Clouds in the atmosphere of the super-Earth exoplanet GJ 1214b
Laura Kreidberg,Jacob L. Bean,Jean-Michel Desert,Björn Benneke,Drake Deming,Kevin B. Stevenson,Sara Seager,Zachory K. Berta-Thompson,Andreas Seifahrt,Derek Homeier +9 more
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TLDR
A measurement of the transmission spectrum of GJ 1214b at near-infrared wavelengths is reported, sufficiently precise to detect absorption features from a high mean-molecular-mass atmosphere and rule out cloud-free atmospheric models with compositions dominated by water, methane, carbon monoxide, nitrogen or carbon dioxide.Abstract:
Recent surveys have revealed that planets intermediate in size between Earth and Neptune (‘super-Earths’) are among the most common planets in the Galaxy. Atmospheric studies are the next step towards developing a comprehensive understanding of this new class of object. Much effort has been focused on using transmission spectroscopy to characterize the atmosphere of the super-Earth archetype GJ 1214b, but previous observations did not have sufficient precision to distinguish between two interpretations for the atmosphere. The planet’s atmosphere could be dominated by relatively heavy molecules, such as water (for example, a 100 per cent water vapour composition), or it could contain high-altitude clouds that obscure its lower layers. Here we report a measurement of the transmission spectrum of GJ 1214b at near-infrared wavelengths that definitively resolves this ambiguity. The data, obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope, are sufficiently precise to detect absorption features from a high mean-molecular-mass atmosphere. The observed spectrum, however, is featureless. We rule out cloud-free atmospheric models with compositions dominated by water, methane, carbon monoxide, nitrogen or carbon dioxide at greater than 5σ confidence. The planet’s atmosphere must contain clouds to be consistent with the data.read more
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The PLATO 2.0 mission
Heike Rauer,Heike Rauer,C. Catala,Conny Aerts,Thierry Appourchaux,Willy Benz,Alexis Brandeker,Jørgen Christensen-Dalsgaard,Magali Deleuil,Laurent Gizon,Laurent Gizon,M. J. Goupil,Manuel Güdel,Eduardo Janot-Pacheco,M. Mas-Hesse,Isabella Pagano,Giampaolo Piotto,Don Pollacco,Ċ. Santos,Andrew Smith,Juan Carlos Suárez,Róbert Szabó,Stéphane Udry,V. Adibekyan,Yann Alibert,J. M. Almenara,Pau Amaro-Seoane,M. Ammler-von Eiff,Martin Asplund,E. Antonello,Sydney A. Barnes,Frédéric Baudin,K. Belkacem,Maria Bergemann,G. Bihain,Aaron C. Birch,Xavier Bonfils,Isabelle Boisse,Aldo S. Bonomo,Francesco Borsa,I. M. Brandão,Enzo Brocato,S. Brun,Matthew R. Burleigh,R. Burston,Juan Cabrera,Santi Cassisi,William J. Chaplin,Stéphane Charpinet,Cristina Chiappini,Ross P. Church,Sz. Csizmadia,Margarida S. Cunha,Mario Damasso,Mario Damasso,Melvyn B. Davies,Hans J. Deeg,Rodrigo F. Díaz,Stefan Dreizler,C. Dreyer,C. Dreyer,P. Eggenberger,David Ehrenreich,Philipp Eigmüller,Anders Erikson,Robert Farmer,Sofia Feltzing,F. De Oliveira Fialho,Pedro Figueira,T. Forveille,Malcolm Fridlund,Rafael A. García,Paolo Giommi,G. Giuffrida,G. Giuffrida,M. Godolt,J. Gomes da Silva,T. Granzer,John Lee Grenfell,A. Grotsch-Noels,E. Günther,Carole A. Haswell,A. P. Hatzes,Guillaume Hébrard,Saskia Hekker,Saskia Hekker,Ravit Helled,Kevin Heng,Jon M. Jenkins,Anders Johansen,Maxim L. Khodachenko,Kristina G. Kislyakova,Wilhelm Kley,Ulrich Kolb,Natalie A. Krivova,Friedrich Kupka,Helmut Lammer,Antonino F. Lanza,Yveline Lebreton,Demetrio Magrin,P. Marcos-Arenal,P. M. Marrese,P. M. Marrese,J. P. Marques,J. H. C. Martins,S. Mathis,Savita Mathur,S. Messina,Andrea Miglio,Josefina Montalbán,M. Montalto,Mário J. P. F. G. Monteiro,Hamed Moradi,Ehsan Moravveji,Christoph Mordasini,Thierry Morel,Annelies Mortier,Valerio Nascimbeni,Richard P. Nelson,Martin Bo Nielsen,Lena Noack,Andrew Norton,Aviv Ofir,Mahmoudreza Oshagh,R.-M. Ouazzani,Péter Pápics,V. C. Parro,Pascal Petit,Bertrand Plez,Ennio Poretti,Andreas Quirrenbach,Roberto Ragazzoni,Giuliano Raimondo,Monica Rainer,Daniel R. Reese,Ronald Redmer,Sabine Reffert,Bárbara Rojas-Ayala,Ian W. Roxburgh,Stéphanie Salmon,Alexandre Santerne,Jean Schneider,Jesper Schou,Sonja Schuh,Hannah Schunker,A. Silva-Valio,Roberto Silvotti,I. Skillen,Ignas Snellen,Frank Sohl,S. G. Sousa,Alessandro Sozzetti,Dennis Stello,Klaus G. Strassmeier,Michal Švanda,Gy. M. Szabó,Gy. M. Szabó,Andrew Tkachenko,Diana Valencia,Valérie Van Grootel,Sylvie Vauclair,Paolo Ventura,F. W. Wagner,N. A. Walton,Joerg Weingrill,Stephanie C. Werner,Peter J. Wheatley,Konstanze Zwintz +167 more
TL;DR: The PLATO 2.0 mission as discussed by the authors has been selected for ESA's M3 launch opportunity (2022/24) to provide accurate key planet parameters (radius, mass, density and age) in statistical numbers.
Journal ArticleDOI
A continuum from clear to cloudy hot-Jupiter exoplanets without primordial water depletion
David K. Sing,Jonathan J. Fortney,Nikolay Nikolov,Hannah R. Wakeford,Tiffany Kataria,Thomas M. Evans,Suzanne Aigrain,Gilda E. Ballester,Adam Burrows,Drake Deming,Jean-Michel Desert,Neale P. Gibson,Gregory W. Henry,Catherine M. Huitson,Heather Knutson,Alain Lecavelier des Etangs,Frederic Pont,Adam P. Showman,Alfred Vidal-Madjar,Michael H. Williamson,Paul Wilson +20 more
TL;DR: The difference between the planetary radius measured at optical and infrared wavelengths is an effective metric for distinguishing different atmosphere types, so that strong water absorption lines are seen in clear-atmosphere planets and the weakest features are associated with clouds and hazes.
Journal ArticleDOI
How to constrain your m dwarf: measuring effective temperature, bolometric luminosity, mass, and radius
Andrew W. Mann,Andrew W. Mann,Gregory A. Feiden,Eric Gaidos,Eric Gaidos,Tabetha S. Boyajian,Kaspar von Braun +6 more
TL;DR: In this article, precise and accurate parameters for late-type (late K and M) dwarf stars are important for characterization of any orbiting planets, but such determinations have been hampered by these stars' compl...
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Temperate Earth-sized planets transiting a nearby ultracool dwarf star
Michaël Gillon,Emmanuel Jehin,Susan M. Lederer,Laetitia Delrez,Julien de Wit,Artem Burdanov,Valérie Van Grootel,Adam J. Burgasser,Amaury H. M. J. Triaud,Cyrielle Opitom,Brice-Olivier Demory,D. K. Sahu,Daniella C. Bardalez Gagliuffi,Pierre Magain,Didier Queloz +14 more
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