arXiv subjects

A. Bonfanti

Publications and source records attributed to A. Bonfanti.

66 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

arXiv2022

Spi-OPS: Spitzer and CHEOPS confirm the near-polar orbit of MASCARA-1 b and reveal a hint of dayside reflection

The light curves of tidally locked hot Jupiters transiting fast-rotating, early-type stars are a rich source of information about both the planet and star, with full-phase coverage enabling a detailed atmospheric characterisation of the planet. Although it is possible to determine the true spin-orbit angle $Ψ$, a notoriously difficult parameter to measure, from any transit asymmetry resulting from gravity darkening induced by the stellar rotation, the correlations that exist between the transit parameters have led to large disagreements in published values of $Ψ$ for some systems. We aimed to study these phenomena in the light curves of the ultra-hot Jupiter MASCARA-1 b. We obtained optical CHEOPS transit and occultation light curves of MASCARA-1 b, and analysed them jointly with a Spitzer/IRAC 4.5 $μ$m full-phase curve. When fitting the CHEOPS and Spitzer transits together, the degeneracies are greatly diminished and return results consistent with previously published Doppler tomography. Placing priors informed by the tomography achieves even better precision, allowing a determination of $Ψ=72.1^{+2.5}_{-2.4}$ deg. From the occultations and phase variations, we derived dayside and nightside temperatures of $3062^{+66}_{-68}$ K and $1720\pm330$ K, respectively. In addition, we could separately derive geometric albedo $A_g=0.171^{+0.066}_{-0.068}$ and spherical albedo $A_s=0.266^{+0.097}_{-0.100}$ from the CHEOPS data, and Bond albedo $A_B=0.057^{+0.083}_{-0.101}$ from the Spitzer phase curve. Where possible, priors informed by Doppler tomography should be used when fitting transits of fast-rotating stars, though multi-colour photometry may also unlock an accurate measurement of $Ψ$. Our approach to modelling the phase variations at different wavelengths provides a template for how to separate thermal emission from reflected light in spectrally resolved JWST phase curves.

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arXiv2022

Investigating the architecture and internal structure of the TOI-561 system planets with CHEOPS, HARPS-N and TESS

We present a precise characterization of the TOI-561 planetary system obtained by combining previously published data with TESS and CHEOPS photometry, and a new set of $62$ HARPS-N radial velocities (RVs). Our joint analysis confirms the presence of four transiting planets, namely TOI-561 b ($P = 0.45$ d, $R = 1.42$ R$_\oplus$, $M = 2.0$ M$_\oplus$), c ($P = 10.78$ d, $R = 2.91$ R$_\oplus$, $M = 5.4$ M$_\oplus$), d ($P = 25.7$ d, $R = 2.82$ R$_\oplus$, $M = 13.2$ M$_\oplus$) and e ($P = 77$ d, $R = 2.55$ R$_\oplus$, $M = 12.6$ M$_\oplus$). Moreover, we identify an additional, long-period signal ($>450$ d) in the RVs, which could be due to either an external planetary companion or to stellar magnetic activity. The precise masses and radii obtained for the four planets allowed us to conduct interior structure and atmospheric escape modelling. TOI-561 b is confirmed to be the lowest density ($ρ_{\rm b} = 3.8 \pm 0.5$ g cm$^{-3}$) ultra-short period (USP) planet known to date, and the low metallicity of the host star makes it consistent with the general bulk density-stellar metallicity trend. According to our interior structure modelling, planet b has basically no gas envelope, and it could host a certain amount of water. In contrast, TOI-561 c, d, and e likely retained an H/He envelope, in addition to a possibly large water layer. The inferred planetary compositions suggest different atmospheric evolutionary paths, with planets b and c having experienced significant gas loss, and planets d and e showing an atmospheric content consistent with the original one. The uniqueness of the USP planet, the presence of the long-period planet TOI-561 e, and the complex architecture make this system an appealing target for follow-up studies.

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arXiv2021

Constraining stellar rotation and planetary atmospheric evolution of a dozen systems hosting sub-Neptunes and super-Earths

We constrain the planetary atmospheric mass fraction at the time of the dispersal of the protoplanetary disk and the evolution of the stellar rotation rate for a dozen multi-planet systems that host sub-Neptunes and/or super-Earths. We employ a custom-developed Python code that we have dubbed Pasta (Planetary Atmospheres and Stellar roTation rAtes), which runs within a Bayesian framework to model the atmospheric evolution of exoplanets. The code combines MESA stellar evolutionary tracks, a model describing planetary structures, a model relating stellar rotation and activity level, and a model predicting planetary atmospheric mass-loss rates based on the results of hydrodynamic simulations. Through a MCMC scheme, we retrieved the posterior PDFs of all considered parameters. For ages older than about 2 Gyr, we find a median spin-down (i.e. $P(t)\propto t^y$) of $\bar{y}=0.38_{-0.27}^{+0.38}$, indicating a rotation decay slightly slower than classical literature values ($\approx$0.5), though still within $1σ$. At younger ages, we find a median spin-down (i.e. $P(t)\propto t^x$) of $\bar{x}=0.26_{-0.19}^{+0.42}$, which is below what is observed in young open clusters, though within $1σ$. However, these two results are likely due to a selection bias as the systems suitable to be analysed by Pasta contain at least one planet with a hydrogen-dominated atmosphere, implying that the host star has more likely evolved as a slow rotator. We further look for correlations between the initial atmospheric mass fraction of the considered planets and system parameters, but without finding any. The TESS, CHEOPS, and PLATO missions are going to be instrumental in identifying and precisely measuring systems amenable to Pasta's analysis and can thus potentially constrain planet formation and stellar evolution.

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arXiv2021

The EBLM project -- VIII. First results for M-dwarf mass, radius and effective temperature measurements using CHEOPS light curves

The accuracy of theoretical mass, radius and effective temperature values for M-dwarf stars is an active topic of debate. Differences between observed and theoretical values have raised the possibility that current theoretical stellar structure and evolution models are inaccurate towards the low-mass end of the main sequence. To explore this issue we use the CHEOPS satellite to obtain high-precision light curves of eclipsing binaries with low mass stellar companions. We use these light curves combined with the spectroscopic orbit for the solar-type companion to measure the mass, radius and effective temperature of the M-dwarf star. Here we present the analysis of three eclipsing binaries. We use the pycheops data analysis software to fit the observed transit and eclipse events of each system. Two of our systems were also observed by the TESS satellite -- we similarly analyse these light curves for comparison. We find consistent results between CHEOPS and TESS, presenting three stellar radii and two stellar effective temperature values of low-mass stellar objects. These initial results from our on-going observing programme with CHEOPS show that we can expect to have ~24 new mass, radius and effective temperature measurements for very low mass stars within the next few years.

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arXiv2021

Discovery of a young low-mass brown dwarf transiting a fast-rotating F-type star by the Galactic Plane eXoplanet (GPX) survey

We announce the discovery of GPX-1 b, a transiting brown dwarf with a mass of $19.7\pm 1.6$ $M_{\mathrm{Jup}}$ and a radius of $1.47\pm0.10$ $R_{\mathrm{Jup}}$, the first sub-stellar object discovered by the Galactic Plane eXoplanet (GPX) survey. The brown dwarf transits a moderately bright ($V$ = 12.3 mag) fast-rotating F-type star with a projected rotational velocity $v\sin{ i_*}=40\pm10$ km/s. We use the isochrone placement algorithm to characterize the host star, which has effective temperature $7000\pm200$ K, mass $1.68\pm0.10$ $M_{\mathrm{Sun}}$, radius $1.56\pm0.10$ $R_{\mathrm{Sun}}$ and approximate age $0.27_{-0.15}^{+0.09}$ Gyr. GPX-1 b has an orbital period of $\sim$1.75 d, and a transit depth of $0.90\pm0.03$ %. We describe the GPX transit detection observations, subsequent photometric and speckle-interferometric follow-up observations, and SOPHIE spectroscopic measurements, which allowed us to establish the presence of a sub-stellar object around the host star. GPX-1 was observed at 30-min integrations by TESS in Sector 18, but the data is affected by blending with a 3.4 mag brighter star 42 arcsec away. GPX-1 b is one of about two dozen transiting brown dwarfs known to date, with a mass close to the theoretical brown dwarf/gas giant planet mass transition boundary. Since GPX-1 is a moderately bright and fast-rotating star, it can be followed-up by the means of Doppler tomography.

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arXiv2021

CHEOPS observations of the HD 108236 planetary system: A fifth planet, improved ephemerides, and planetary radii

The detection of a super-Earth and three mini-Neptunes transiting the bright ($V$ = 9.2 mag) star HD 108236 (also known as TOI-1233) was recently reported on the basis of TESS and ground-based light curves. We perform a first characterisation of the HD 108236 planetary system through high-precision CHEOPS photometry and improve the transit ephemerides and system parameters. We characterise the host star through spectroscopic analysis and derive the radius with the infrared flux method. We constrain the stellar mass and age by combining the results obtained from two sets of stellar evolutionary tracks. We analyse the available TESS light curves and one CHEOPS transit light curve for each known planet in the system. We find that HD 108236 is a Sun-like star with $R_{\star}=0.877\pm0.008 R_{\odot}$, $M_{\star}=0.869^{+0.050}_{-0.048} M_{\odot}$, and an age of $6.7_{-5.1}^{+4.0}$ Gyr. We report the serendipitous detection of an additional planet, HD 108236 f, in one of the CHEOPS light curves. For this planet, the combined analysis of the TESS and CHEOPS light curves leads to a tentative orbital period of about 29.5 days. From the light curve analysis, we obtain radii of $1.615\pm0.051$, $2.071\pm0.052$, $2.539_{-0.065}^{+0.062}$, $3.083\pm0.052$, and $2.017_{-0.057}^{+0.052}$ $R_{\oplus}$ for planets HD 108236 b to HD 108236 f, respectively. These values are in agreement with previous TESS-based estimates, but with an improved precision of about a factor of two. We perform a stability analysis of the system, concluding that the planetary orbits most likely have eccentricities smaller than 0.1. We also employ a planetary atmospheric evolution framework to constrain the masses of the five planets, concluding that HD 108236 b and HD 108236 c should have an Earth-like density, while the outer planets should host a low mean molecular weight envelope.

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arXiv2021

Six transiting planets and a chain of Laplace resonances in TOI-178

Determining the architecture of multi-planetary systems is one of the cornerstones of understanding planet formation and evolution. Resonant systems are especially important as the fragility of their orbital configuration ensures that no significant scattering or collisional event has taken place since the earliest formation phase when the parent protoplanetary disc was still present. In this context, TOI-178 has been the subject of particular attention since the first TESS observations hinted at a 2:3:3 resonant chain. Here we report the results of observations from CHEOPS, ESPRESSO, NGTS, and SPECULOOS with the aim of deciphering the peculiar orbital architecture of the system. We show that TOI-178 harbours at least six planets in the super-Earth to mini-Neptune regimes, with radii ranging from 1.152(-0.070/+0.073) to 2.87(-0.13/+0.14) Earth radii and periods of 1.91, 3.24, 6.56, 9.96, 15.23, and 20.71 days. All planets but the innermost one form a 2:4:6:9:12 chain of Laplace resonances, and the planetary densities show important variations from planet to planet, jumping from 1.02(+0.28/-0.23) to 0.177(+0.055/-0.061) times the Earth's density between planets c and d. Using Bayesian interior structure retrieval models, we show that the amount of gas in the planets does not vary in a monotonous way, contrary to what one would expect from simple formation and evolution models and unlike other known systems in a chain of Laplace resonances. The brightness of TOI-178 allows for a precise characterisation of its orbital architecture as well as of the physical nature of the six presently known transiting planets it harbours. The peculiar orbital configuration and the diversity in average density among the planets in the system will enable the study of interior planetary structures and atmospheric evolution, providing important clues on the formation of super-Earths and mini-Neptunes.

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arXiv2020

The hot dayside and asymmetric transit of WASP-189b seen by CHEOPS

The CHEOPS space mission dedicated to exoplanet follow-up was launched in December 2019, equipped with the capacity to perform photometric measurements at the 20 ppm level. As CHEOPS carries out its observations in a broad optical passband, it can provide insights into the reflected light from exoplanets and constrain the short-wavelength thermal emission for the hottest of planets by observing occultations and phase curves. Here, we report the first CHEOPS observation of an occultation, namely, that of the hot Jupiter WASP-189b, a $M_P \approx 2 M_J$ planet orbiting an A-type star. We detected the occultation of WASP-189 b at high significance in individual measurements and derived an occultation depth of $dF = 87.9 \pm 4.3$ppm based on four occultations. We compared these measurements to model predictions and we find that they are consistent with an unreflective atmosphere heated to a temperature of $3435 \pm 27$K, when assuming inefficient heat redistribution. Furthermore, we present two transits of WASP-189b observed by CHEOPS. These transits have an asymmetric shape that we attribute to gravity darkening of the host star caused by its high rotation rate. We used these measurements to refine the planetary parameters, finding a $\sim25\%$ deeper transit compared to the discovery paper and updating the radius of WASP-189b to $1.619\pm0.021 R_J$. We further measured the projected orbital obliquity to be $λ= 86.4^{+2.9}_{-4.4}$deg, a value that is in good agreement with a previous measurement from spectroscopic observations, and derived a true obliquity of $Ψ= 85.4\pm4.3$deg. Finally, we provide reference values for the photometric precision attained by the CHEOPS satellite: for the V=6.6 mag star, and using a one-hour binning, we obtain a residual RMS between 10 and 17ppm on the individual light curves, and 5.7ppm when combining the four visits.

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arXiv2018

WASP-147b, 160Bb, 164b and 165b: two hot Saturns and two Jupiters, including two planets with metal-rich hosts

We report the discovery of four transiting hot Jupiters, WASP-147, WASP-160B, WASP-164 and WASP-165 from the WASP survey. WASP-147b is a near Saturn-mass ($M_P = 0.28 M_{J}$) object with a radius of $ 1.11 \, R_{J}$ orbiting a G4 star with a period of $ 4.6 $ d. WASP-160Bb has a mass and radius ($ M_p = 0.28 \, M_J $, $ R_p = 1.09 \, R_J$) near-identical to WASP-147b, but is less irradiated, orbiting a metal-rich ([Fe/H] = 0.27) K0 star with a period of $3.8$ d. WASP-160B is part of a near equal-mass visual binary with an on-sky separation of 28.5 arcsec. WASP-164b is a more massive ($M_P = 2.13 \, M_J$, $R_p = 1.13 \, R_J$) hot Jupiter, orbiting a G2 star on a close-in ($P=1.8$ d), but tidally stable orbit. WASP-165b is a classical ($M_p = 0.66 \, M_J$, $R_P = 1.26 \, R_J$) hot Jupiter in a $3.5$~d period orbit around a metal-rich ([Fe/H] = 0.33) star. WASP-147b and WASP-160Bb are promising targets for atmospheric characterization through transmission spectroscopy, while WASP-164b presents a good target for emission spectroscopy.

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arXiv2018

The asteroseismic potential of CHEOPS

Asteroseismology has been impressively boosted during the last decade mainly thanks to space missions such as Kepler/K2 and CoRoT. This has a large impact, in particular, in exoplanetary sciences since the accurate characterization of the exoplanets is convoluted in most cases with the characterization of their hosting star. Until the expected launch of the ESA mission PLATO 2.0, there is almost a decade where only two important missions will provide short-cadence high-precision photometric time-series: NASA--TESS and ESA--CHEOPS missions, both having high capabilities for exoplanetary sciences. In this work, we want to explore the asteroseismic potential of CHEOPS time-series. Following the works done for estimating the asteroseismic potential of Kepler and TESS, we have analyzed the probability of detecting solar-like pulsations using CHEOPS light-curves. Since CHEOPS will collect runs with observational times from hours up to a few days, we have analyzed the accuracy and precision we can obtain for the estimation of nu_max, the only asteroseismic observable we can recover using CHEOPS observations. Finally, we have analyzed the impact of knowing nu_max in the characterization of exoplanet host stars. Using CHEOPS light-curves with the expected observational times we can determine nu_max for massive G and F-type stars from late Main Sequence on, and for F, G, and K-type stars from post-Main Sequence on with an uncertainty lower than a 5%. For magnitudes V<12 and observational times from eight hours up to two days, the HR zone of potential detectability changes. The determination of nu_max leads to an internal age uncertainty reduction in the characterization of exoplanet host stars from 52% to 38%; mass uncertainty reduction from 2.1% to 1.8%; radius uncertainty reduction from 1.8% to 1.6%; density uncertainty reduction from 5.6% to 4.7%, in our best scenarios.

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arXiv2016

H$_α$-activity and ages for stars in the SARG survey

Stellar activity influences radial velocity (RV) measurements and can also mimic the presence of orbiting planets. As part of the search for planets around the components of wide binaries performed with the SARG High Resolution Spectrograph at the TNG, it was discovered that HD 200466A shows strong variation in RV that is well correlated with the activity index based on H$_α$. We used SARG to study the H$_α$ line variations in each component of the binaries and a few bright stars to test the capability of the H$_α$ index of revealing the rotation period or activity cycle. We also analysed the relations between the average activity level and other physical properties of the stars. We finally tried to reveal signals in the RVs that are due to the activity. At least in some cases the variation in the observed RVs is due to the stellar activity. We confirm that H$_α$ can be used as an activity indicator for solar-type stars and as an age indicator for stars younger than 1.5 Gyr.

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arXiv2015

Proper motions and kinematics of selected bulge globular clusters

We computed proper motions of a selected sample of globular clusters projected on the central bulge, employing CCD images gathered along the last 25 years at the ESO-NTT, ESO-Danish and HST telescopes. We presented a method to derive their proper motions, and a set of coordinate transformations to obtain 3D Galactic velocity vectors of the clusters. We analysed 10 globular clusters, namely Terzan 1, Terzan 2, Terzan 4, Terzan 9, NGC 6522, NGC 6558, NGC 6540, AL~3,ESO456--SC38 and Palomar 6. For comparison purposes we also studied the outer bulge cluster NGC 6652. We discuss the general properties of the proper-motion-cleaned Colour-Magnitude Diagrams, derived for the first time for most of them. A general conclusion is that the inner bulge globular clusters have clearly lower transverse motions (and spatial velocities) than halo clusters, and appear to be trapped in the bulge bar.

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