arXiv subjects

Brad M. S. Hansen

Publications and source records attributed to Brad M. S. Hansen.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2013

Re-evaluating Hot Jupiter WASP-12b: An Update

The hot Jupiter WASP-12b is one of the largest, hottest, and best-studied extrasolar planets. We revisit our recent analysis of WASP-12b's emission spectrum in light of near-infrared spectroscopic measurements which have been claimed to support either a hydride-dominated or carbon-rich atmospheric composition. We show that this new spectrum is still consistent with a featureless blackbody, indicating a nearly isothermal photosphere on the planet's day side. Thus the ensemble of occultation measurements for WASP-12b is still insufficient to constrain the planet's atmospheric composition.

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arXiv2012

Ultra-Deep Hubble Space Telescope Imaging of the Small Magellanic Cloud: The Initial Mass Function of Stars with M <~ 1 Msun

We present a new measurement of the stellar initial mass function (IMF) based on ultra-deep, high-resolution photometry of >5,000 stars in the outskirts of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) galaxy. The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) observations reveal this rich, co-spatial population behind the foreground globular cluster 47 Tuc, which we targeted for 121 HST orbits. The stellar main sequence of the SMC is measured in the F606W, F814W color-magnitude diagram (CMD) down to ~30th magnitude, and is cleanly separated from the foreground star cluster population using proper motions. We simulate the SMC population by extracting stellar masses (single and unresolved binaries) from specific IMFs, and converting those masses to luminosities in our bandpasses. The corresponding photometry for these simulated stars is drawn directly from a rich cloud of 4 million artificial stars, thereby accounting for the real photometric scatter and completeness of the data. Over a continuous and well populated mass range of M = 0.37 - 0.93 Msun (i.e., down to a ~75% completeness limit at F606W = 28.7), we demonstrate that the IMF is well represented by a single power-law form with slope α= -1.90 (^{+0.15}_{-0.10}) (3 sigma error) (i.e., dN/dM \propto M^α). This is shallower than the Salpeter slope of α= -2.35, which agrees with the observed stellar luminosity function at higher masses. Our results indicate that the IMF does {\it not} turn over to a more shallow power-law form within this mass range. We discuss implications of this result for the theory of star formation, the inferred masses of galaxies, and the (lack of a) variation of the IMF with metallicity.

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arXiv2012

Re-Evaluating WASP-12b: Strong Emission at 2.315 micron, Deeper Occultations, and an Isothermal Atmosphere

We revisit the atmospheric properties of the extremely hot Jupiter WASP-12b in light of several new developments. First, new narrowband (2.315 micron) secondary eclipse photometry that we present here, which exhibits a planet/star flux ratio of 0.45% +/- 0.06 %, corresponding to a brightness temperature of 3640 K +/- 230 K; second, recent Spitzer/IRAC and Hubble/WFC3 observations; and third, a recently observed star only 1" from WASP-12, which has diluted previous observations and which we further characterize here. We correct past WASP-12b eclipse measurements for the presence of this object, and we revisit the interpretation of WASP-12b's dilution-corrected emission spectrum. The resulting planetary emission spectrum is well-approximated by a blackbody, and consequently our primary conclusion is that the planet's infrared photosphere is nearly isothermal. Thus secondary eclipse spectroscopy is relatively ill-suited to constrain WASP-12b's atmospheric abundances, and transmission spectroscopy may be necessary to achieve this goal.

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arXiv2012

The Spectral Evolution of Convective Mixing White Dwarfs, the non-DA Gap, and White Dwarf Cosmochronology

The spectral distribution of field white dwarfs shows a feature called the "non-DA gap". As defined by Bergeron et al., this is a temperature range (5100K--6100K) where relatively few non-DA stars are found, even though such stars are abundant on either side of the gap. It is usually viewed as an indication that a significant fraction of white dwarfs switch their atmospheric compositions back and forth between hydrogen-rich and helium-rich as they cool. In this paper, we present a Monte Carlo model of the Galactic disk white dwarf population, based on the spectral evolution model of Chen and Hansen. We find that the non-DA gap emerges naturally, even though our model only allows white dwarf atmospheres to evolve monotonically from hydrogen-rich to helium-rich through convective mixing. We conclude by discussing the effects of convective mixing on the white dwarf luminosity function and the use thereof for Cosmochronology.

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arXiv2012

Migration then assembly: Formation of Neptune mass planets inside 1 AU

We demonstrate that the observed distribution of `Hot Neptune'/`Super-Earth' systems is well reproduced by a model in which planet assembly occurs in situ, with no significant migration post-assembly. This is achieved only if the amount of mass in rocky material is $\sim 50$--$100 M_{\oplus}$ interior to 1 AU. Such a reservoir of material implies that significant radial migration of solid material takes place, and that it occur before the stage of final planet assembly. The model not only reproduces the general distribution of mass versus period, but also the detailed statistics of multiple planet systems in the sample. We furthermore demonstrate that cores of this size are also likely to meet the criterion to gravitationally capture gas from the nebula, although accretion is rapidly limited by the opening of gaps in the gas disk. If the mass growth is limited by this tidal truncation, then the scenario sketched here naturally produces Neptune-mass objects with substantial components of both rock and gas, as is observed. The quantitative expectations of this scenario are that most planets in the `Hot Neptune/Super-Earth' class inhabit multiple-planet systems, with characteristic orbital spacings. The model also provides a natural division into gas-rich (Hot Neptune) and gas-poor (Super-Earth) classes at fixed period. The dividing mass ranges from $\sim 3 M_{\oplus}$ at 10 day orbital periods to $\sim 10 M_{\oplus}$ at 100 day orbital periods. For orbital periods $< 10$ days, the division is less clear because a gas atmosphere may be significantly eroded by stellar radiation.

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arXiv2012

Ground-based, Near-infrared Exospectroscopy. II. Tentative Detection of Emission From the Extremely Hot Jupiter WASP-12b

We report the tentative detection of the near-infrared emission of the Hot Jupiter WASP-12b with the low-resolution prism on IRTF/SpeX. We find a K-H contrast color of 0.137% +/- 0.054%, corresponding to a blackbody of temperature 2400 (+1500/-500) K and consistent with previous, photometric observations. We also revisit WASP-12b's energy budget on the basis of secondary eclipse observations: the dayside luminosity is a relatively poorly constrained (2.0-4.3) x 10^30 erg/s, but this still allows us to predict a day/night effective temperature contrast of 200-1,000 K (assuming A_B=0). Thus we conclude that WASP-12b probably does not have both a low albedo and low recirculation efficiency. Our results show the promise and pitfalls of using single-slit spectrographs for characterization of extrasolar planet atmospheres, and we suggest future observing techniques and instruments which could lead to further progress. Limiting systematic effects include the use of a too-narrow slit on one night -- which observers could avoid in the future -- and chromatic slit losses (resulting from the variable size of the seeing disk) and variations in telluric transparency -- which observers cannot control. Single-slit observations of the type we present remain the best option for obtaining lambda > 1.7 micron spectra of transiting exoplanets in the brightest systems. Further and more precise spectroscopy is needed to better understand the atmospheric chemistry, structure, and energetics of this, and other, intensely irradiated planet.

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arXiv2011

A Deep, Wide-Field, and Panchromatic View of 47 Tuc and the SMC with HST: Observations and Data Analysis Methods

In HST Cycle 17, we imaged the well known globular star cluster 47 Tucanae for 121 orbits using ACS and both the UVIS and IR channels of WFC3 (GO-11677, PI - H. Richer). This unique data set was obtained to address many scientific questions that demand a very deep, panchromatic, and panoramic view of the cluster's stellar populations. In total, the program obtained over 0.75 Ms of imaging exposure time with the three HST cameras, over a time span of 9 months in 2010. The primary ACS field was imaged in the two broadband filters F606W and F814W filters, at 13 orientations, for all 121 orbits. The parallel WFC3 imaging provides a panchromatic (0.4 - 1.7 micron) and contiguous imaging swath over a 250 degree azimuthal range at impact radii of 6.5 -- 17.9 pc in 47 Tuc. This imaging totals over 60 arcmin^2 in area and utilizes the F390W and F606W broadband filters on WFC3/UVIS and the F110W and F160W broadband filters on WFC3/IR. In this paper, we describe the observational design of the new survey and one of the methods used to analyze all of the imaging data. This analysis combines over 700 full-frame images taken with the three HST cameras into a handful of ultra-deep, well-sampled combined images in each of the six filters. The results reveal unprecedented color-magnitude diagrams (CMDs) of the cluster extending to >30th magnitude in the optical, 29th magnitude in the UV, and 27th magnitude in the IR. The data set provides a characterization of the complete stellar populations of 47 Tuc, extending from the faintest hydrogen burning dwarfs through the main-sequence and giant branches, down to very cool white dwarf remnants in the cluster. The imaging also provides the deepest probe of the stellar populations of the background Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) galaxy, resolving low mass main-sequence dwarfs with M < 0.2 Msun.

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arXiv2010

Old White Dwarf Stars with Some Hydrogen -- Cooling Curves

We present theoretical analysis on old white dwarf stars with \emph{some} hydrogen, that possess a mass of surface hydrogen from $1\times10^{-11}M_{\sun}$ to $1\times10^{-7}M_{\sun}$. The evolution of such objects is complicated by convective mixing from surface convection zone to the underlying helium layer. In this paper, we provide first self-consistent, quantitative investigation on the subject of convective mixing. Numerical cooling curves and chemical evolution curves are obtained as a function of white dwarf mass and hydrogen content. Such results will be applied to the investigation of the non-DA gap of \citet{1997ApJS..108..339B} in a later paper.

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arXiv2010

A New 24 micron Phase Curve for upsilon Andromedae b

We report the detection of 24 micron variations from the planet-hosting upsilon Andromedae system consistent with the orbital periodicity of the system's innermost planet, upsilon And b. We find a peak-to-valley phase curve amplitude of 0.00130 times the mean system flux. Using a simple model with two hemispheres of constant surface brightness and assuming a planetary radius of 1.3 Jupiter radii gives a planetary temperature contrast of >900 K and an orbital inclination of >28 degrees. We further report the largest phase offset yet observed for an extrasolar planet: the flux maximum occurs ~80 degrees before phase 0.5. Such a large phase offset is difficult to reconcile with most current atmospheric circulation models. We improve on earlier observations of this system in several important ways: (1) observations of a flux calibrator star demonstrate the MIPS detector is stable to 10^-4 on long timescales, (2) we note that the background light varies systematically due to spacecraft operations, precluding use of this background as a flux calibrator (stellar flux measured above the background is not similarly affected), and (3) we calibrate for flux variability correlated with motion of the star on the MIPS detector. A reanalysis of our earlier observations of this system is consistent with our new result.

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arXiv2009

A Search for molecules in the atmosphere of HD 189733b

We use signal enhancement techniques and a matched filter analysis to search for the K band spectroscopic absorption signature of the close orbiting extrasolar giant planet, HD 189733b. With timeseries observations taken with NIRSPEC at the Keck II telescope, we investigate the relative abundances of H2O and carbon bearing molecules, which have now been identified in the dayside spectrum of HD 189733b. We detect a candidate planet signature with a low level of significance, close to the ~153 km/s velocity amplitude of HD 189733b. However, some systematic variations, mainly due to imperfect telluric line removal, remain in the residual spectral timeseries in which we search for the planetary signal. The robustness of our candidate signature is assessed, enabling us to conclude that it is not possible to confirm the presence of any planetary signal which appears at Fp/F* contrasts deeper than the 95.4 per cent confidence level. Our search does not enable us to detect the planet at a contrast ratio of Fp/F* = 1/1920 with 99.9 per cent confidence. We also investigate the effect of model uncertainties on our ability to reliably recover a planetary signal. The use of incorrect temperature, model opacity wavelengths and model temperature-pressure profiles have important consequences for the least squares deconvolution procedure that we use to boost the S/N ratio in our spectral timeseries observations. We find that mismatches between the empirical and model planetary spectrum may weaken the significance of a detection by ~30-60 per cent, thereby potentially impairing our ability to recover a planetary signal with high confidence.

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arXiv2009

The Masses of Population II White Dwarfs

Globular star clusters are among the first stellar populations to have formed in the Milky Way, and thus only a small sliver of their initial spectrum of stellar types are still burning hydrogen on the main-sequence today. Almost all of the stars born with more mass than 0.8 M_sun have evolved to form the white dwarf cooling sequence of these systems, and the distribution and properties of these remnants uniquely holds clues related to the nature of the now evolved progenitor stars. With ultra-deep HST imaging observations, rich white dwarf populations of four nearby Milky Way globular clusters have recently been uncovered, and are found to extend an impressive 5 - 8 magnitudes in the faint-blue region of the H-R diagram. In this paper, we characterize the properties of these population II remnants by presenting the first direct mass measurements of individual white dwarfs near the tip of the cooling sequence in the nearest of the Milky Way globulars, M4. Based on Gemini/GMOS and Keck/LRIS multiobject spectroscopic observations, our results indicate that 0.8 M_sun population II main-sequence stars evolving today form 0.53 +/- 0.01 M_sun white dwarfs. We discuss the implications of this result as it relates to our understanding of stellar structure and evolution of population II stars and for the age of the Galactic halo, as measured with white dwarf cooling theory.

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arXiv2008

A Deep HST Study of the Globular Cluster NGC 6397: Reduction Methods

We describe here the reduction methods that we developed to study the faintest red dwarfs and white dwarfs in an outer field of NGC6397, which was observed by \hst for 126 orbits in 2005. The particular challenge of this data set is that the faintest stars are not readily visible in individual exposures, so special care must be taken to combine the information in all the exposures in order to identify and measure them. Unfortunately, it is hard to find the faintest stars without also finding a large number of faint galaxies, so we developed specialized tools to distinguish between the point-like stars and the barely resolved galaxies. We found that artificial-star tests, while obviously necessary for completeness determination, can also play an important role in helping us optimize our finding and measuring algorithms. Although this paper focuses on this data set specifically, many of the techniques are new and might find application in other work, particularly when a large number of images is available for a single field.

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arXiv2008

Deep ACS Imaging in the Globular Cluster NGC6397: Dynamical Models

We present N-body models to complement deep imaging of the metal-poor core-collapsed cluster NGC6397 obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope. All simulations include stellar and binary evolution in-step with the stellar dynamics and account for the tidal field of the Galaxy. We focus on the results of a simulation that began with 100000 objects (stars and binaries), 5% primordial binaries and Population II metallicity. After 16 Gyr of evolution the model cluster has about 20% of the stars remaining and has reached core-collapse. We compare the color-magnitude diagrams of the model at this age for the central region and an outer region corresponding to the observed field of NGC6397 (about 2-3 half-light radii from the cluster centre). This demonstrates that the white dwarf population in the outer region has suffered little modification from dynamical processes - contamination of the luminosity function by binaries and white dwarfs with non-standard evolution histories is minimal and should not significantly affect measurement of the cluster age. We also show that the binary fraction of main-sequence stars observed in the NGC6397 field can be taken as representative of the primordial binary fraction of the cluster. For the mass function of the main-sequence stars we find that although this has been altered significantly by dynamics over the cluster lifetime, especially in the central and outer regions, that the position of the observed field is close to optimal for recovering the initial mass function of the cluster stars (below the current turn-off mass). More generally we look at how the mass function changes with radius in a dynamically evolved stellar cluster and suggest where the best radial position to observe the initial mass function is for clusters of any age.

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arXiv2007

The Initial-Final Mass Relation: Direct Constraints at the Low Mass End

The initial-final mass relation represents a mapping between the mass of a white dwarf remnant and the mass that the hydrogen burning main-sequence star that created it once had. The relation thus far has been constrained using a sample of ~40 stars in young open clusters, ranging in initial mass from ~2.75 -- 7 Msun, and shows a general trend that connects higher mass main-sequence stars with higher mass white dwarfs. In this paper, we present CFHT/CFH12K photometric and Keck/LRIS multiobject spectroscopic observations of a sample of 22 white dwarfs in two older open clusters, NGC 7789 (t = 1.4 Gyr) and NGC 6819 (t = 2.5 Gyr). We measure masses for the highest S/N spectra by fitting the Balmer lines to atmosphere models and place the first direct constraints on the low mass end of the initial-final mass relation. Our results indicate that the observed general trend at higher masses continues down to low masses, with M_initial = 1.16 Msun main-sequence stars forming M_final = 0.53 Msun white dwarfs (including our data from the very old open cluster, NGC 6791). This extention of the relation represents a four fold increase in the total number of hydrogen burning stars for which the integrated mass loss can now be calculated, assuming a Salpeter initial mass function. The new leverage at the low mass end is used to derive a purely empirical initial-final mass relation without the need for any indirectly derived anchor points. The sample of white dwarfs in these clusters also shows several very interesting systems that we discuss further: a DB (helium atmosphere) white dwarf, a magnetic white dwarf, a DAB (mixed hydrogen/helium atmosphere or a double degenerate DA+DB) white dwarf(s), and two possible equal mass DA double degenerate binary systems.

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arXiv2007

Stellar Evolution in NGC 6791: Mass Loss on the Red Giant Branch and the Formation of Low Mass White Dwarfs

We present the first detailed study of the properties (temperatures, gravities, and masses) of the NGC 6791 white dwarf population. This unique stellar system is both one of the oldest (8 Gyr) and most metal-rich ([Fe/H] ~ 0.4) open clusters in our Galaxy, and has a color-magnitude diagram (CMD) that exhibits both a red giant clump and a much hotter extreme horizontal branch. Fitting the Balmer lines of the white dwarfs in the cluster, using Keck/LRIS spectra, suggests that most of these stars are undermassive, = 0.43 +/- 0.06 Msun, and therefore could not have formed from canonical stellar evolution involving the helium flash at the tip of the red giant branch. We show that at least 40% of NGC 6791's evolved stars must have lost enough mass on the red giant branch to avoid the flash, and therefore did not convert helium into carbon-oxygen in their core. Such increased mass loss in the evolution of the progenitors of these stars is consistent with the presence of the extreme horizontal branch in the CMD. This unique stellar evolutionary channel also naturally explains the recent finding of a very young age (2.4 Gyr) for NGC 6791 from white dwarf cooling theory; helium core white dwarfs in this cluster will cool ~3 times slower than carbon-oxygen core stars and therefore the corrected white dwarf cooling age is in fact ~7 Gyr, consistent with the well measured main-sequence turnoff age. These results provide direct empirical evidence that mass loss is much more efficient in high metallicity environments and therefore may be critical in interpreting the ultraviolet upturn in elliptical galaxies.

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arXiv2007

Deep ACS Imaging in the Globular Cluster NGC 6397: The Cluster Color Magnitude Diagram and Luminosity Function

We present the CMD from deep HST imaging in the globular cluster NGC 6397. The ACS was used for 126 orbits to image a single field in two colors (F814W, F606W) 5 arcmin SE of the cluster center. The field observed overlaps that of archival WFPC2 data from 1994 and 1997 which were used to proper motion (PM) clean the data. Applying the PM corrections produces a remarkably clean CMD which reveals a number of features never seen before in a globular cluster CMD. In our field, the main sequence stars appeared to terminate close to the location in the CMD of the hydrogen-burning limit predicted by two independent sets of stellar evolution models. The faintest observed main sequence stars are about a magnitude fainter than the least luminous metal-poor field halo stars known, suggesting that the lowest luminosity halo stars still await discovery. At the bright end the data extend beyond the main sequence turnoff to well up the giant branch. A populous white dwarf cooling sequence is also seen in the cluster CMD. The most dramatic features of the cooling sequence are its turn to the blue at faint magnitudes as well as an apparent truncation near F814W = 28. The cluster luminosity and mass functions were derived, stretching from the turn off down to the hydrogen-burning limit. It was well modeled with either a very flat power-law or a lognormal function. In order to interpret these fits more fully we compared them with similar functions in the cluster core and with a full N-body model of NGC 6397 finding satisfactory agreement between the model predictions and the data. This exercise demonstrates the important role and the effect that dynamics has played in altering the cluster IMF.

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arXiv2007

Two Classes of Hot Jupiters

We identify two classes of transiting planet, based on their equilibrium temperatures and Safronov numbers. We examine various possible explanations for the dichotomy. It may reflect the influence of planet or planetesimal scattering in determining when planetary migration stops. Another possibility is that some planets lose more mass to evaporation than others. If this evaporation process preferentially removes Helium from the planet, the consequent reduction in the mean molecular weight may explain why some planets have anomalously large radii.

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arXiv2007

The White Dwarf Cooling Sequence of NGC6397

We present the results of a deep Hubble Space Telescope (HST) exposure of the nearby globular cluster NGC6397, focussing attention on the cluster's white dwarf cooling sequence. This sequence is shown to extend over 5 magnitudes in depth, with an apparent cutoff at magnitude F814W=27.6. We demonstrate, using both artificial star tests and the detectability of background galaxies at fainter magnitudes, that the cutoff is real and represents the truncation of the white dwarf luminosity function in this cluster. We perform a detailed comparison between cooling models and the observed distribution of white dwarfs in colour and magnitude, taking into account uncertainties in distance, extinction, white dwarf mass, progenitor lifetimes, binarity and cooling model uncertainties. After marginalising over these variables, we obtain values for the cluster distance modulus and age of μ_0 = 12.02 \pm 0.06 and T_c = 11.47 \pm 0.47Gyr (95% confidence limits). Our inferred distance and white dwarf initial-final mass relations are in good agreement with other independent determinations, and the cluster age is consistent with, but more precise than, prior determinations made using the main sequence turnoff method. In particular, within the context of the currently accepted ΛCDM cosmological model, this age places the formation of NGC6397 at a redshift z=3, at a time when the cosmological star formation rate was approaching its peak.

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