Christopher Watson — Page 2

arXiv2014

Tidally Distorted Exoplanets: Density Corrections for Short-Period Hot-Jupiters based solely on Observable Parameters

The close proximity of short period hot-Jupiters to their parent star means they are subject to extreme tidal forces. This has a profound effect on their structure and, as a result, density measurements that assume that the planet is spherical can be incorrect. We have simulated the tidally distorted surface for 34 known short period hot-Jupiters, assuming surfaces of constant gravitational equipotential for the planet, and the resulting densities have been calculated based only on observed parameters of the exoplanet systems. Comparing these results to the density values assuming the planets are spherical shows that there is an appreciable change in the measured density for planets with very short periods (typically less than two days). For one of the shortest-period systems, WASP-19b, we determine a decrease in bulk density of 12% from the spherical case and, for the majority of systems in this study, this value is in the range of 1-5%. On the other-hand, we also find cases where the distortion is negligible (relative to the measurement errors on the planetary parameters) even in the cases of some very short period systems, depending on the mass ratio and planetary radius. For high-density gas-planets requiring apparently anomalously large core masses, density corrections due to tidal deformation could become important for the shortest-period systems.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2014

The effects of frequency-dependent quasar variability on the celestial reference frame

We examine the relationship between source position stability and astrophysical properties of radio-loud quasars making up the International Celestial Reference Frame. Understanding this relationship is important for improving quasar selection and analysis strategies, and therefore reference frame stability. We construct light curves for 95 of the most frequently observed ICRF2 quasars at both the 2.3 and 8.4 GHz geodetic VLBI observing bands. Because the appearance of new quasar components corresponds to an increase in quasar flux density, these light curves alert us to potential changes in source structure before they appear in VLBI images. We test how source position stability depends on three astrophysical parameters: (1) Flux density variability at X-band; (2) Time lag between flares in S and X-bands; (3) Spectral index rms, defined as the variability in the ratio between S and X-band flux densities. We find that small time lags between S and X-band light curves, and low spectral index variability, are good indicators of position stability. On the other hand, there is no strong dependence of source position stability on flux density variability in a single frequency band. These findings can be understood by interpreting the time lag between S and X-band light curves as a measure of the size of the source structure. Monitoring of source flux density at multiple frequencies therefore appears to provide a useful probe of quasar structure on scales important to geodesy. We show how multi-frequency flux density monitoring may allow the dependence on frequency of the relative core positions along the jet to be elucidated. Knowledge of the position-frequency relation has important implications for current and future geodetic VLBI programs, as well as the alignment between the radio and optical celestial reference frames. (Abridged)

astro-ph.CO↗