arXiv subjects

M. Gillon

Publications and source records attributed to M. Gillon.

At least 181 records · Page 10Linked to original sources

arXiv2017

Temporal evolution of the high-energy irradiation and water content of TRAPPIST-1 exoplanets

The ultracool dwarf star TRAPPIST-1 hosts seven Earth-size transiting planets, some of which could harbour liquid water on their surfaces. UV observations are essential to measure their high-energy irradiation, and to search for photodissociated water escaping from their putative atmospheres. Our new observations of TRAPPIST-1 Ly-$α$ line during the transit of TRAPPIST-1c show an evolution of the star emission over three months, preventing us from assessing the presence of an extended hydrogen exosphere. Based on the current knowledge of the stellar irradiation, we investigated the likely history of water loss in the system. Planets b to d might still be in a runaway phase, and planets within the orbit of TRAPPIST-1g could have lost more than 20 Earth oceans after 8 Gyr of hydrodynamic escape. However, TRAPPIST-1e to h might have lost less than 3 Earth oceans if hydrodynamic escape stopped once they entered the habitable zone. We caution that these estimates remain limited by the large uncertainty on the planet masses. They likely represent upper limits on the actual water loss because our assumptions maximize the XUV-driven escape, while photodissociation in the upper atmospheres should be the limiting process. Late-stage outgassing could also have contributed significant amounts of water for the outer, more massive planets after they entered the habitable zone. While our results suggest that the outer planets are the best candidates to search for water with the JWST, they also highlight the need for theoretical studies and complementary observations in all wavelength domains to determine the nature of the TRAPPIST-1 planets, and their potential habitability.

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arXiv2017

WASP-167b/KELT-13b: Joint discovery of a hot Jupiter transiting a rapidly-rotating F1V star

We report the joint WASP/KELT discovery of WASP-167b/KELT-13b, a transiting hot Jupiter with a 2.02-d orbit around a $V$ = 10.5, F1V star with [Fe/H] = 0.1 $\pm$ 0.1. The 1.5 R$_{\rm Jup}$ planet was confirmed by Doppler tomography of the stellar line profiles during transit. We place a limit of $<$ 8 M$_{\rm Jup}$ on its mass. The planet is in a retrograde orbit with a sky-projected spin-orbit angle of $λ= -165^{\circ} \pm 5^{\circ}$. This is in agreement with the known tendency for orbits around hotter stars to be more likely to be misaligned. WASP-167/KELT-13 is one of the few systems where the stellar rotation period is less than the planetary orbital period. We find evidence of non-radial stellar pulsations in the host star, making it a $δ$-Scuti or $γ$-Dor variable. The similarity to WASP-33, a previously known hot-Jupiter host with pulsations, adds to the suggestion that close-in planets might be able to excite stellar pulsations.

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arXiv2017

3D shape of asteroid (6)~Hebe from VLT/SPHERE imaging: Implications for the origin of ordinary H chondrites

Context. The high-angular-resolution capability of the new-generation ground-based adaptive-optics camera SPHERE at ESO VLT allows us to assess, for the very first time, the cratering record of medium-sized (D~100-200 km) asteroids from the ground, opening the prospect of a new era of investigation of the asteroid belt's collisional history. Aims. We investigate here the collisional history of asteroid (6) Hebe and challenge the idea that Hebe may be the parent body of ordinary H chondrites, the most common type of meteorites found on Earth (~34% of the falls). Methods. We observed Hebe with SPHERE as part of the science verification of the instrument. Combined with earlier adaptive-optics images and optical light curves, we model the spin and three-dimensional (3D) shape of Hebe and check the consistency of the derived model against available stellar occultations and thermal measurements. Results. Our 3D shape model fits the images with sub-pixel residuals and the light curves to 0.02 mag. The rotation period (7.274 47 h), spin (343 deg,+47 deg), and volume-equivalent diameter (193 +/- 6km) are consistent with previous determinations and thermophysical modeling. Hebe's inferred density is 3.48 +/- 0.64 g.cm-3 , in agreement with an intact interior based on its H-chondrite composition. Using the 3D shape model to derive the volume of the largest depression (likely impact crater), it appears that the latter is significantly smaller than the total volume of close-by S-type H-chondrite-like asteroid families. Conclusions. Our results imply that (6) Hebe is not the most likely source of H chondrites. Over the coming years, our team will collect similar high-precision shape measurements with VLT/SPHERE for ~40 asteroids covering the main compositional classes, thus providing an unprecedented dataset to investigate the origin and collisional evolution of the asteroid belt.

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arXiv2017

The 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko observation campaign in support of the Rosetta mission

We present a summary of the campaign of remote observations that supported the European Space Agency's Rosetta mission. Telescopes across the globe (and in space) followed comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko from before Rosetta's arrival until nearly the end of mission in September 2016. These provided essential data for mission planning, large-scale context information for the coma and tails beyond the spacecraft, and a way to directly compare 67P with other comets. The observations revealed 67P to be a relatively `well behaved' comet, typical of Jupiter family comets and with activity patterns that repeat from orbit-to-orbit. Comparison between this large collection of telescopic observations and the in situ results from Rosetta will allow us to better understand comet coma chemistry and structure. This work is just beginning as the mission ends -- in this paper we present a summary of the ground-based observations and early results, and point to many questions that will be addressed in future studies.

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arXiv2017

Study of the plutino object (208996) 2003 AZ84 from stellar occultations: size, shape and topographic features

We present results derived from four stellar occultations by the plutino object (208996) 2003~AZ$_{84}$, detected at January 8, 2011 (single-chord event), February 3, 2012 (multi-chord), December 2, 2013 (single-chord) and November 15, 2014 (multi-chord). Our observations rule out an oblate spheroid solution for 2003~AZ$_{84}$'s shape. Instead, assuming hydrostatic equilibrium, we find that a Jacobi triaxial solution with semi axes $(470 \pm 20) \times (383 \pm 10) \times (245 \pm 8)$~km % axis ratios $b/a= 0.82 \pm 0.05$ and $c/a= 0.52 \pm 0.02$, can better account for all our occultation observations. Combining these dimensions with the rotation period of the body (6.75~h) and the amplitude of its rotation light curve, we derive a density $ρ=0.87 \pm 0.01$~g~cm$^{-3}$ a geometric albedo $p_V= 0.097 \pm 0.009$. A grazing chord observed during the 2014 occultation reveals a topographic feature along 2003~AZ$_{84}$'s limb, that can be interpreted as an abrupt chasm of width $\sim 23$~km and depth $> 8$~km or a smooth depression of width $\sim 80$~km and depth $\sim 13$~km (or an intermediate feature between those two extremes).

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arXiv2017

Reconnaissance of the TRAPPIST-1 exoplanet system in the Lyman-$α$ line

The TRAPPIST-1 system offers the opportunity to characterize terrestrial, potentially habitable planets orbiting a nearby ultracool dwarf star. We performed a four-orbit reconnaissance with the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph onboard the Hubble Space Telescope to study the stellar emission at Lyman-$α$, to assess the presence of hydrogen exospheres around the two inner planets, and to determine their UV irradiation. We detect the Lyman-$α$ line of TRAPPIST-1, making it the coldest exoplanet host star for which this line has been measured. We reconstruct the intrinsic line profile, showing that it lacks broad wings and is much fainter than expected from the stellar X-ray emission. TRAPPIST-1 has a similar X-ray emission as Proxima Cen but a much lower Ly-$α$ emission. This suggests that TRAPPIST-1 chromosphere is only moderately active compared to its transition region and corona. We estimated the atmospheric mass loss rates for all planets, and found that despite a moderate extreme UV emission the total XUV irradiation could be strong enough to strip the atmospheres of the inner planets in a few billions years. We detect marginal flux decreases at the times of TRAPPIST-1b and c transits, which might originate from stellar activity, but could also hint at the presence of extended hydrogen exospheres. Understanding the origin of these Lyman-$α$ variations will be crucial in assessing the atmospheric stability and potential habitability of the TRAPPIST-1 planets.

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arXiv2017

The Spitzer search for the transits of HARPS low-mass planets - II. Null results for 19 planets

Short-period super-Earths and Neptunes are now known to be very frequent around solar-type stars. Improving our understanding of these mysterious planets requires the detection of a significant sample of objects suitable for detailed characterization. Searching for the transits of the low-mass planets detected by Doppler surveys is a straightforward way to achieve this goal. Indeed, Doppler surveys target the most nearby main-sequence stars, they regularly detect close-in low-mass planets with significant transit probability, and their radial velocity data constrain strongly the ephemeris of possible transits. In this context, we initiated in 2010 an ambitious Spitzer multi-Cycle transit search project that targeted 25 low-mass planets detected by radial velocity, focusing mainly on the shortest-period planets detected by the HARPS spectrograph. We report here null results for 19 targets of the project. For 16 planets out of 19, a transiting configuration is strongly disfavored or firmly rejected by our data for most planetary compositions. We derive a posterior probability of 83% that none of the probed 19 planets transits (for a prior probability of 22%), which still leaves a significant probability of 17% that at least one of them does transit. Globally, our Spitzer project revealed or confirmed transits for three of its 25 targeted planets, and discarded or disfavored the transiting nature of 20 of them. Our light curves demonstrate for Warm Spitzer excellent photometric precisions: for 14 targets out of 19, we were able to reach standard deviations that were better than 50ppm per 30 min intervals. Combined with its Earth-trailing orbit, which makes it capable of pointing any star in the sky and to monitor it continuously for days, this work confirms Spitzer as an optimal instrument to detect sub-mmag-deep transits on the bright nearby stars targeted by Doppler surveys.

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arXiv2016

WASP-South transiting exoplanets: WASP-130b, WASP-131b, WASP-132b, WASP-139b, WASP-140b, WASP-141b & WASP-142b

We describe seven exoplanets transiting stars of brightness V = 10.1 to 12.4. WASP-130b is a "warm Jupiter" having an orbital period of 11.6 d around a metal-rich G6 star. Its mass and radius (1.23 +/- 0.04 Mjup; 0.89 +/- 0.03 Rjup) support the trend that warm Jupiters have smaller radii than hot Jupiters. WASP-131b is a bloated Saturn-mass planet (0.27 Mjup; 1.22 Rjup). Its large scale height and bright (V = 10.1) host star make it a good target for atmospheric characterisation. WASP-132b (0.41 Mjup; 0.87 Rjup) is among the least irradiated and coolest of WASP planets, having a 7.1-d orbit around a K4 star. WASP-139b is a "super-Neptune" akin to HATS-7b and HATS-8b, being the lowest-mass planet yet found by WASP (0.12 Mjup; 0.80 Rjup). The metal-rich K0 host star appears to be anomalously dense, akin to HAT-P-11. WASP-140b is a 2.4-Mjup planet in an eccentric (e = 0.047 +/- 0.004) 2.2-d orbit. The planet's radius is large (1.4 Rjup), but uncertain owing to the grazing transit (b = 0.93). The 10.4-day rotation period of the K0 host star suggests a young age, and the timescale for tidal circularisation is likely to be the lowest of all known eccentric hot Jupiters. WASP-141b (2.7 Mjup, 1.2 Rjup, P = 3.3 d) and WASP-142b (0.84 Mjup, 1.53 Rjup, P = 2.1 d) are typical hot Jupiters orbiting metal-rich F stars. We show that the period distribution within the hot-Jupiter bulge does not depend on the metallicity of the host star.

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arXiv2016

From dense hot Jupiter to low-density Neptune: The discovery of WASP-127b, WASP-136b and WASP-138b

We report three newly discovered exoplanets from the SuperWASP survey. WASP-127b is a heavily inflated super-Neptune of mass 0.18 +/- 0.02 M_J and radius 1.37 +/- 0.04 R_J. This is one of the least massive planets discovered by the WASP project. It orbits a bright host star (Vmag = 10.16) of spectral type G5 with a period of 4.17 days. WASP-127b is a low-density planet that has an extended atmosphere with a scale height of 2500 +/- 400 km, making it an ideal candidate for transmission spectroscopy. WASP-136b and WASP-138b are both hot Jupiters with mass and radii of 1.51 +/- 0.08 M_J and 1.38 +/- 0.16 R_J, and 1.22 +/- 0.08 M_J and 1.09 +/- 0.05 R_J, respectively. WASP-136b is in a 5.22-day orbit around an F9 subgiant star with a mass of 1.41 +/- 0.07 M_sun and a radius of 2.21 +/- 0.22 R_sun. The discovery of WASP-136b could help constrain the characteristics of the giant planet population around evolved stars. WASP-138b orbits an F7 star with a period of 3.63 days. Its radius agrees with theoretical values from standard models, suggesting the presence of a heavy element core with a mass of ~10 M_earth. The discovery of these new planets helps in exploring the diverse compositional range of short-period planets, and will aid our understanding of the physical characteristics of both gas giants and low-density planets.

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arXiv2016

Rossiter--McLaughlin models and their effect on estimates of stellar rotation, illustrated using six WASP systems

We present new measurements of the projected spin--orbit angle $λ$ for six WASP hot Jupiters, four of which are new to the literature (WASP-61, -62, -76, and -78), and two of which are new analyses of previously measured systems using new data (WASP-71, and -79). We use three different models based on two different techniques: radial velocity measurements of the Rossiter--McLaughlin effect, and Doppler tomography. Our comparison of the different models reveals that they produce projected stellar rotation velocities ($v \sin I_{\rm s}$) measurements often in disagreement with each other and with estimates obtained from spectral line broadening. The Boué model for the Rossiter--McLaughlin effect consistently underestimates the value of $v\sin I_{\rm s}$ compared to the Hirano model. Although $v \sin I_s$ differed, the effect on $λ$ was small for our sample, with all three methods producing values in agreement with each other. Using Doppler tomography, we find that WASP-61\,b ($λ=4^\circ.0^{+17.1}_{-18.4}$), WASP-71\,b ($λ=-1^\circ.9^{+7.1}_{-7.5}$), and WASP-78\,b ($λ=-6^\circ.4\pm5.9$) are aligned. WASP-62\,b ($λ=19^\circ.4^{+5.1}_{-4.9}$) is found to be slightly misaligned, while WASP-79\,b ($λ=-95^\circ.2^{+0.9}_{-1.0}$) is confirmed to be strongly misaligned and has a retrograde orbit. We explore a range of possibilities for the orbit of WASP-76\,b, finding that the orbit is likely to be strongly misaligned in the positive $λ$ direction.

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arXiv2016

WASP-86b and WASP-102b: super-dense versus bloated planets

We report the discovery of two transiting planetary systems: a super dense, sub-Jupiter mass planet WASP-86b (\mpl\ = 0.82 $\pm$ 0.06 \mj, \rpl\ = 0.63 $\pm$ 0.01 \rj), and a bloated, Saturn-like planet WASP-102b (\mpl\ = 0.62 $\pm$ 0.04 \mj, \rpl\=1.27 $\pm$ 0.03 \rj). They orbit their host star every $\sim$5.03, and $\sim$2.71 days, respectively. The planet hosting WASP-86 is a F7 star (\teff\ = 6330$\pm$110 K, \feh\ = $+$0.23 $\pm$ 0.14 dex, and age $\sim$0.8--1~Gyr), WASP-102 is a G0 star (\teff\ = 5940$\pm$140 K, \feh\ = $-$0.09$\pm$ 0.19 dex, and age $\sim$1~Gyr). These two systems highlight the diversity of planetary radii over similar masses for giant planets with masses between Saturn and Jupiter. WASP-102b shows a larger than model-predicted radius, indicating that the planet is receiving a strong incident flux which contributes to the inflation of its radius. On the other hand, with a density of $ρ_{pl}$ = 3.24$\pm$~0.3~$ρ_{jup}$, WASP-86b is the densest gas giant planet among planets with masses in the range 0.05 $<M$_{pl}$<$ 2.0 \mj. With a stellar mass of 1.34 M$_{\odot}$ and \feh = $+$0.23 dex, WASP-86 could host additional massive and dense planets given that its protoplanetary disc is expected to also have been enriched with heavy elements. In order to match WASP-86b's density, an extrapolation of theoretical models predicts a planet composition of more than 80\% in heavy elements (whether confined in a core or mixed in the envelope). This fraction corresponds to a core mass of approximately 210\me\ for WASP-86b's mass of \mpl$\sim$260\,\me. Only planets with masses larger than about 2\mj\ have larger densities than that of WASP-86b, making it exceptional in its mass range.

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arXiv2016

Discovery of WASP-113b and WASP-114b, two inflated hot-Jupiters with contrasting densities

We present the discovery and characterisation of the exoplanets WASP-113b and WASP-114b by the WASP survey, {\it SOPHIE} and {\it CORALIE}. The planetary nature of the systems was established by performing follow-up photometric and spectroscopic observations. The follow-up data were combined with the WASP-photometry and analysed with an MCMC code to obtain system parameters. The host stars WASP-113 and WASP-114 are very similar. They are both early G-type stars with an effective temperature of $\sim 5900\,$K, [Fe/H]$\sim 0.12$ and $T_{\rm eff}$ $\sim 4.1$dex. However, WASP-113 is older than WASP-114. Although the planetary companions have similar radii, WASP-114b is almost 4 times heavier than WASP-113b. WASP-113b has a mass of $0.48\,$ $\mathrm{M}_{\rm Jup}$ and an orbital period of $\sim 4.5\,$days; WASP-114b has a mass of $1.77\,$ $\mathrm{M}_{\rm Jup}$ and an orbital period of $\sim 1.5\,$days. Both planets have inflated radii, in particular WASP-113 with a radius anomaly of $\Re=0.35$. The high scale height of WASP-113b ($\sim 950$ km ) makes it a good target for follow-up atmospheric observations.

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arXiv2016

WASP-92b, WASP-93b and WASP-118b: Three new transiting close-in giant planets

We present the discovery of three new transiting giant planets, first detected with the WASP telescopes, and establish their planetary nature with follow up spectroscopy and ground-based photometric lightcurves. WASP-92 is an F7 star, with a moderately inflated planet orbiting with a period of 2.17 days, which has $R_p = 1.461 \pm 0.077 R_{\rm J}$ and $M_p = 0.805 \pm 0.068 M_{\rm J}$. WASP-93b orbits its F4 host star every 2.73 days and has $R_p = 1.597 \pm 0.077 R_{\rm J}$ and $M_p = 1.47 \pm 0.029 M_{\rm J}$. WASP-118b also has a hot host star (F6) and is moderately inflated, where $R_p = 1.440 \pm 0.036 R_{\rm J}$ and $M_p = 0.513 \pm 0.041 M_{\rm J}$ and the planet has an orbital period of 4.05 days. They are bright targets (V = 13.18, 10.97 and 11.07 respectively) ideal for further characterisation work, particularly WASP-118b, which is being observed by K2 as part of campaign 8. WASP-93b is expected to be tidally migrating outwards, which is divergent from the tidal behaviour of the majority of hot Jupiters discovered.

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arXiv2016

WASP-157b, a Transiting Hot Jupiter Observed with K2

We announce the discovery of the transiting hot Jupiter WASP-157b in a 3.95-d orbit around a V = 12.9 G2 main-sequence star. This moderately inflated planet has a Saturn-like density with a mass of $0.57 \pm 0.10$ M$_{\rm Jup}$ and a radius of $1.06 \pm 0.05$ R$_{\rm Jup}$. We do not detect any rotational or phase-curve modulations, nor the secondary eclipse, with conservative semi-amplitude upper limits of 250 and 20 ppm, respectively.

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arXiv2016

Five transiting hot Jupiters discovered using WASP-South, Euler and TRAPPIST: WASP-119 b, WASP-124 b, WASP-126 b, WASP-129 b and WASP-133 b

We have used photometry from the WASP-South instrument to identify 5 stars showing planet-like transits in their light curves. The planetary nature of the companions to these stars has been confirmed using photometry from the EulerCam instrument on the Swiss Euler 1.2-m telescope and the TRAPPIST telescope, and spectroscopy obtained with the CORALIE spectrograph. The planets discovered are hot Jupiter systems with orbital periods in the range 2.17 to 5.75 days, masses from 0.3M$_{\rm Jup}$ to 1.2M$_{\rm Jup}$ and with radii from 1R$_{\rm Jup}$ to 1.5R$_{\rm Jup}$. These planets orbit bright stars (V = 11-13) with spectral types in the range F9 to G4. WASP-126 is the brightest planetary system in this sample and hosts a low-mass planet with a large radius (0.3 M$_{\rm Jup}$ , 0.95R$_{\rm Jup}$), making it a good target for transmission spectroscopy. The high density of WASP-129 A suggests that it is a helium-rich star similar to HAT-P-11 A. WASP-133 has an enhanced surface lithium abundance compared to other old G-type stars, particularly other planet host stars. These planetary systems are good targets for follow-up observations with ground-based and space-based facilities to study their atmospheric and dynamical properties.

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arXiv2016

WASP-120b, WASP-122b and WASP-123b: Three newly discovered planets from the WASP-South survey

We present the discovery by the WASP-South survey of three planets transiting moderately bright stars (V ~ 11). WASP-120b is a massive (5.0MJup) planet in a 3.6-day orbit that we find likely to be eccentric (e = 0.059+0.025-0.018) around an F5 star. WASP-122b is a hot-Jupiter (1.37MJup, 1.79RJup) in a 1.7-day orbit about a G4 star. Our predicted transit depth variation cause by the atmosphere of WASP-122b suggests it is well suited to characterisation. WASP-123b is a hot-Jupiter (0.92MJup, 1.33RJup) in a 3.0-day orbit around an old (~ 7 Gyr) G5 star.

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arXiv2016

The Sun as a planet-host star: Proxies from SDO images for HARPS radial-velocity variations

The Sun is the only star whose surface can be directly resolved at high resolution, and therefore constitutes an excellent test case to explore the physical origin of stellar radial-velocity (RV) variability. We present HARPS observations of sunlight scattered off the bright asteroid 4/Vesta, from which we deduced the Sun's activity-driven RV variations. In parallel, the HMI instrument onboard the Solar Dynamics Observatory provided us with simultaneous high spatial resolution magnetograms, Dopplergrams, and continuum images of the Sun in the Fe I 6173A line. We determine the RV modulation arising from the suppression of granular blueshift in magnetised regions and the flux imbalance induced by dark spots and bright faculae. The rms velocity amplitudes of these contributions are 2.40 m/s and 0.41 m/s, respectively, which confirms that the inhibition of convection is the dominant source of activity-induced RV variations at play, in accordance with previous studies. We find the Doppler imbalances of spot and plage regions to be only weakly anticorrelated. Lightcurves can thus only give incomplete predictions of convective blueshift suppression. We must instead seek proxies that track the plage coverage on the visible stellar hemisphere directly. The chromospheric flux index R'_HK derived from the HARPS spectra performs poorly in this respect, possibly because of the differences in limb brightening/darkening in the chromosphere and photosphere. We also find that the activity-driven RV variations of the Sun are strongly correlated with its full-disc magnetic flux density, which may become a useful proxy for activity-related RV noise.

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arXiv2016

TRAPPIST photometry and imaging monitoring of comet C/2013 R1(Lovejoy): Implications for the origin of daughter species

We report the results of the narrow band photometry and imaging monitoring of comet C/2013 R1 (Lovejoy) with the robotic telescope TRAPPIST (La Silla observatory). We gathered around 400 images over 8 months pre- and post-perihelion between September 12, 2013 and July 6, 2014. We followed the evolution of the OH, NH, CN, C3 , and C2 production rates computed with the Haser model as well as the evolution of the dust production. All five gas species display an asymmetry about perihelion, the rate of brightening being steeper than the rate of fading. The study of the coma morphology reveals gas and dust jets which indicate one or several active zone(s) on the nucleus. The dust, C2 , and C3 morphologies present some similarities while the CN morphology is different. OH and NH are enhanced in the tail direction. The study of the evolution of the comet activity shows that the OH, NH, and C2 production rates evolution with the heliocentric distance is correlated to the dust evolution. The CN and, to a lesser extent, the C3 do not display such a correlation with the dust. These evidences and the comparison with parent species production rates indicate that C2 and C3 on one side and OH and NH on the other side could be -at least partially- released from organic-rich grains and icy grains. On the contrary, all evidences point to HCN being the main parent of CN in this comet.

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