arXiv subjects

Mercedes López-Morales

Publications and source records attributed to Mercedes López-Morales.

125 records · Page 7Linked to original sources

arXiv2018

The atmosphere of WASP-17b: Optical high-resolution transmission spectroscopy

High-resolution transmission spectroscopy is a method for understanding the chemical and physical properties of upper exoplanetary atmospheres. Due to large absorption cross-sections, resonance lines of atomic sodium D-lines (at 5889.95 $Å$ and 5895.92 $Å$) produce large transmission signals. Our aim is to unveil the physical properties of WASP-17b through an accurate measurement of the sodium absorption in the transmission spectrum. We analyze 37 high-resolution spectra observed during a single transit of WASP-17b with the MIKE instrument on the 6.5 meter Magellan Telescopes. We exclude stellar flaring activity during the observations by analyzing the temporal variations of H$_α$ and Ca II infra-red triplet (IRT) lines. Then we obtain the excess absorption light curves in wavelength bands of 0.75, 1, 1.5 and 3 $Å$ around the center of each sodium line (i.e., the light curve approach). We model the effects of differential limb-darkening, and the changing planetary radial velocity on the light curves. We also analyze the sodium absorption directly in the transmission spectrum, which is obtained through dividing in-transit by out-of-transit spectra (i.e., the division approach). We then compare our measurements with a radiative transfer atmospheric model. Our analysis results in a tentative detection of exoplanetary sodium: we measure the width and amplitude of the exoplanetary sodium feature to be $σ_{\mathrm{Na}}$ = (0.128 $\pm$ 0.078) $Å$ and A$_{\mathrm{Na}}$ = (1.7 $\pm$ 0.9)% in the excess light curve approach and $σ_{\mathrm{Na}}$ = (0.850 $\pm$ 0.034) $Å$ and A$_{\mathrm{Na}}$ = (1.3 $\pm$ 0.6)% in the division approach. By comparing our measurements with a simple atmospheric model, we retrieve an atmospheric temperature of 1550 $^{+170} _{-200}$ K and radius (at 0.1 bar) of 1.81 $\pm$ 0.02 R$_{\rm Jup}$ for WASP-17b.

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arXiv2018

High Resolution Spectroscopy using Fabry Perot Intereferometer Arrays: An Application to Searches for O$_{2}$ in Exoplanetary Atmospheres

We present a novel implementation for extremely high resolution spectroscopy using custom-designed Fabry Perot Interferometer (FPI) arrays. For a given telescope aperture at the seeing limited case, these arrays can achieve resolutions well in excess of ${\rm R\sim10^5}$ using optical elements orders of magnitude smaller in size than standard echelle spectrographs of similar resolution. We apply this method specifically to the search for molecular oxygen in exoplanetary atmospheres using the ${\rm O_2}$ A-band at 0.76 ${\rm μm}$, and show how a FPI array composed of $\sim10$ etalons with parameters optimized for this science case can record ${\rm R=3-5\,\cdot10^5}$ spectra covering the full ${\rm O_2}$ A-band. Using simulated observations of the atmosphere of a transiting nearby Earth-like planet, we show how observations with a FPI array coupled to a long-slit spectrograph can reduce the number of transit observations needed to produce a ${\rm 3σ}$ detection of ${\rm O_2}$ by $\sim30\%$ compared to observations with a ${\rm R=10^5}$ echelle spectrograph. This, in turn, leads to a decrease in an observing program duration of several years. The number of transits needed for a ${\rm 3σ}$ detection can be further reduced by increasing the efficiency of FPI arrays using dualons (an etalon with a buried reflective layer), and by coupling the FPI array to a dedicated spectrograph optimized for the ${\rm O_2}$ A-band.

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arXiv2018

Understanding Stellar Contamination in Exoplanet Transmission Spectra as an Essential Step in Small Planet Characterization

Transmission spectroscopy during planetary transits is expected to be a major source of information on the atmospheres of small (approximately Earth-sized) exoplanets in the next two decades. This technique, however, is intrinsically affected by stellar spectral contamination caused by the fact that stellar photo- and chromospheres are not perfectly homogeneous. Such stellar contamination will often reach or exceed the signal introduced by the planetary spectral features. Finding effective methods to correct stellar contamination -- or at least to quantify its possible range -- for the most important exoplanets is a necessary step for our understanding of exoplanet atmospheres. This will require significantly deepening our understanding of stellar heterogeneity, which is currently limited by the available data.

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arXiv2017

Precise Masses in the WASP-47 System

We present precise radial velocity observations of WASP-47, a star known to host a hot Jupiter, a distant Jovian companion, and, uniquely, two additional transiting planets in short-period orbits: a super-Earth in a ~19 hour orbit, and a Neptune in a ~9 day orbit. We analyze our observations from the HARPS-N spectrograph along with previously published data to measure the most precise planet masses yet for this system. When combined with new stellar parameters and reanalyzed transit photometry, our mass measurements place strong constraints on the compositions of the two small planets. We find unlike most other ultra-short-period planets, the inner planet, WASP-47 e, has a mass (6.83 +/- 0.66 Me) and radius (1.810 +/- 0.027 Re) inconsistent with an Earth-like composition. Instead, WASP-47 e likely has a volatile-rich envelope surrounding an Earth-like core and mantle. We also perform a dynamical analysis to constrain the orbital inclination of WASP-47 c, the outer Jovian planet. This planet likely orbits close to the plane of the inner three planets, suggesting a quiet dynamical history for the system. Our dynamical constraints also imply that WASP-47 c is much more likely to transit than a geometric calculation would suggest. We calculate a transit probability for WASP-47 c of about 10%, more than an order of magnitude larger than the geometric transit probability of 0.6%.

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arXiv2017

Three's Company: An additional non-transiting super-Earth in the bright HD 3167 system, and masses for all three planets

HD 3167 is a bright (V = 8.9), nearby K0 star observed by the NASA K2 mission (EPIC 220383386), hosting two small, short-period transiting planets. Here we present the results of a multi-site, multi-instrument radial velocity campaign to characterize the HD 3167 system. The masses of the transiting planets are 5.02+/-0.38 MEarth for HD 3167 b, a hot super-Earth with a likely rocky composition (rho_b = 5.60+2.15-1.43 g/cm^3), and 9.80+1.30-1.24 MEarth for HD 3167 c, a warm sub-Neptune with a likely substantial volatile complement (rho_c = 1.97+0.94-0.59 g/cm^3). We explore the possibility of atmospheric composition analysis and determine that planet c is amenable to transmission spectroscopy measurements, and planet b is a potential thermal emission target. We detect a third, non-transiting planet, HD 3167 d, with a period of 8.509+/-0.045 d (between planets b and c) and a minimum mass of 6.90+/-0.71 MEarth. We are able to constrain the mutual inclination of planet d with planets b and c: we rule out mutual inclinations below 1.3 degrees as we do not observe transits of planet d. From 1.3-40 degrees, there are viewing geometries invoking special nodal configurations which result in planet d not transiting some fraction of the time. From 40-60 degrees, Kozai-Lidov oscillations increase the system's instability, but it can remain stable for up to 100Myr. Above 60 degrees, the system is unstable. HD 3167 promises to be a fruitful system for further study and a preview of the many exciting systems expected from the upcoming NASA TESS mission.

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arXiv2016

ACCESS I: An Optical Transmission Spectrum of GJ 1214b Reveals a Heterogeneous Stellar Photosphere

GJ 1214b is the most studied sub-Neptune exoplanet to date. Recent measurements have shown its near-infrared transmission spectrum to be flat, pointing to a high-altitude opacity source in the exoplanet's atmosphere, either equilibrium condensate clouds or photochemical hazes. Many photometric observations have been reported in the optical by different groups, though simultaneous measurements spanning the entire optical regime are lacking. We present an optical transmission spectrum ($4,500-9,260$Å) of GJ 1214b in 14 bins measured with Magellan/IMACS repeatedly over three transits. We measure a mean planet-to-star radius ratio of ${R_{p}/R_{s} = 0.1146\pm{2\times10^{-4}}}$ and mean uncertainty of $σ(R_{p}/R_{s})=8.7\times10^{-4}$ in the spectral bins. The optical transit depths are shallower on average than observed in the near-infrared. We present a model for jointly incorporating the effects of a composite photosphere and atmospheric transmission (CPAT) through the exoplanet's limb, and use it to examine the cases of absorber and temperature heterogeneities in the stellar photosphere. We find the optical and near-infrared measurements are best explained by the combination of (1) photochemical haze in the exoplanetary atmosphere with a mode particle size $r=0.1~μ$m and haze-forming efficiency $f_{haze}=10 \%$ and (2) faculae in the unocculted stellar disk with a temperature contrast $ΔT=354^{+46}_{-46}$ K, assuming 3.2% surface coverage. The CPAT model can be used to assess potential contributions of heterogeneous stellar photospheres to observations of exoplanet transmission spectra, which will be important for searches for spectral features in the optical.

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arXiv2016

Chromospheric and Coronal Activity in the 500-Myr-old Open Cluster M37: Evidence for Coronal Stripping?

We present the results of a spectroscopic survey to characterize chromospheric activity, as measured by H$α$ emission, in low-mass members of the 500-Myr-old open cluster M37. Combining our new measurements of H$α$ luminosities ($L_{Hα}$) with previously cataloged stellar properties, we identify saturated and unsaturated regimes in the dependence of the $L_{Hα}$-to-bolometric-luminosity ratio, $L_{Hα}/L_{bol}$, on the Rossby number $R_o$. All rotators with Ro smaller than 0.03$\pm$0.01 converge to an activity level of $L_{Hα}/L_{bol}$ = (1.27$\pm$0.02) x 10$^{-4}$. This saturation threshold ($R_{o,sat}$ = 0.03$\pm$0.01) is statistically smaller than that found in most studies of the rotation-activity relation. In the unsaturated regime, slower rotators have lower levels of chromospheric activity, with $L_{Hα}/L_{bol}$($R_o$) following a power-law of index $β$ = -0.51$\pm$0.02, slightly shallower than the one found for a combined $\approx$650-Myr-old sample of Hyades and Praesepe stars. By comparing this unsaturated behavior to that previously found for coronal activity in M37 (as measured via the X-ray luminosity, $L_X$), we confirm that chromospheric activity decays at a much slower rate than coronal activity with increasing $R_o$. While a comparison of $L_{Hα}$ and $L_X$ for M37 members with measurements of both reveals a nearly 1:1 relation, removing the mass-dependencies by comparing instead $L_{Hα}/L_{bol}$ and $L_X/L_{bol}$ does not provide clear evidence for such a relation. Finally, we find that $R_{o,sat}$ is smaller for our chromospheric than for our coronal indicator of activity ($R_{o,sat}$ = 0.03$\pm$0.01 versus 0.09$\pm$0.01). We interpret this as possible evidence for coronal stripping.

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arXiv2016

Linking Stellar Coronal Activity and Rotation at 500 Myr: A Deep Chandra Observation of M37

Empirical calibrations of the stellar age-rotation-activity relation (ARAR) rely on observations of the co-eval populations of stars in open clusters. We used the Chandra X-ray Observatory to study M37, a 500-Myr-old open cluster that has been extensively surveyed for rotation periods ($P_{\rm rot}$). M37 was observed almost continuously for five days, for a total of 440.5 ksec, to measure stellar X-ray luminosities ($L_{\mathrm{X}}$), a proxy for coronal activity, across a wide range of masses. The cluster's membership catalog was revisited to calculate updated membership probabilities from photometric data and each star's distance to the cluster center. The result is a comprehensive sample of 1699 M37 members: 426 with $P_{\rm rot}$, 278 with X-ray detections, and 76 with both. We calculate Rossby numbers, $R_o = P_{\rm rot}/τ$, where $τ$ is the convective turnover time, and ratios of the X-ray-to-bolometric luminosity, $L_{\rm X}/L_{\rm bol}$, to minimize mass dependencies in our characterization of the rotation-coronal activity relation at 500 Myr. We find that fast rotators, for which $R_o<0.09\pm0.01$, show saturated levels of activity, with log($L_{\rm X}/L_{\rm bol}$)$=-3.06\pm0.04$. For $R_o\geq0.09\pm0.01$, activity is unsaturated and follows a power law of the form $R_o^β$, where $β$=$-2.03_{-0.14}^{+0.17}$. This is the largest sample available for analyzing the dependence of coronal emission on rotation for a single-aged population, covering stellar masses in the range 0.4$-$1.3 $M_{\odot}$, $P_{\rm rot}$ in the range 0.4$-$12.8 d, and $L_{\rm X}$ in the range 10$^{28.4-30.5}$ erg s$^{-1}$. Our results make M37 a new benchmark open cluster for calibrating the ARAR at ages of $\approx$500 Myr.

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arXiv2016

Detection of the secondary eclipse of Qatar-1b in the Ks band

Qatar-1b is a close-orbiting hot Jupiter ($R_p\simeq 1.18$ $R_J$, $M_p\simeq 1.33$ $M_J$) around a metal-rich K-dwarf, with orbital separation and period of 0.023 AU and 1.42 days. We have observed the secondary eclipse of this exoplanet in the Ks band with the objective of deriving a brightness temperature for the planet and providing further constraints to the orbital configuration of the system. We obtained near-infrared photometric data from the ground by using the OMEGA2000 instrument at the 3.5 m telescope at Calar Alto (Spain) in staring mode, with the telescope defocused. We have used principal component analysis (PCA) to identify correlated systematic trends in the data. A Markov chain Monte Carlo analysis was performed to model the correlated systematics and fit for the secondary eclipse of Qatar-1b using a previously developed occultation model. We adopted the prayer bead method to assess the effect of red noise on the derived parameters. We measured a secondary eclipse depth of $0.196\%^{+0.071\%}_{-0.051\%}$, which indicates a brightness temperature in the Ks band for the planet of $1885^{+212}_{-168}$ K. We also measured a small deviation in the central phase of the secondary eclipse of $-0.0079^{+0.0162}_{-0.0043}$, which leads to a value for $e\cosω$ of $-0.0123^{+0.0252}_{-0.0067}$. However, this last result needs to be confirmed with more data.

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arXiv2015

The rvfit Code: A Detailed Adaptive Simulated Annealing Code for Fitting Binaries and Exoplanets Radial Velocities

The fitting of radial velocity curves is a frequent procedure in binary stars and exoplanet research. In the majority of cases the fitting routines need to be fed with a set of initial parameter values and priors from which to begin the computations and their results can be affected by local minima. We present a new code, the rvfit code, for fitting radial velocities of stellar binaries and exoplanets using an Adaptive Simulated Annealing (ASA) global minimization method, which fastly converges to a global solution minimum without the need to provide preliminary parameter values. We show the performance of the code using both synthetic and real data sets: double-lined binaries, single-lined binaries, and exoplanet systems. In all examples the keplerian orbital parameters fitted by the rvfit code and their computed uncertainties are compared with literature solutions. Finally, we provide the source code with a working example and a detailed description on how to use it.

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arXiv2015

A New Merging Double Degenerate Binary in the Solar Neighborhood

Characterizing the local space density of double degenerate binary systems is a complementary approach to broad sky surveys of double degenerates to determine the expected rates of white dwarf binary mergers, in particular those that may evolve into other observable phenomena such as extreme helium stars, Am CVn systems, and supernovae Ia. However, there have been few such systems detected in local space. We report here the discovery that WD 1242$-$105, a nearby bright WD, is a double-line spectroscopic binary consisting of two degenerate DA white dwarfs of similar mass and temperature, despite it previously having been spectroscopically characterized as a single degenerate. Follow-up photometry, spectroscopy, and trigonometric parallax have been obtained in an effort to determine the fundamental parameters of each component of this system. The binary has a mass ratio of 0.7 and a trigonometric parallax of 25.5 mas, placing it at a distance of 39 pc. The system's total mass is 0.95 M$_\odot$ and has an orbital period of 2.85 hours, making it the strongest known gravitational wave source ($\log h = -20.78$) in the mHz regime. Because of its orbital period and total mass, WD 1242$-$105 is predicted to merge via gravitational radiation on a timescale of 740 Myr, which will most likely not result in a catastrophic explosion.

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arXiv2014

Detection of the secondary eclipse of WASP-10b in the Ks-band

WASP-10b, a non-inflated hot Jupiter, was discovered around a K-dwarf in a near circular orbit ($\sim $$0.06$). Since its discovery in 2009, different published parameters for this system have led to a discussion about the size, density, and eccentricity of this exoplanet. In order to test the hypothesis of a circular orbit for WASP-10b, we have observed its secondary eclipse in the Ks-band, where the contribution of planetary light is high enough to be detected from the ground. Observations were performed with the OMEGA2000 instrument at the 3.5-meter telescope at Calar Alto (Almería, Spain), in staring mode during 5.4 continuous hours, with the telescope defocused, monitoring the target during the expected secondary eclipse. A relative light curve was generated and corrected from systematic effects, using the Principal Component Analysis (PCA) technique. The final light curve was fitted using a transit model to find the eclipse depth and a possible phase shift. The best model obtained from the Markov Chain Monte Carlo analysis resulted in an eclipse depth of $ΔF$ of $0.137\%^{+0.013\%}_{-0.019\%}$ and a phase offset of $Δϕ$ of $-0.0028^{+0.0005}_{-0.0004}$. The eclipse phase offset derived from our modeling has systematic errors that were not taken into account and should not be considered as evidence of an eccentric orbit. The offset in phase obtained leads to a value for $|e\cosω|$ of $0.0044$. The derived eccentricity is too small to be of any significance.

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arXiv2014

Stellar Diameters and Temperatures VI. High angular resolution measurements of the transiting exoplanet host stars HD 189733 and HD 209458 and implications for models of cool dwarfs

We present direct radii measurements of the well-known transiting exoplanet host stars HD 189733 and HD 209458 using the CHARA Array interferometer. We find the limb-darkened angular diameters to be theta_LD = 0.3848 +/- 0.0055 and 0.2254 +/- 0.0072 milliarcsec for HD 189733 and HD 209458, respectively. HD 189733 and HD 209458 are currently the only two transiting exoplanet systems where detection of the respective planetary companion's orbital motion from high resolution spectroscopy has revealed absolute masses for both star and planet. We use our new measurements together with the orbital information from radial velocity and photometric time series data, Hipparcos distances, and newly measured bolometric fluxes to determine the stellar effective temperatures (T_eff = 4875 +/- 43, 6093 +/- 103 K), stellar linear radii (R_* = 0.805 +/- 0.016, 1.203 +/- 0.061 R_sun), mean stellar densities (rho_* = 1.62 +/- 0.11, 0.58 +/- 0.14 rho_sun), planetary radii (R_p = 1.216 +/- 0.024, 1.451 +/- 0.074 R_Jup), and mean planetary densities (rho_p = 0.605 +/- 0.029, 0.196 +/- 0.033 rho_Jup) for HD 189733 b and HD 209458 b, respectively. The stellar parameters for HD 209458, a F9 dwarf, are consistent with indirect estimates derived from spectroscopic and evolutionary modeling. However, we find that models are unable to reproduce the observational results for the K2 dwarf, HD 189733. We show that, for stellar evolutionary models to match the observed stellar properties of HD 189733, adjustments lowering the solar-calibrated mixing length parameter from 1.83 to 1.34 need to be employed.

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arXiv2013

A Ground-based Optical Transmission Spectrum of WASP-6b

We present a ground based optical transmission spectrum of the inflated sub-Jupiter mass planet WASP-6b. The spectrum was measured in twenty spectral channels from 480 nm to 860nm using a series of 91 spectra over a complete transit event. The observations were carried out using multi-object differential spectrophotometry with the IMACS spectrograph on the Baade telescope at Las Campanas Observatory. We model systematic effects on the observed light curves using principal component analysis on the comparison stars, and allow for the presence of short and long memory correlation structure in our Monte Carlo Markov Chain analysis of the transit light curves for WASP-6. The measured transmission spectrum presents a general trend of decreasing apparent planetary size with wavelength and lacks evidence for broad spectral features of Na and K predicted by clear atmosphere models. The spectrum is consistent with that expected for scattering that is more efficient in the blue, as could be caused by hazes or condensates in the atmosphere of WASP-6b. WASP-6b therefore appears to be yet another massive exoplanet with evidence for a mostly featureless transmission spectrum, underscoring the importance that hazes and condensates can have in determining the transmission spectra of exoplanets.

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arXiv2012

Stellar Diameters and Temperatures II. Main Sequence K & M Stars

We present interferometric diameter measurements of 21 K- and M- dwarfs made with the CHARA Array. This sample is enhanced by literature radii measurements to form a data set of 33 K-M dwarfs with diameters measured to better than 5%. For all 33 stars, we compute absolute luminosities, linear radii, and effective temperatures (Teff). We develop empirical relations for \simK0 to M4 main- sequence stars between the stellar Teff, radius, and luminosity to broad-band color indices and metallicity. These relations are valid for metallicities between [Fe/H] = -0.5 and +0.1 dex, and are accurate to ~2%, ~5%, and ~4% for Teff, radius, and luminosity, respectively. Our results show that it is necessary to use metallicity dependent transformations to convert colors into stellar Teffs, radii, and luminosities. We find no sensitivity to metallicity on relations between global stellar properties, e.g., Teff-radius and Teff-luminosity. Robust examinations of single star Teffs and radii compared to evolutionary model predictions on the luminosity-Teff and luminosity-radius planes reveals that models overestimate the Teffs of stars with Teff < 5000 K by ~3%, and underestimate the radii of stars with radii < 0.7 R\odot by ~5%. These conclusions additionally suggest that the models overestimate the effects that the stellar metallicity may have on the astrophysical properties of an object. By comparing the interferometrically measured radii for single stars to those of eclipsing binaries, we find that single and binary star radii are consistent. However, the literature Teffs for binary stars are systematically lower compared to Teffs of single stars by ~ 200 to 300 K. Lastly, we present a empirically determined HR diagram for a total of 74 nearby, main-sequence, A- to M-type stars, and define regions of habitability for the potential existence of sub-stellar mass companions in each system. [abridged]

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arXiv2011

Five New Transit Epochs of the Exoplanet OGLE-TR-111b

We report five new transit epochs of the extrasolar planet OGLE-TR-111b, observed in the v-HIGH and Bessell I bands with the FORS1 and FORS2 at the ESO Very Large Telescope, between April and May 2008. The new transits have been combined with all previously published transit data for this planet to provide a new Transit Timing Variations (TTVs) analysis of its orbit. We discard TTVs with amplitudes larger than 1.5 minutes over a 4-year observation time baseline, in agreement with the recent result by Adams et al.(2010a). Dynamical simulations fully exclude the presence of additional planets in the system with masses greater than 1.3, 0.4 and 0.5 M_earth at the 3:2, 1:2, 2:1 resonances, respectively. We also place an upper limit of about 30 M_earth on the mass of potential second planets in the region between the 3:2 and 1:2 mean-motion resonances.

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arXiv2009

Transit Timing Observations of the Extrasolar Hot-Neptune Planet GL 436b

Gliese 436 is an M dwarf with a mass of 0.45 Msun and hosts the extrasolar planet GL 436b [3, 6, 7, 2], which is currently the least massive transiting planet with a mass of ~23.17 Mearth [10], and the only planet known to transit an M dwarf. GL 436b represents the first transiting detection of the class of extrasolar planets known as "Hot Neptunes" that have masses within a few times that of Neptune's mass (~17 Mearth) and orbital semimajor axis <0.1 AU about the host star. Unlike most other known transiting extrasolar planets, GL 436b has a high eccentricity (e~0.16). This brings to light a new parameter space for habitability zones of extrasolar planets with host star masses much smaller than typical stars of roughly a solar mass. This unique system is an ideal candidate for orbital perturbation and transit-time variation (TTV) studies to detect smaller, possibly Earth-mass planets in the system. In April 2008 we began a long-term intensive campaign to obtain complete high-precision light curves using the Apache Point Observatory's 3.5-meter telescope, NMSU's 1-meter telescope (located at APO), and Sommers Bausch Observatory's 24" telescope. These light curves are being analyzed together, along with amateur and other professional astronomer observations. Results of our analysis are discussed. Continued measurements over the next few years are needed to determine if additional planets reside in the system, and to study the impact of other manifestations on the light curves, such as star spots and active regions.

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