arXiv subjects

N. A. Walton

Publications and source records attributed to N. A. Walton.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

arXiv2022

CHEOPS finds KELT-1b darker than expected in visible light: Discrepancy between the CHEOPS and TESS eclipse depths

Recent TESS-based studies have suggested that the dayside of KELT-1b, a strongly-irradiated brown dwarf, is significantly brighter in visible light than what would be expected based on Spitzer observations in infrared. We observe eight eclipses of KELT-1b with CHEOPS (CHaracterising ExOPlanet Satellite) to measure its dayside brightness temperature in the bluest passband observed so far, and model the CHEOPS photometry jointly with the existing optical and NIR photometry from TESS, LBT, CFHT, and Spitzer. Our modelling leads to a self-consistent dayside spectrum for KELT-1b covering the CHEOPS, TESS, H , Ks, and Spitzer IRAC 3.6 and 4.5 $μ$m bands, where our TESS, H , Ks, and Spitzer band estimates largely agree with the previous studies, but we discover a strong discrepancy between the CHEOPS and TESS bands. The CHEOPS observations yield a higher photometric precision than the TESS observations, but do not show a significant eclipse signal, while a deep eclipse is detected in the TESS band. The derived TESS geometric albedo of $0.36^{+0.12}_{-0.13}$ is difficult to reconcile with a CHEOPS geometric albedo that is consistent with zero because the two passbands have considerable overlap. Variability in cloud cover caused by the transport of transient nightside clouds to the dayside could provide an explanation for reconciling the TESS and CHEOPS geometric albedos, but this hypothesis needs to be tested by future observations.

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arXiv2022

The EBLM project -- IX. Five fully convective M-dwarfs, precisely measured with CHEOPS and TESS light curves

Eclipsing binaries are important benchmark objects to test and calibrate stellar structure and evolution models. This is especially true for binaries with a fully convective M-dwarf component for which direct measurements of these stars' masses and radii are difficult using other techniques. Within the potential of M-dwarfs to be exoplanet host stars, the accuracy of theoretical predictions of their radius and effective temperature as a function of their mass is an active topic of discussion. Not only the parameters of transiting exoplanets but also the success of future atmospheric characterisation rely on accurate theoretical predictions. We present the analysis of five eclipsing binaries with low-mass stellar companions out of a sub-sample of 23, for which we obtained ultra high-precision light curves using the CHEOPS satellite. The observation of their primary and secondary eclipses are combined with spectroscopic measurements to precisely model the primary parameters and derive the M-dwarfs mass, radius, surface gravity, and effective temperature estimates using the PYCHEOPS data analysis software. Combining these results to the same set of parameters derived from TESS light curves, we find very good agreement (better than 1\% for radius and better than 0.2% for surface gravity). We also analyse the importance of precise orbits from radial velocity measurements and find them to be crucial to derive M-dwarf radii in a regime below 5% accuracy. These results add five valuable data points to the mass-radius diagram of fully-convective M-dwarfs.

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arXiv2022

New Close Binary Central Stars of Planetary Nebulae from Gaia DR3 Epoch Photometry

Close binary interactions perform a key role in the formation and shaping of planetary nebulae. However only a small fraction of Galactic planetary nebulae are known to host close binary systems. Many such systems are detectable through photometric variability. We searched recently published epoch photometry data from Gaia DR3 for planetary nebula central stars with periodic photometric variability indicative of binarity, uncovering four previously unknown close binaries.

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arXiv2022

Gaia Data Release 3: Pulsations in main sequence OBAF-type stars

The third Gaia data release provides photometric time series covering 34 months for about 10 million stars. For many of those stars, a characterisation in Fourier space and their variability classification are also provided. This paper focuses on intermediate- to high-mass (IHM) main sequence pulsators M >= 1.3 Msun) of spectral types O, B, A, or F, known as beta Cep, slowly pulsating B (SPB), delta Sct, and gamma Dor stars. These stars are often multi-periodic and display low amplitudes, making them challenging targets to analyse with sparse time series. All datasets used in this analysis are part of the Gaia DR3 data release. The photometric time series were used to perform a Fourier analysis, while the global astrophysical parameters necessary for the empirical instability strips were taken from the Gaia DR3 gspphot tables, and the vsini data were taken from the Gaia DR3 esphs tables. We show that for nearby OBAF-type pulsators, the Gaia DR3 data are precise and accurate enough to pinpoint them in the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram. We find empirical instability strips covering broader regions than theoretically predicted. In particular, our study reveals the presence of fast rotating gravity-mode pulsators outside the strips, as well as the co-existence of rotationally modulated variables inside the strips as reported before in the literature. We derive an extensive period-luminosity relation for delta Sct stars and provide evidence that the relation features different regimes depending on the oscillation period. Finally, we demonstrate how stellar rotation attenuates the amplitude of the dominant oscillation mode of delta Sct stars.

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arXiv2022

A stellar occultation by the transneptunian object (50000) Quaoar observed by CHEOPS

Stellar occultation is a powerful technique that allows the determination of some physical parameters of the occulting object. The result depends on the photometric accuracy, the temporal resolution, and the number of chords obtained. Space telescopes can achieve high photometric accuracy as they are not affected by atmospheric scintillation. Using ESA's CHEOPS space telescope, we observed a stellar occultation by the Transneptunian object (50000) Quaoar. We compare the obtained chord with previous occultations by this object and determine its astrometry with sub-milliarcsecond precision. Also, we determine upper limits to the presence of a global methane atmosphere on the occulting body. We predicted and observed a stellar occultation by Quaoar using the CHEOPS space telescope. We measured the occultation light curve from this data-set and determined the dis- and re-appearance of the star behind the occulting body. Furthermore, a ground-based telescope in Australia was used to constrain Quaoar's limb. Combined with results from previous works, these measurements allow us to obtain a precise position of Quaoar at the occultation time. We present results obtained from the first stellar occultation by a Transneptunian object (TNO) using space telescope orbiting Earth. It was the occultation by Quaoar observed on 2020 June 11. We used the CHEOPS light curve to obtain a surface pressure upper limit of 85 nbar for the detection of a global methane atmosphere. Also, combining this observation with a ground-based observation we fit Quaoar's limb to determine its astrometric position with an uncertainty below 1.0 mas. This observation is a first of its kind, and it shall be considered as a proof of concept of stellar occultation observations of Transneptunian objects with space telescopes orbiting Earth. Moreover, it shows significant prospects for the James Webb Space Telescope.

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arXiv2022

The Gaia-ESO Public Spectroscopic Survey: Motivation, implementation, GIRAFFE data processing, analysis, and final data products

The Gaia-ESO Public Spectroscopic Survey is an ambitious project designed to obtain astrophysical parameters and elemental abundances for 100,000 stars, including large representative samples of the stellar populations in the Galaxy, and a well-defined sample of 60 (plus 20 archive) open clusters. We provide internally consistent results calibrated on benchmark stars and star clusters, extending across a very wide range of abundances and ages. This provides a legacy data set of intrinsic value, and equally a large wide-ranging dataset that is of value for homogenisation of other and future stellar surveys and Gaia's astrophysical parameters. This article provides an overview of the survey methodology, the scientific aims, and the implementation, including a description of the data processing for the GIRAFFE spectra. A companion paper (arXiv:2206.02901) introduces the survey results. Gaia-ESO aspires to quantify both random and systematic contributions to measurement uncertainties. Thus all available spectroscopic analysis techniques are utilised, each spectrum being analysed by up to several different analysis pipelines, with considerable effort being made to homogenise and calibrate the resulting parameters. We describe here the sequence of activities up to delivery of processed data products to the ESO Science Archive Facility for open use. The Gaia-ESO Survey obtained 202,000 spectra of 115,000 stars using 340 allocated VLT nights between December 2011 and January 2018 from GIRAFFE and UVES. The full consistently reduced final data set of spectra was released through the ESO Science Archive Facility in late 2020, with the full astrophysical parameters sets following in 2022.

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arXiv2022

The stable climate of KELT-9b

Even among the most irradiated gas giants, so-called ultra-hot Jupiters, KELT-9b stands out as the hottest planet thus far discovered with a dayside temperature of over 4500K. At these extreme irradiation levels, we expect an increase in heat redistribution efficiency and a low Bond albedo owed to an extended atmosphere with molecular hydrogen dissociation occurring on the planetary dayside. We present new photometric observations of the KELT-9 system throughout 4 full orbits and 9 separate occultations obtained by the 30cm space telescope CHEOPS. The CHEOPS bandpass, located at optical wavelengths, captures the peak of the thermal emission spectrum of KELT-9b. In this work we simultaneously analyse CHEOPS phase curves along with public phase curves from TESS and Spitzer to infer joint constraints on the phase curve variation, gravity-darkened transits, and occultation depth in three bandpasses, as well as derive 2D temperature maps of the atmosphere at three different depths. We find a day-night heat redistribution efficiency of $\sim$0.3 which confirms expectations of enhanced energy transfer to the planetary nightside due to dissociation and recombination of molecular hydrogen. We also calculate a Bond albedo consistent with zero. We find no evidence of variability of the brightness temperature of the planet, excluding variability greater than 1% (1$σ$).

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arXiv2022

Gaia Data Release 3: Mapping the asymmetric disc of the Milky Way

With the most recent Gaia data release the number of sources with complete 6D phase space information (position and velocity) has increased to well over 33 million stars, while stellar astrophysical parameters are provided for more than 470 million sources, in addition to the identification of over 11 million variable stars. Using the astrophysical parameters and variability classifications provided in Gaia DR3, we select various stellar populations to explore and identify non-axisymmetric features in the disc of the Milky Way in both configuration and velocity space. Using more about 580 thousand sources identified as hot OB stars, together with 988 known open clusters younger than 100 million years, we map the spiral structure associated with star formation 4-5 kpc from the Sun. We select over 2800 Classical Cepheids younger than 200 million years, which show spiral features extending as far as 10 kpc from the Sun in the outer disc. We also identify more than 8.7 million sources on the red giant branch (RGB), of which 5.7 million have line-of-sight velocities, allowing the velocity field of the Milky Way to be mapped as far as 8 kpc from the Sun, including the inner disc. The spiral structure revealed by the young populations is consistent with recent results using Gaia EDR3 astrometry and source lists based on near infrared photometry, showing the Local (Orion) arm to be at least 8 kpc long, and an outer arm consistent with what is seen in HI surveys, which seems to be a continuation of the Perseus arm into the third quadrant. Meanwhile, the subset of RGB stars with velocities clearly reveals the large scale kinematic signature of the bar in the inner disc, as well as evidence of streaming motions in the outer disc that might be associated with spiral arms or bar resonances. (abridged)

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arXiv2022

Gaia Data Release 3: Summary of the content and survey properties

We present the third data release of the European Space Agency's Gaia mission, GDR3. The GDR3 catalogue is the outcome of the processing of raw data collected with the Gaia instruments during the first 34 months of the mission by the Gaia Data Processing and Analysis Consortium. The GDR3 catalogue contains the same source list, celestial positions, proper motions, parallaxes, and broad band photometry in the G, G$_{BP}$, and G$_{RP}$ pass-bands already present in the Early Third Data Release. GDR3 introduces an impressive wealth of new data products. More than 33 million objects in the ranges $G_{rvs} < 14$ and $3100 <T_{eff} <14500 $, have new determinations of their mean radial velocities based on data collected by Gaia. We provide G$_{rvs}$ magnitudes for most sources with radial velocities, and a line broadening parameter is listed for a subset of these. Mean Gaia spectra are made available to the community. The GDR3 catalogue includes about 1 million mean spectra from the radial velocity spectrometer, and about 220 million low-resolution blue and red prism photometer BPRP mean spectra. The results of the analysis of epoch photometry are provided for some 10 million sources across 24 variability types. GDR3 includes astrophysical parameters and source class probabilities for about 470 million and 1500 million sources, respectively, including stars, galaxies, and quasars. Orbital elements and trend parameters are provided for some $800\,000$ astrometric, spectroscopic and eclipsing binaries. More than $150\,000$ Solar System objects, including new discoveries, with preliminary orbital solutions and individual epoch observations are part of this release. Reflectance spectra derived from the epoch BPRP spectral data are published for about 60\,000 asteroids. Finally, an additional data set is provided, namely the Gaia Andromeda Photometric Survey (abridged)

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arXiv2022

Gaia Data Release 3: Reflectance spectra of Solar System small bodies

The Gaia mission of the European Space Agency (ESA) has been routinely observing Solar System objects (SSOs) since the beginning of its operations in August 2014. The Gaia data release three (DR3) includes, for the first time, the mean reflectance spectra of a selected sample of 60 518 SSOs, primarily asteroids, observed between August 5, 2014, and May 28, 2017. Each reflectance spectrum was derived from measurements obtained by means of the Blue and Red photometers (BP/RP), which were binned in 16 discrete wavelength bands. We describe the processing of the Gaia spectral data of SSOs, explaining both the criteria used to select the subset of asteroid spectra published in Gaia DR3, and the different steps of our internal validation procedures. In order to further assess the quality of Gaia SSO reflectance spectra, we carried out external validation against SSO reflectance spectra obtained from ground-based and space-borne telescopes and available in the literature. For each selected SSO, an epoch reflectance was computed by dividing the calibrated spectrum observed by the BP/RP at each transit on the focal plane by the mean spectrum of a solar analogue. The latter was obtained by averaging the Gaia spectral measurements of a selected sample of stars known to have very similar spectra to that of the Sun. Finally, a mean of the epoch reflectance spectra was calculated in 16 spectral bands for each SSO. The agreement between Gaia mean reflectance spectra and those available in the literature is good for bright SSOs, regardless of their taxonomic spectral class. We identify an increase in the spectral slope of S-type SSOs with increasing phase angle. Moreover, we show that the spectral slope increases and the depth of the 1 um absorption band decreases for increasing ages of S-type asteroid families.

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arXiv2022

Gaia Data Release 3: Processing and validation of BP/RP low-resolution spectral data

(Abridged) Blue (BP) and Red (RP) Photometer low-resolution spectral data is one of the exciting new products in Gaia Data Release 3 (Gaia DR3). We calibrate about 65 billion individual transit spectra onto the same mean BP/RP instrument through a series of calibration steps, including background subtraction, calibration of the CCD geometry and an iterative procedure for the calibration of CCD efficiency as well as variations of the line-spread function and dispersion across the focal plane and in time. The calibrated transit spectra are then combined for each source in terms of an expansion into continuous basis functions. Time-averaged mean spectra covering the optical to near-infrared wavelength range [330, 1050] nm are published for approximately 220 million objects. Most of these are brighter than G = 17.65 but some BP/RP spectra are published for sources down to G = 21.43. Their signal- to-noise ratio varies significantly over the wavelength range covered and with magnitude and colour of the observed objects, with sources around G = 15 having S/N above 100 in some wavelength ranges. The top-quality BP/RP spectra are achieved for sources with magnitudes 9 < G < 12, having S/N reaching 1000 in the central part of the RP wavelength range. Scientific validation suggests that the internal calibration was generally successful. However, there is some evidence for imperfect calibrations at the bright end G < 11, where calibrated BP/RP spectra can exhibit systematic flux variations that exceed their estimated flux uncertainties. We also report that due to long-range noise correlations, BP/RP spectra can exhibit wiggles when sampled in pseudo-wavelength.

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arXiv2022

Gaia Data Release 3: A Golden Sample of Astrophysical Parameters

Gaia Data Release 3 (DR3) provides a wealth of new data products for the astronomical community to exploit, including astrophysical parameters for a half billion stars. In this work we demonstrate the high quality of these data products and illustrate their use in different astrophysical contexts. We query the astrophysical parameter tables along with other tables in Gaia DR3 to derive the samples of the stars of interest. We validate our results by using the Gaia catalogue itself and by comparison with external data. We have produced six homogeneous samples of stars with high quality astrophysical parameters across the HR diagram for the community to exploit. We first focus on three samples that span a large parameter space: young massive disk stars (~3M), FGKM spectral type stars (~3M), and UCDs (~20K). We provide these sources along with additional information (either a flag or complementary parameters) as tables that are made available in the Gaia archive. We furthermore identify 15740 bone fide carbon stars, 5863 solar-analogues, and provide the first homogeneous set of stellar parameters of the Spectro Photometric Standard Stars. We use a subset of the OBA sample to illustrate its usefulness to analyse the Milky Way rotation curve. We then use the properties of the FGKM stars to analyse known exoplanet systems. We also analyse the ages of some unseen UCD-companions to the FGKM stars. We additionally predict the colours of the Sun in various passbands (Gaia, 2MASS, WISE) using the solar-analogue sample.

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arXiv2022

Gaia Data Release 3: External calibration of BP/RP low-resolution spectroscopic data

Context. Gaia Data Release 3 contains astrometry and photometry results for about 1.8 billion sources based on observations collected by the European Space Agency (ESA) Gaia satellite during the first 34 months of its operational phase (the same period covered Gaia early Data Release 3; Gaia EDR3). Low-resolution spectra for 220 million sources are one of the important new data products included in this release. Aims. In this paper, we focus on the external calibration of low-resolution spectroscopic content, describing the input data, algorithms, data processing, and the validation of the results. Particular attention is given to the quality of the data and to a number of features that users may need to take into account to make the best use of the catalogue. Methods. We calibrated an instrument model to relate mean Gaia spectra to the corresponding spectral energy distributions using an extended set of calibrators: this includes modelling of the instrument dispersion relation, transmission, and line spread functions. Optimisation of the model is achieved through total least-squares regression, accounting for errors in Gaia and external spectra. Results. The resulting instrument model can be used for forward modelling of Gaia spectra or for inverse modelling of externally calibrated spectra in absolute flux units. Conclusions. The absolute calibration derived in this paper provides an essential ingredient for users of BP/RP spectra. It allows users to connect BP/RP spectra to absolute fluxes and physical wavelengths.

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arXiv2022

Gaia Data Release 3: The extragalactic content

The Gaia Galactic survey mission is designed and optimized to obtain astrometry, photometry, and spectroscopy of nearly two billion stars in our Galaxy. Yet as an all-sky multi-epoch survey, Gaia also observes several million extragalactic objects down to a magnitude of G~21 mag. Due to the nature of the Gaia onboard selection algorithms, these are mostly point-source-like objects. Using data provided by the satellite, we have identified quasar and galaxy candidates via supervised machine learning methods, and estimate their redshifts using the low resolution BP/RP spectra. We further characterise the surface brightness profiles of host galaxies of quasars and of galaxies from pre-defined input lists. Here we give an overview of the processing of extragalactic objects, describe the data products in Gaia DR3, and analyse their properties. Two integrated tables contain the main results for a high completeness, but low purity (50-70%), set of 6.6 million candidate quasars and 4.8 million candidate galaxies. We provide queries that select purer sub-samples of these containing 1.9 million probable quasars and 2.9 million probable galaxies (both 95% purity). We also use high quality BP/RP spectra of 43 thousand high probability quasars over the redshift range 0.05-4.36 to construct a composite quasar spectrum spanning restframe wavelengths from 72-100 nm.

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arXiv2022

Gaia Data Release 3: Chemical cartography of the Milky Way

Gaia DR3 opens a new era of all-sky spectral analysis of stellar populations thanks to the nearly 5.6 million stars observed by the RVS and parametrised by the GSP-spec module. The all-sky Gaia chemical cartography allows a powerful and precise chemo-dynamical view of the Milky Way with unprecedented spatial coverage and statistical robustness. First, it reveals the strong vertical symmetry of the Galaxy and the flared structure of the disc. Second, the observed kinematic disturbances of the disc -- seen as phase space correlations -- and kinematic or orbital substructures are associated with chemical patterns that favour stars with enhanced metallicities and lower [alpha/Fe] abundance ratios compared to the median values in the radial distributions. This is detected both for young objects that trace the spiral arms and older populations. Several alpha, iron-peak elements and at least one heavy element trace the thin and thick disc properties in the solar cylinder. Third, young disc stars show a recent chemical impoverishment in several elements. Fourth, the largest chemo-dynamical sample of open clusters analysed so far shows a steepening of the radial metallicity gradient with age, which is also observed in the young field population. Finally, the Gaia chemical data have the required coverage and precision to unveil galaxy accretion debris and heated disc stars on halo orbits through their [alpha/Fe] ratio, and to allow the study of the chemo-dynamical properties of globular clusters. Gaia DR3 chemo-dynamical diagnostics open new horizons before the era of ground-based wide-field spectroscopic surveys. They unveil a complex Milky Way that is the outcome of an eventful evolution, shaping it to the present day (abridged).

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arXiv2022

Gaia Data Release 3: Stellar multiplicity, a teaser for the hidden treasure

The Gaia DR3 Catalogue contains for the first time about eight hundred thousand solutions with either orbital elements or trend parameters for astrometric, spectroscopic and eclipsing binaries, and combinations of them. This paper aims to illustrate the huge potential of this large non-single star catalogue. Using the orbital solutions together with models of the binaries, a catalogue of tens of thousands of stellar masses, or lower limits, partly together with consistent flux ratios, has been built. Properties concerning the completeness of the binary catalogues are discussed, statistical features of the orbital elements are explained and a comparison with other catalogues is performed. Illustrative applications are proposed for binaries across the H-R diagram. The binarity is studied in the RGB/AGB and a search for genuine SB1 among long-period variables is performed. The discovery of new EL CVn systems illustrates the potential of combining variability and binarity catalogues. Potential compact object companions are presented, mainly white dwarf companions or double degenerates, but one candidate neutron star is also presented. Towards the bottom of the main sequence, the orbits of previously-suspected binary ultracool dwarfs are determined and new candidate binaries are discovered. The long awaited contribution of Gaia to the analysis of the substellar regime shows the brown dwarf desert around solar-type stars using true, rather than minimum, masses, and provides new important constraints on the occurrence rates of substellar companions to M dwarfs. Several dozen new exoplanets are proposed, including two with validated orbital solutions and one super-Jupiter orbiting a white dwarf, all being candidates requiring confirmation. Beside binarity, higher order multiple systems are also found.

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arXiv2022

Analysis of Early Science observations with the CHaracterising ExOPlanets Satellite (CHEOPS) using pycheops

CHEOPS(CHaracterising ExOPlanet Satellite) is an ESA S-class mission that observes bright stars at high cadence from low-Earth orbit. The main aim of the mission is to characterize exoplanets that transit nearby stars using ultrahigh precision photometry. Here we report the analysis of transits observed by CHEOPS during its Early Science observing programme for four well-known exoplanets: GJ436b, HD106315b, HD97658b and GJ1132b. The analysis is done using pycheops, an open-source software package we have developed to easily and efficiently analyse CHEOPS light curve data using state-of-the-art techniques that are fully described herein. We show that the precision of the transit parameters measured using CHEOPS is comparable to that from larger space telescopes such as Spitzer Space Telescope and Kepler. We use the updated planet parameters from our analysis to derive new constraints on the internal structure of these four exoplanets.

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arXiv2022

Spi-OPS: Spitzer and CHEOPS confirm the near-polar orbit of MASCARA-1 b and reveal a hint of dayside reflection

The light curves of tidally locked hot Jupiters transiting fast-rotating, early-type stars are a rich source of information about both the planet and star, with full-phase coverage enabling a detailed atmospheric characterisation of the planet. Although it is possible to determine the true spin-orbit angle $Ψ$, a notoriously difficult parameter to measure, from any transit asymmetry resulting from gravity darkening induced by the stellar rotation, the correlations that exist between the transit parameters have led to large disagreements in published values of $Ψ$ for some systems. We aimed to study these phenomena in the light curves of the ultra-hot Jupiter MASCARA-1 b. We obtained optical CHEOPS transit and occultation light curves of MASCARA-1 b, and analysed them jointly with a Spitzer/IRAC 4.5 $μ$m full-phase curve. When fitting the CHEOPS and Spitzer transits together, the degeneracies are greatly diminished and return results consistent with previously published Doppler tomography. Placing priors informed by the tomography achieves even better precision, allowing a determination of $Ψ=72.1^{+2.5}_{-2.4}$ deg. From the occultations and phase variations, we derived dayside and nightside temperatures of $3062^{+66}_{-68}$ K and $1720\pm330$ K, respectively. In addition, we could separately derive geometric albedo $A_g=0.171^{+0.066}_{-0.068}$ and spherical albedo $A_s=0.266^{+0.097}_{-0.100}$ from the CHEOPS data, and Bond albedo $A_B=0.057^{+0.083}_{-0.101}$ from the Spitzer phase curve. Where possible, priors informed by Doppler tomography should be used when fitting transits of fast-rotating stars, though multi-colour photometry may also unlock an accurate measurement of $Ψ$. Our approach to modelling the phase variations at different wavelengths provides a template for how to separate thermal emission from reflected light in spectrally resolved JWST phase curves.

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