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Djemma Ruseva

Publications and source records attributed to Djemma Ruseva.

2 recordsLinked to original sources

A Catalog of Homogeneously Derived Stellar Parameters for Spectroscopic Survey Stars

Uniformly derived stellar parameters are vital for exoplanet demographic studies because they directly influence the inferred planetary masses, radii, and bulk densities. This study presents a new homogeneous catalog of physical stellar parameters for 5533 single stars observed by the HARPS, HIRES, and CARMENES radial-velocity (RV) surveys. Stellar parameters are determined using a Bayesian framework with two independent sets of stellar evolutionary models: MIST and PARSEC, using published spectroscopic parameter estimates and catalog values as priors. The resulting stellar effective temperatures, masses, radii, and surface gravities are compared and evaluated for consistency with stellar parameters listed in major exoplanet catalogs. While our estimates show consistency with those listed in external catalogs, we identify method-dependent differences in stellar masses for low-mass and pre-main-sequence stars, as well as G and K giants, where isochrone-based solutions may be affected by age-mass degeneracies. For low-mass stars such as M-dwarfs, the catalog provides masses derived from established mass-luminosity empirical relations, which tend to be more reliable. This catalog provides the largest uniformly derived stellar reference sample for Doppler survey targets and also illustrates the applicability and limitations of stellar-parameter homogenisation methods for future RV exoplanet demographics studies.

astro-ph.SR

WASP-121b's transmission spectrum observed with JWST/NIRSpec G395H reveals thermal dissociation and SiO in the atmosphere

WASP-121b has been established as a benchmark ultrahot Jupiter, serving as a laboratory for the atmospheric chemistry and dynamics of strongly irradiated extrasolar gas giants. Here, we present and analyze WASP-121b's transmission spectrum observed with NIRSpec G395H on board the James Webb Space Telescope and find evidence for the thermal dissociation of H$_2$O and H$_2$ on the planet's permanent dayside. Additionally, we detect SiO at a statistical significance of $5.2\sigma$ which is compatible with chemical equilibrium in the atmosphere. Constraining the abundance of SiO and abundance ratios between silicon and volatile atoms in WASP-121b's atmosphere could help discriminate between possible migration histories of the planet. The three-dimensional nature of thermal dissociation on WASP-121b's dayside and of recombination on its nightside, however, poses a challenge to constraining molecular abundances and elemental abundance ratios from the transmission spectrum. To account for this, we implemented an atmospheric model in the NEMESIS framework that splits the planet's atmosphere into dayside and nightside. A retrieval applying our atmospheric model to WASP-121b's transmission spectrum favors a higher H$_2$O abundance on the nightside than on the dayside, demonstrating the impact of hemispheric heterogeneity when attempting to constrain WASP-121b's bulk H$_2$O inventory.

astro-ph.EP