Planetary surfaces

Abstract:

We report the discovery of WTS-2 b, an unusually close-in 1.02-d hot Jupiter (MP = 1.12MJ, RP = 1.30RJ) orbiting a K2V star, which has a possible gravitationally bound M-dwarf companion at 0.6 arcsec separation contributing ∼20 per cent of the total flux in the observed J-band light curve. The planet is only 1.5 times the separation from its host star at which it would be destroyed by Roche lobe overflow, and has a predicted remaining lifetime of just ∼40 Myr, assuming a tidal dissipation quality factor of Q′⋆=106⁠. Q′⋆ is a key factor in determining how frictional processes within a host star affect the orbital evolution of its companion giant planets, but it is currently poorly constrained by observations. We calculate that the orbital decay of WTS-2 b would correspond to a shift in its transit arrival time of Tshift ∼ 17 s after 15 yr assuming Q′⋆=106⁠. A shift less than this would place a direct observational constraint on the lower limit of Q′⋆ in this system. We also report a correction to the previously published expected Tshift for WASP-18 b, finding that Tshift = 356 s after 10 yr for Q′⋆=106⁠, which is much larger than the estimated 28 s quoted in WASP-18 b discovery paper. We attempted to constrain Q′⋆ via a study of the entire population of known transiting hot Jupiters, but our results were inconclusive, requiring a more detailed treatment of transit survey sensitivities at long periods. We conclude that the most informative and straightforward constraints on Q′⋆ will be obtained by direct observational measurements of the shift in transit arrival times in individual hot Jupiter systems. We show that this is achievable across the mass spectrum of exoplanet host stars within a decade, and will directly probe the effects of stellar interior structure on tidal dissipation.

Abstract:

© 2014 Elsevier Ltd. One of the difficulties in modeling Venus' nightside atmospheric windows is the need to apply CO2 continuum opacity due to collision-induced CO2 bands and/or extreme far wings of strong allowed CO2 bands. Characterizing the CO2 continuum absorption at near-IR wavelengths as well as searching for a possible vertical gradient of minor species near the surface require observations over different surface elevations. The largest change in altitude occurs during a passage above Maxwell Montes at high northern latitudes. In 2011, 2012 and 2013 the SPICAV instrument aboard the Venus Express satellite performed three sets of observations over Maxwell Montes with variation of surface altitude from -2 to 9km in the 1.10, 1.18 and 1.28-μm windows. The retrieved CO2 continuum absorption for the 1.10- and 1.18-μm windows varies from 0.29 to 0.66×10-9 cm-1 amagat-2 and from 0.30 to 0.78×10-9 cm-1 amagat-2, respectively, depending on the assumed input parameters. The retrieval is sensitive to possible variations of the surface emissivity. Our values fall between the results of Bézard et al., (2009, 2011) based on VIRTIS-M observations and laboratory measurements by Snels et al. (2014). We can also conclude that the continuum absorption at 1.28μm can be constrained below 2.0×10-9 cm-1 amagat-2. Based on the 1.18μm window the constant H2O mixing ratio varying from 25.7+1.4 -1.2 ppm to 29.4+1.6 -1.4 ppm has been retrieved assuming the surface emissivity of 0.95 and 0.6, respectively. No firm conclusion from SPICAV data about the vertical gradient of water vapor content at 10-20km altitude could be drawn because of low signal-to-noise ratio and uncertainties in the surface emissivity.