal Reducer and low-dispersion Spectrograph 2 instrument attached to ESO's Very Large Telescope. The combination of the fact that WASP-80 is an active star, together with instrumental and telluric factors, introduces correlated noise in the observed transit light curves, which we treat quantitatively using Gaussian processes. Comparison of our results together with those from previous studies to theoretically calculated models reveals an equilibrium temperature in agreement with the previously measured value of 825 K, and a subsolar metallicity, as well as an atmosphere depleted of molecular species with absorption bands in the infrared (⪢5σ). Our transmission spectrum alone shows evidence for additional absorption from the potassium core and wing, whereby its presence is detected from analysis of narrow 0.003 μm bin light curves (⪢5σ). Further observations with visible and near-ultraviolet filters will be required to expand this spectrum and provide more in-depth knowledge of the atmosphere. These detections are only made possible through an instrument-dependent baseline model and a careful analysis of systematics in the data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

WASP-80b is a missing link in the study of exoatmospheres. It falls between the warm Neptunes and the hot Jupiters and is amenable for characterization, thanks to its host star's properties. We observed the planet through transit and during occultation with Warm Spitzer. Combining our mid-infrared transits with optical time series, we find that the planet presents a transmission spectrum indistinguishable from a horizontal line. In emission, WASP-80b is the intrinsically faintest planet whose dayside flux has been detected in both the 3.6 and 4.5 μm Spitzer channels. The depths of the occultations reveal that WASP-80b is as bright and as red as a T4 dwarf, but that its temperature is cooler. If planets go through the equivalent of an L-T transition, our results would imply that this happens at cooler temperatures than for brown dwarfs. Placing WASP-80b's dayside into a colour-magnitude diagram, it falls exactly at the junction between a blackbody model and the T-dwarf sequence; we cannot discern which of those two interpretations is the more likely. WASP-80b's flux density is as low as GJ 436b at 3.6 μm; the planet's dayside is also fainter, but bluer than HD 189733Ab's nightside (in the [3.6] and [4.5]Spitzer bands). Flux measurements on other planets with similar equilibrium temperatures are required to establish whether irradiated gas giants, such as brown dwarfs, transition between two spectral classes. An eventual detection of methane absorption in transmission would also help lift that degeneracy. We obtained a second series of high-resolution spectra during transit, using HARPS. We reanalyse the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect. The data now favour an aligned orbital solution and a stellar rotation nearly three times slower than stellar line broadening implies. A contribution to stellar line broadening, maybe macroturbulence, is likely to have been underestimated for cool stars, whose rotations have therefore been systematically overestimated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

WASP-43b is one of the closest-orbiting hot Jupiters, with a semimajor axis of a = 0.01526 ± 0.00018 AU and a period of only 0.81 days. However, it orbits one of the coolest stars with a hot Jupiter (T* = 4520 ± 120 K), giving the planet a modest equilibrium temperature of Teq = 1440 ± 40 K, assuming zero Bond albedo and uniform planetary energy redistribution. The eclipse depths and brightness temperatures from our jointly fit model are 0.347% ± 0.013% and 1670 ± 23 K at 3.6 μm and 0.382% ± 0.015% and 1514 ± 25 K at 4.5 μm. The eclipse timings improved the estimate of the orbital period, P, by a factor of three (P = 0.81347436 ± 1.4 × 10–7 days) and put an upper limit on the eccentricity (). We use our Spitzer eclipse depths along with four previously reported ground-based photometric observations in the near-infrared to constrain the atmospheric properties of WASP-43b. The data rule out a strong thermal inversion in the dayside atmosphere of WASP-43b. Model atmospheres with no thermal inversions and fiducial oxygen-rich compositions are able to explain all the available data. However, a wide range of metallicities and C/O ratios can explain the data. The data suggest low day-night energy redistribution in the planet, consistent with previous studies, with a nominal upper limit of about 35% for the fraction of energy incident on the dayside that is redistributed to the nightside. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We observe two secondary eclipses of the strongly irradiated transiting planet WASP-33b, in the Ks band at 2.15 μm, and one secondary eclipse each at 3.6 μm and 4.5 μm using Warm Spitzer. This planet orbits an A5V δ-Scuti star that is known to exhibit low-amplitude non-radial p-mode oscillations at about 0.1% semi-amplitude. We detect stellar oscillations in all of our infrared eclipse data, and also in one night of observations at J band (1.25 μm) out of eclipse. The oscillation amplitude, in all infrared bands except Ks, is about the same as in the optical. However, the stellar oscillations in Ks band (2.15 μm) have about twice the amplitude (0.2%) as seen in the optical, possibly because the Brackett-γ line falls in this bandpass. As regards the exoplanetary eclipse, we use our best-fit values for the eclipse depth, as well as the 0.9 μm eclipse observed by Smith et al., to explore possible states of the exoplanetary atmosphere, based on the method of Madhusudhan & Seager. On this basis we find two possible states for the atmospheric structure of WASP-33b. One possibility is a non-inverted temperature structure in spite of the strong irradiance, but this model requires an enhanced carbon abundance (C/O > 1). The alternative model has solar composition, but an inverted temperature structure. Spectroscopy of the planet at secondary eclipse, using a spectral resolution that can resolve the water vapor band structure, should be able to break the degeneracy between these very different possible states of the exoplanetary atmosphere. However, both of those model atmospheres absorb nearly all of the stellar irradiance with minimal longitudinal re-distribution of energy, strengthening the hypothesis of Cowan & Agol that the most strongly irradiated planets circulate energy poorly. Our measurement of the central phase of the eclipse yields ecos ω = 0.0003 ± 0.00013, which we regard as being consistent with a circular orbit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]