Exoclimes_Conference_booklet1
Exoclimes_Conference_booklet1
Exoclimes_Conference_booklet1
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Transit transmission spectroscopy offers a direct way to study the atmospheric properties<br />
of transiting exoplanets. However, the variations in the transit depth are small, of order<br />
10 -4 , and disentangling the minute changes in the transit signal from the systematic noise<br />
signals is all but trivial.<br />
KMOS is a NIR multi-object spectrometer capable of observing spatially resolved spectra<br />
of 24 2.8x2.8 arcsecond freely positionable fields simultaneously. Each field is<br />
implemented using an integral field unit (IFU) with a 14x14 pixel spatial resolution. The<br />
ability to observe simultaneous spectra from a number of separate fields allows for high<br />
flexibility in the selection of comparison stars for relative spectroscopy, facilitating the<br />
reduction of common systematics. However, the use of IFUs with small spatial footprints<br />
creates also new challenges that need to be overcome before the instrument's full<br />
potential can be used.<br />
Direct evidence of the inversion layer in HD 209458 b from high-dispersion<br />
spectroscopy<br />
Henriette Schwarz — Leiden University<br />
We present preliminary results from high-resolution thermal emission spectra of the hot<br />
Jupiter HD 209458 b. This bright transiting planet is interesting because it is a good<br />
candidate for a hot Jupiter with an inversion layer in its atmosphere. Snellen et al. (2010)<br />
observed HD 209458 b during a transit with high-resolution spectra at wavelengths around<br />
2.3 micron, and they detected molecular absorption from carbon-monoxide. The new dataset<br />
again uses the CRIRES spectrograph at VLT. This time we are looking at the thermal<br />
emission from the hot day-side of the planet at phases close to the secondary eclipse. We<br />
see no evidence for CO absorption in the thermal spectra, but an interesting hint of CO<br />
emission — the tell-tale sign of a thermal inversion layer high up in the atmosphere of this<br />
planet.<br />
Atmospheric characterization of the hot Jupiter Kepler-13b<br />
Avi Shporer — Caltech/JPL<br />
Kepler-13b (= KOI-13.01) is a unique transiting hot Jupiter. It is one of very few known<br />
short-period (1.76 day) planets orbiting a bright (V~10 mag) A-type star. Therefore, it is<br />
among the hottest and brightest planets currently known, motivating the study of its<br />
atmosphere. The availability of Kepler data allows us to measure the planet's occultation<br />
(secondary eclipse) and phase curve, in the optical, with very high precision, which we<br />
combine with occultations observed by the Warm Spitzer Mission at 3.6 micron and 4.5<br />
micron, and a ground-based occultation observation by the Wide-field Infra-Red Camera<br />
(WIRC), mounted on the Palomar 200 inch telescope, at the Ks band (~2.1 micron). Since<br />
the host star is the primary component of a visual binary system with ~1 arcsec separation,<br />
the two similar stars are fully blended in all our photometry. To correct the observed<br />
occultation depths for this dilution we modeled the stellar spectra, from the optical to the<br />
infrared, based on Keck/HIRES spectra that resolved the two stars. Our preliminary results<br />
indicate that the planetary atmosphere has a relatively high geometric albedo (Ag ~0.3)<br />
and a highly efficient heat distribution from the day side to the night side (epsilon ~0.9).<br />
This represents a deviation from previous studies in which the most highly irradiated hot<br />
Jupiters were found to have inefficient recirculation of energy from the day to the night<br />
sides. We also present revised atmospheric parameters for the planet-hosting star in this<br />
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