arXiv subjects

Adam Burrows

Publications and source records attributed to Adam Burrows.

At least 163 records · Page 9Linked to original sources

arXiv2011

The Impact of Circumplantary Jets on Transit Spectra and Timing Offsets for Hot-Jupiters

We present theoretical wavelength-dependent transit light curves for the giant planet HD209458b based on a number of state of the art 3D radiative hydrodynamical models. By varying the kinematic viscosity in the model we calculate observable signatures associated with the emergence of a super-rotating circumplanetary jet that strengthens with decreased viscosity. We obtain excellent agreement between our mid-transit transit spectra and existing data from Hubble and Spitzer, finding the best fit for intermediate values of viscosity. We further exploit dynamically driven differences between eastern and western hemispheres to extract the spectral signal imparted by a circumplanetary jet. We predict that: (i) the transit depth should decrease as the jet becomes stronger; (ii) the measured transit times should show timing offsets of up to 6 seconds at wavelengths with higher opacity, which increases with jet strength; (iii) wavelength-dependent differences between ingress and egress spectra increase with jet strength; (iv) the color-dependent transit shape should vary more strongly with wavelength for stronger jets. These techniques and trends should be valid for other hot Jupiters as well. Observations of transit timing offsets may be accessible with current instrumentation, though the other predictions may require the capabilities JWST and other future missions. Hydrodynamical models utilized solve the 3D Navier-Stokes equations together with decoupled thermal and radiative energy equations and wavelength dependent stellar heating.

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arXiv2011

A 5 Micron Image of beta Pictoris b at a Sub-Jupiter Projected Separation: Evidence for a Misalignment Between the Planet and the Inner, Warped Disk

We present and analyze a new M' detection of the young exoplanet beta Pictoris b from 2008 VLT/NaCo data at a separation of ~ 4 AU and a high signal-to-noise rereduction of L' data taken in December 2009. Based on our orbital analysis, the planet's orbit is viewed almost perfectly edge-on (i ~ 89 degrees) and has a Saturn-like semimajor axis of 9.50 (+3.93, -1.7) AU. Intriguingly, the planet's orbit is aligned with the major axis of the outer disk (Omega ~ 31 degrees) but probably misaligned with the warp/inclined disk at 80 AU often cited as a signpost for the planet's existence. Our results motivate new studies to clarify how $β$ Pic b sculpts debris disk structures and whether a second planet is required to explain the warp/inclined disk.

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arXiv2011

Model atmospheres for massive gas giants with thick clouds: Application to the HR 8799 planets and predictions for future detections

We have generated an extensive new suite of massive giant planet atmosphere models and used it to obtain fits to photometric data for the planets HR 8799b, c, and d. We consider a wide range of cloudy and cloud-free models. The cloudy models incorporate different geometrical and optical thicknesses, modal particle sizes, and metallicities. For each planet and set of cloud parameters, we explore grids in gravity and effective temperature, with which we determine constraints on the planet's mass and age. Our new models yield statistically significant fits to the data, and conclusively confirm that the HR 8799 planets have much thicker clouds than those required to explain data for typical L and T dwarfs. Both models with 1) physically thick forsterite clouds and a 60-micron modal particle size and 2) clouds made of 1 micron-sized pure iron droplets and 1% supersaturation fit the data. Current data are insufficient to accurately constrain the microscopic cloud properties, such as composition and particle size. The range of best-estimated masses for HR 8799b, HR 8799c, and HR 8799d conservatively span 2-12 M_J, 6-13 M_J, and 3-11 M_J, respectively and imply coeval ages between ~10 and ~150 Myr, consistent with previously reported stellar age. The best-fit temperatures and gravities are slightly lower than values obtained by Currie et al. (2011) using even thicker cloud models. Finally, we use these models to predict the near-to-mid IR colors of soon-to-be imaged planets. Our models predict that planet-mass objects follow a locus in some near-to-mid IR color-magnitude diagrams that is clearly separable from the standard L/T dwarf locus for field brown dwarfs.

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arXiv2011

The Dependence of Brown Dwarf Radii on Atmospheric Metallicity and Clouds: Theory and Comparison with Observations

Employing realistic and consistent atmosphere boundary conditions, we have generated evolutionary models for brown dwarfs and very-low-mass stars (VLMs) for different metallicities ([Fe/H]), with and without clouds. We find that the spread in radius at a given mass and age can be as large as $\sim$10% to $\sim$25%, with higher-metallicity, higher-cloud-thickness atmospheres resulting quite naturally in larger radii. For each 0.1 dex increase in [Fe/H], radii increase by $\sim$1% to $\sim$2.5%, depending upon age and mass. We also find that, while for smaller masses and older ages brown dwarf radii decrease with increasing helium fraction ($Y$) (as expected), for more massive brown dwarfs and a wide range of ages they increase with helium fraction. The increase in radius in going from $Y=0.25$ to $Y=0.28$ can be as large as $\sim$0.025 \rj\ ($\sim$2.5%). Furthermore, we find that for VLMs an increase in atmospheric metallicity from 0.0 to 0.5 dex, increases radii by $\sim$4%, and from -0.5 to 0.5 dex by $\sim$10%. Therefore, we suggest that opacity due to higher metallicity might naturally account for the apparent radius anomalies in some eclipsing VLM systems. Ten to twenty-five percent variations in radius exceed errors stemming from uncertainities in the equation of state alone. This serves to emphasize that transit and eclipse measurements of brown dwarf radii constrain numerous effects collectively, importantly including the atmosphere and condensate cloud models, and not just the equation of state. At all times, one is testing a multi-parameter theory, and not a universal radius$-$mass relation.

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arXiv2010

Results From Core-Collapse Simulations with Multi-Dimensional, Multi-Angle Neutrino Transport

We present new results from the only 2D multi-group, multi-angle calculations of core-collapse supernova evolution. The first set of results from these calculations was published in Ott et al. (2008). We have followed a nonrotating and a rapidly rotating 20 solar mass model for ~400 ms after bounce. We show that the radiation fields vary much less with angle than the matter quantities in the region of net neutrino heating. This obtains because most neutrinos are emitted from inner radiative regions and because the specific intensity is an integral over sources from many angles at depth. The latter effect can only be captured by multi-angle transport. We then compute the phase relationship between dipolar oscillations in the shock radius and in matter and radiation quantities throughout the postshock region. We demonstrate a connection between variations in neutrino flux and the hydrodynamical shock oscillations, and use a variant of the Rayleigh test to estimate the detectability of these neutrino fluctuations in IceCube and Super-K. Neglecting flavor oscillations, fluctuations in our nonrotating model would be detectable to ~10 kpc in IceCube, and a detailed power spectrum could be measured out to ~5 kpc. These distances are considerably lower in our rapidly rotating model or with significant flavor oscillations. Finally, we measure the impact of rapid rotation on detectable neutrino signals. Our rapidly rotating model has strong, species-dependent asymmetries in both its peak neutrino flux and its light curves. The peak flux and decline rate show pole-equator ratios of up to ~3 and ~2, respectively.

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arXiv2010

The Deuterium-Burning Mass Limit for Brown Dwarfs and Giant Planets

There is no universally acknowledged criterion to distinguish brown dwarfs from planets. Numerous studies have used or suggested a definition based on an object's mass, taking the ~13-Jupiter mass (M_J) limit for the ignition of deuterium. Here, we investigate various deuterium-burning masses for a range of models. We find that, while 13 M_J is generally a reasonable rule of thumb, the deuterium fusion mass depends on the helium abundance, the initial deuterium abundance, the metallicity of the model, and on what fraction of an object's initial deuterium abundance must combust in order for the object to qualify as having burned deuterium. Even though, for most proto-brown dwarf conditions, 50% of the initial deuterium will burn if the object's mass is ~(13.0 +/- 0.8)M_J, the full range of possibilities is significantly broader. For models ranging from zero-metallicity to more than three times solar metallicity, the deuterium burning mass ranges from ~11.0 M_J (for 3-times solar metallicity, 10% of initial deuterium burned) to ~16.3 M_J (for zero metallicity, 90% of initial deuterium burned).

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arXiv2010

Secondary Eclipse Photometry of WASP-4b with Warm Spitzer

We present photometry of the giant extrasolar planet WASP-4b at 3.6 and 4.5 micron taken with the Infrared Array Camera on board the Spitzer Space Telescope as part of Spitzer's extended warm mission. We find secondary eclipse depths of 0.319+/-0.031% and 0.343+/-0.027% for the 3.6 and 4.5 micron bands, respectively and show model emission spectra and pressure-temperature profiles for the planetary atmosphere. These eclipse depths are well fit by model emission spectra with water and other molecules in absorption, similar to those used for TrES-3 and HD 189733b. Depending on our choice of model, these results indicate that this planet has either a weak dayside temperature inversion or no inversion at all. The absence of a strong thermal inversion on this highly irradiated planet is contrary to the idea that highly irradiated planets are expected to have inversions, perhaps due the presence of an unknown absorber in the upper atmosphere. This result might be explained by the modestly enhanced activity level of WASP-4b's G7V host star, which could increase the amount of UV flux received by the planet, therefore reducing the abundance of the unknown stratospheric absorber in the planetary atmosphere as suggested in Knutson et al. (2010). We also find no evidence for an offset in the timing of the secondary eclipse and place a 2 sigma upper limit on |ecos(omega)| of 0.0024, which constrains the range of tidal heating models that could explain this planet's inflated radius.

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arXiv2010

Warm Spitzer Photometry of the Transiting Exoplanets CoRoT-1 and CoRoT-2 at Secondary Eclipse

We measure secondary eclipses of the hot giant exoplanets CoRoT-1 at 3.6 and 4.5 microns, and CoRoT-2 at 3.6 microns, both using Warm Spitzer. We find that the Warm Spitzer mission is working very well for exoplanet science. For consistency of our analysis we also re-analyze archival cryogenic Spitzer data for secondary eclipses of CoRoT-2 at 4.5 and 8 microns. We compare the total data for both planets, including optical eclipse measurements by the CoRoT mission, and ground-based eclipse measurements at 2 microns, to existing models. Both planets exhibit stronger eclipses at 4.5 than at 3.6 microns, which is often indicative of an atmospheric temperature inversion. The spectrum of CoRoT-1 is best reproduced by a 2460K blackbody, due either to a high altitude layer that strongly absorbs stellar irradiance, or an isothermal region in the planetary atmosphere. The spectrum of CoRoT-2 is unusual because the 8 micron contrast is anomalously low. Non-inverted atmospheres could potentially produce the CoRoT-2 spectrum if the planet exhibits line emission from CO at 4.5 microns, caused by tidal-induced mass loss. However, the viability of that hypothesis is questionable because the emitting region cannot be more than about 30-percent larger than the planet's transit radius, based on the ingress and egress times at eclipse. An alternative possibility to account for the spectrum of CoRoT-2 is an additional opacity source that acts strongly at wavelengths less than 5 microns, heating the upper atmosphere while allowing the deeper atmosphere seen at 8 microns to remain cooler. We obtain a similar result as Gillon et al. for the phase of the secondary eclipse of CoRoT-2, implying an eccentric orbit with e*cos(omega)=-0.0030 +/- 0.0004.

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arXiv2010

Atmosphere and Spectral Models of the Kepler-Field Planets HAT-P-7b and TrES-2

We develop atmosphere models of two of the three Kepler-field planets that were known prior to the start of the Kepler mission (HAT-P-7b and TrES-2). We find that published Kepler and Spitzer data for HAT-P-7b appear to require an extremely hot upper atmosphere on the dayside, with a strong thermal inversion and little day-night redistribution. The Spitzer data for TrES-2 suggest a mild thermal inversion with moderate day-night redistribution. We examine the effect of nonequilibrium chemistry on TrES-2 model atmospheres and find that methane levels must be adjusted by extreme amounts in order to cause even mild changes in atmospheric structure and emergent spectra. Our best-fit models to the Spitzer data for TrES-2 lead us to predict a low secondary eclipse planet-star flux ratio (~2 x 10^-5) in the Kepler bandpass, which is consistent with what very recent observations have found. Finally, we consider how the Kepler-band optical flux from a hot exoplanet depends on the strength of a possible extra optical absorber in the upper atmosphere. We find that the optical flux is not monotonic in optical opacity, and the non-monotonicity is greater for brighter, hotter stars.

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arXiv2010

The Gemini NICI Planet-Finding Campaign

Our team is carrying out a multi-year observing program to directly image and characterize young extrasolar planets using the Near-Infrared Coronagraphic Imager (NICI) on the Gemini-South 8.1-meter telescope. NICI is the first instrument on a large telescope designed from the outset for high-contrast imaging, comprising a high-performance curvature adaptive optics system with a simultaneous dual-channel coronagraphic imager. Combined with state-of-the-art observing methods and data processing, NICI typically achieves ~2 magnitudes better contrast compared to previous ground-based or space-based programs, at separations inside of ~2 arcsec. In preparation for the Campaign, we carried out efforts to identify previously unrecognized young stars, to rigorously construct our observing strategy, and to optimize the combination of angular and spectral differential imaging. The Planet-Finding Campaign is in its second year, with first-epoch imaging of 174 stars already obtained out of a total sample of 300 stars. We describe the Campaign's goals, design, implementation, performance, and preliminary results. The NICI Campaign represents the largest and most sensitive imaging survey to date for massive (~1 Mjup) planets around other stars. Upon completion, the Campaign will establish the best measurements to date on the properties of young gas-giant planets at ~5-10 AU separations. Finally, Campaign discoveries will be well-suited to long-term orbital monitoring and detailed spectrophotometric followup with next-generation planet-finding instruments.

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arXiv2010

The Gemini NICI Planet-Finding Campaign: Discovery of a Close Substellar Companion to the Young Debris Disk Star PZ Tel

We report the discovery of a tight substellar companion to the young solar analog PZ Tel, a member of the Beta Pictoris moving group observed with high contrast adaptive optics imaging as part of the Gemini NICI Planet-Finding Campaign. The companion was detected at a projected separation of 16.4 +/- 1.0 AU (0.33 +/- 0.01") in April 2009. Second-epoch observations in May 2010 demonstrate that the companion is physically associated and shows significant orbital motion. Monte Carlo modeling constrains the orbit of PZ Tel B to eccentricities > 0.6. The near-IR colors of PZ Tel B indicate a spectral type of M7+/-2 and thus this object will be a new benchmark companion for studies of ultracool, low-gravity photospheres. Adopting an age of 12 +8 -4 Myr for the system, we estimate a mass of 36 +/- 6 Mjup based on the Lyon/DUSTY evolutionary models. PZ Tel B is one of few young substellar companions directly imaged at orbital separations similar to those of giant planets in our own solar system. Additionally, the primary star PZ Tel A shows a 70 um emission excess, evidence for a significant quantity of circumstellar dust that has not been disrupted by the orbital motion of the companion.

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arXiv2010

Photometric and Spectral Signatures of 3D Models of Transiting Giant Exoplanets

Using a 3D GCM, we create dynamical model atmospheres of a representative transiting giant exoplanet, HD 209458b. We post-process these atmospheres with an opacity code to obtain transit radius spectra during the primary transit. Using a spectral atmosphere code, we integrate over the face of the planet seen by an observer at various orbital phases and calculate light curves as a function of wavelength and for different photometric bands. The products of this study are generic predictions for the phase variations of a zero-eccentricity giant planet's transit spectrum and of its light curves. We find that for these models the temporal variations in all quantities and the ingress/egress contrasts in the transit radii are small ($< 1.0$\%). Moreover, we determine that the day/night contrasts and phase shifts of the brightness peaks relative to the ephemeris are functions of photometric band. The $J$, $H$, and $K$ bands are shifted most, while the IRAC bands are shifted least. Therefore, we verify that the magnitude of the downwind shift in the planetary ``hot spot" due to equatorial winds is strongly wavelength-dependent. The phase and wavelength dependence of light curves, and the associated day/night contrasts, can be used to constrain the circulation regime of irradiated giant planets and to probe different pressure levels of a hot Jupiter atmosphere. We posit that though our calculations focus on models of HD 209458b similar calculations for other transiting hot Jupiters in low-eccentricity orbits should yield transit spectra and light curves of a similar character.

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arXiv2010

Day-side z'-band emission and eccentricity of Wasp-12b

We report the detection of the eclipse of the very-hot Jupiter WASP-12b via z'-band time-series photometry obtained with the 3.5-meter ARC telescope at Apache Point Observatory. We measure a decrease in flux of 0.082+/-0.015% during the passage of the planet behind the star. That planetary flux is equally well reproduced by atmospheric models with and without extra absorbers, and blackbody models with f > 0.585+/-0.080. It is therefore necessary to measure the planet at other wavelengths to further constrain its atmospheric properties. The eclipse appears centered at phase = 0.5100 (+0.0072,-0.0061), consistent with an orbital eccentricity of |e cos w| = 0.016 (+0.011,-0.009) (see note at end of Section 4). If the orbit of the planet is indeed eccentric, the large radius of WASP-12b can be explained by tidal heating.

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arXiv2010

Tidal Heating Models for the Radii of the Inflated Transiting Giant Planets WASP-4b, WASP-6b, WASP-12b, and TrES-4

In order to explain the inflated radii of some transiting extrasolar giant planets, we investigate a tidal heating scenario for the inflated planets WASP-4b, WASP-6b, WASP-12b, WASP-15b, and TrES-4. To do so, we assume that they retain a nonzero eccentricity, possibly by dint of continuing interaction with a third body. We calculate the amount of extra heating in the envelope that is then required to fit the radius of each planet, and we explore how this additional power depends on the planetary atmospheric opacity and on the mass of a heavy-element central core. There is a degeneracy between the core mass $M_{\rm core}$ and the heating $\dot{E}_{\rm heating}$. Therefore, in the case of tidal heating, there is for each planet a range of the couple $\{M_{\rm core},e^2/Q'_p\}$ that can lead to the same radius, where $Q'_p$ is the tidal dissipation factor and $e$ is the eccentricity. With this in mind, we also investigate the case of the non-inflated planet HAT-P-12b, which can admit solutions combining a heavy-element core and tidal heating. A substantial improvement of the measured eccentricities of such planetary systems could simplify this degeneracy by linking the two unknown parameters $\{M_{\rm core},Q'_p\}$. Further independent constraints on either of these parameters would, through our calculations, constrain the other.

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arXiv2010

Models of Neptune-Mass Exoplanets: Emergent Fluxes and Albedos

There are now many known exoplanets with Msin(i) within a factor of two of Neptune's, including the transiting planets GJ436b and HAT-P-11b. Planets in this mass-range are different from their more massive cousins in several ways that are relevant to their radiative properties and thermal structures. By analogy with Neptune and Uranus, they are likely to have metal abundances that are an order of magnitude or more greater than those of larger, more massive planets. This increases their opacity, decreases Rayleigh scattering, and changes their equation of state. Furthermore, their smaller radii mean that fluxes from these planets are roughly an order of magnitude lower than those of otherwise identical gas giant planets. Here, we compute a range of plausible radiative equilibrium models of GJ436b and HAT-P-11b. In addition, we explore the dependence of generic Neptune-mass planets on a range of physical properties, including their distance from their host stars, their metallicity, the spectral type of their stars, the redistribution of heat in their atmospheres, and the possible presence of additional optical opacity in their upper atmospheres.

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arXiv2010

Thermal Emission and Tidal Heating of the Heavy and Eccentric Planet XO-3b

We determined the flux ratios of the heavy and eccentric planet XO-3b to its parent star in the four IRAC bands of the Spitzer Space Telescope: 0.101% +- 0.004% at 3.6 micron; 0.143% +- 0.006% at 4.5 micron; 0.134% +- 0.049% at 5.8 micron and 0.150% +- 0.036% at 8.0 micron. The flux ratios are within [-2.2,0.3, -0.8, -1.7]-sigma of the model of XO-3b with a thermally inverted stratosphere in the 3.6 micron, 4.5 micron, 5.8 micron and 8.0 micron channels, respectively. XO-3b has a high illumination from its parent star (Fp ~(1.9 - 4.2) x 10^9 ergs cm^-2 s^-1) and is thus expected to have a thermal inversion, which we indeed observe. When combined with existing data for other planets, the correlation between the presence of an atmospheric temperature inversion and the substellar flux is insufficient to explain why some high insolation planets like TrES-3 do not have stratospheric inversions and some low insolation planets like XO-1b do have inversions. Secondary factors such as sulfur chemistry, atmospheric metallicity, amounts of macroscopic mixing in the stratosphere or even dynamical weather effects likely play a role. Using the secondary eclipse timing centroids we determined the orbital eccentricity of XO-3b as e = 0.277 +- 0.009. The model radius-age trajectories for XO-3b imply that at least some amount of tidal-heating is required to inflate the radius of XO-3b, and the tidal heating parameter of the planet is constrained to Qp < 10^6 .

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arXiv2009

The Broadband Infrared Emission Spectrum of the Exoplanet TrES-3

We use the Spitzer Space Telescope to estimate the dayside thermal emission of the exoplanet TrES-3 integrated in the 3.6, 4.5, 5.8, and 8.0 micron bandpasses of the Infrared Array Camera (IRAC) instrument. We observe two secondary eclipses and find relative eclipse depths of 0.00346 +/- 0.00035, 0.00372 +/- 0.00054, 0.00449 +/- 0.00097, and 0.00475 +/- 0.00046, respectively in the 4 IRAC bandpasses. We combine our results with the earlier K band measurement of De Mooij et al. (2009), and compare them with models of the planetary emission. We find that the planet does not require the presence of an inversion layer in the high atmosphere. This is the first very strongly irradiated planet that does not have a temperature inversion, which indicates that stellar or planetary characteristics other than temperature have an important impact on temperature inversion. De Mooij & Snellen (2009) also detected a possible slight offset in the timing of the secondary eclipse in K band. However, based on our 4 Spitzer channels, we place a 3sigma upper limit of |ecos(w)| < 0.0056 where e is the planets orbital eccentricity and w is the longitude of the periastron. This result strongly indicates that the orbit is circular, as expected from tidal circularization theory.

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arXiv2009

A Model for Gravitational Wave Emission from Neutrino-Driven Core-Collapse Supernovae

Abridged: Using a suite of progenitor models, neutrino luminosities, and two- dimensional (2D) simulations, we investigate the matter gravitational-wave (GW) emission from postbounce phases of neutrino-driven core-collapse supernovae (CCSNe). The relevant phases are prompt and steady-state convection, the standing accretion shock instability (SASI), and asymmetric explosions. For the stages before explosion, we propose a model for the source of GW emission. Downdrafts of the postshock-convection/SASI region strike the protoneutron star "surface" with large speeds and are decelerated by buoyancy forces. We find that the GW amplitude is set by the magnitude of deceleration and, by extension, the downdraft's speed and the vigor of postshock-convective/SASI motions. However, the characteristic frequencies, which evolve from ~100 Hz after bounce to ~300-400 Hz, are primarily independent of these speeds, but are set by the deceleration timescale, which is in turn set by the buoyancy frequency at the lower boundary of postshock convection. Consequently, the GW characteristic frequencies are dependent upon a combination of core structure attributes, specifically the dense-matter equation of state (EOS) and details that determine the gradients at the boundary, including the accretion-rate history, the EOS at subnuclear densities, and neutrino transport. During explosion, the high frequency signal wanes and is replaced by a strong low frequency, ~10s of Hz, signal that reveals the general morphology of the explosion (i.e. prolate, oblate, or spherical). However, current and near-future GW detectors are sensitive to GW power at frequencies >50 Hz. Therefore, the signature of explosion will be the abrupt reduction of detectable GW emission.

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