Clouds in the atmosphere of the super-Earth exoplanet GJ 1214b
- L. Kreidberg, J. Bean, D. Homeier
- Physics, GeologyNature
- 30 December 2013
A measurement of the transmission spectrum of GJ 1214b at near-infrared wavelengths is reported, sufficiently precise to detect absorption features from a high mean-molecular-mass atmosphere and rule out cloud-free atmospheric models with compositions dominated by water, methane, carbon monoxide, nitrogen or carbon dioxide.
Detection of a transit of the super-Earth 55 Cancri e with warm Spitzer
We report on the detection of a transit of the super-Earth 55 Cnc e with warm Spitzer in IRAC’s 4.5 μm band. Our MCMC analysis includes an extensive modeling of the systematic effects affecting warm…
A map of the large day–night temperature gradient of a super-Earth exoplanet
A longitudinal thermal brightness map of the nearby transiting super-Earth 55 Cancri e is reported revealing highly asymmetric dayside thermal emission and a strong day–night temperature contrast, consistent with either an optically thick atmosphere with heat recirculation confined to the planetary dayside, or a planet devoid of atmosphere with low-viscosity magma flows at the surface.
A featureless transmission spectrum for the Neptune-mass exoplanet GJ 436b
- H. Knutson, B. Benneke, D. Deming, D. Homeier
- Physics, GeologyNature
- 1 October 2013
Observations of GJ 436b’s atmosphere obtained during transit indicate that the planet's transmission spectrum is featureless, ruling out cloud-free, hydrogen-dominated atmosphere models with an extremely high significance of 48σ.
Improved precision on the radius of the nearby super-Earth 55 Cnc e
- M. Gillon, B. Demory, Observatory of the University of Geneva
- Geology, Physics
- 21 October 2011
We report on new transit photometry for the super-Earth 55 Cnc e obtained with Warm Spitzer/IRAC at 4.5µm. An individual analysis of these new data leads to a planet radius of 2.21 +0.15 −0.16 R⊕, in…
Water vapour absorption in the clear atmosphere of a Neptune-sized exoplanet
- J. Fraine, D. Deming, K. Todorov
- Physics, GeologyNature
- 25 September 2014
Observations of the transmission spectrum of the exoplanet HAT-P-11b from the optical wavelength range to the infrared indicate that the planetary atmosphere is predominantly clear down to an altitude corresponding to about 1 millibar, and sufficiently rich in hydrogen to have a large scale height.
Strict Upper Limits on the Carbon-to-Oxygen Ratios of Eight Hot Jupiters from Self-Consistent Atmospheric Retrieval
- B. Benneke
- Physics, Geology
- 28 April 2015
The elemental compositions of hot Jupiters are informative relics of planet formation that can help us answer long-standing questions regarding the origin and formation of giant planets. Here, I…
Water Vapor and Clouds on the Habitable-zone Sub-Neptune Exoplanet K2-18b
- B. Benneke, I. Wong, J. Fraine
- Physics, GeologyAstrophysical Journal
- 10 September 2019
Results from the Kepler mission indicate that the occurrence rate of small planets (<3 R⊕) in the habitable zone of nearby low-mass stars may be as high as 80%. Despite this abundance, probing the…
HOW TO DISTINGUISH BETWEEN CLOUDY MINI-NEPTUNES AND WATER/VOLATILE-DOMINATED SUPER-EARTHS
- B. Benneke, S. Seager
- Physics, Geology
- 26 June 2013
One of the most profound questions about the newly discovered class of low-density super-Earths is whether these exoplanets are predominately H2-dominated mini-Neptunes or volatile-rich worlds with…
The CARMENES search for exoplanets around M dwarfs
- S. Dreizler, I. Crossfield, F. Zohrabi
- Physics, GeologyAstronomy & Astrophysics
- 17 November 2017
We report the discovery of a Neptune-like planet (LP 714-47 b, P = 4.05204 d, mb = 30.8 ± 1.5M⊕, Rb = 4.7 ± 0.3 R⊕) located in the “hot Neptune desert”. Confirmation of the TESS Object of Interest…
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