分类： 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间： 2023-02-19
Mario Damiano
Renyu Hu
Thomas Barclay
Sebastian Zieba
Laura Kreidberg
Jonathan Brande
Knicole D. Colon
Giovanni Covone
Ian Crossfield
Shawn D. Domagal-Goldman
Thomas J. Fauchez
Stefano Fiscale
Francesco Gallo
Emily Gilbert
Christina L. Hedges
Edwin S. Kite
Ravi K. Kopparapu
Veselin B. Kostov
Caroline Morley
Susan E. Mullally
摘要： With the increasing number of planets discovered by TESS, the atmospheric characterization of small exoplanets is accelerating. L98-59 is a M-dwarf hosting a multi-planet system, and so far, four small planets have been confirmed. The innermost planet b is $\sim15\%$ smaller and $\sim60\%$ lighter than Earth, and should thus have a predominantly rocky composition. The Hubble Space Telescope observed five primary transits of L98-59b in $1.1-1.7\ \mu$m, and here we report the data analysis and the resulting transmission spectrum of the planet. We measure the transit depths for each of the five transits and, by combination, we obtain a transmission spectrum with an overall precision of $\sim20$ ppm in for each of the 18 spectrophotometric channels. With this level of precision, the transmission spectrum does not show significant modulation, and is thus consistent with a planet without any atmosphere or a planet having an atmosphere and high-altitude clouds or haze. The scenarios involving an aerosol-free, H$_2$-dominated atmosphere with H$_2$O or CH$_4$ are inconsistent with the data. The transmission spectrum also disfavors, but does not rules out, an H$_2$O-dominated atmosphere without clouds. A spectral retrieval process suggests that an H$_2$-dominated atmosphere with HCN and clouds or haze may be the preferred solution, but this indication is non-conclusive. Future James Webb Space Telescope observations may find out the nature of the planet among the remaining viable scenarios.
分类： 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间： 2023-02-19
摘要： The Medusae Fossae Formation (MFF) is an enigmatic sedimentary unit near the equator of Mars, with an uncertain formation process and absolute age. Due to the heavily wind-eroded surface, it is difficult to determine the absolute model age of the MFF using a one-parameter model based on the crater size-frequency distribution function with existing crater count data. We create a new two-parameter model that estimates both age and a constant erosion rate ($\beta$) by treating cratering as a random Poisson process. Our study uses new crater count data collected from Context Camera imagery for both the MFF and other young equatorial sedimentary rock. Based on our new model, the Central MFF formed $>$1.5 Gyr ago and had low erosion rates ($$740 nm $^{-1}$). The top of Aeolis Mons (informally known as Mount Sharp) in Gale Crater and Eastern Candor have relatively young ages and low erosion rates. Based on the estimated erosion rates (since fast erosion permits metastable shallow ice), we also identify several sites, including Zephyria Planum, as plausible locations for shallow subsurface equatorial water ice that is detectable by gamma-ray spectroscopy or neutron spectroscopy. In addition to confirming $<$1.5 Gyr sedimentary rock formations on Mars, and distinguishing older and younger MFF sites, we find that fast-eroding locations have younger ages and MFF locations with slower erosion have older best-fit ages.
分类： 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间： 2023-02-19
摘要： The climate of a planet can be strongly affected by its eccentricity due to variations in the stellar flux. There are two limits for the dependence of the inner habitable zone boundary (IHZ) on eccentricity: (1) the mean-stellar flux approximation ($S_{\mbox{IHZ}} \propto \sqrt{1-e^2}$), in which the temperature is approximately constant throughout the orbit, and (2) the maximum-stellar flux approximation ($S_{\mbox{IHZ}} \propto (1-e)^2$), in which the temperature adjusts instantaneously to the stellar flux. Which limit is appropriate is determined by the dimensionless parameter $\Pi = \frac{C}{BP}$, where $C$ is the heat capacity of the planet, $P$ is the orbital period, and $B=\frac{\partial \Omega}{\partial T_s}$, where $\Omega$ is the outgoing longwave radiation and $T_s$ is the surface temperature. We use the Buckingham $\Pi$ theorem to derive an analytical function for the IHZ in terms of eccentricity and $\Pi$. We then build a time-dependent energy balance model to resolve the surface temperature evolution and constrain our analytical result. We find that $\Pi$ must be greater than about $\sim 1$ for the mean-stellar flux approximation to be nearly exact and less than about $\sim 0.01$ for the maximum-stellar flux approximation to be nearly exact. In addition to assuming a constant heat capacity, we also consider the effective heat capacity including latent heat (evaporation and precipitation). We find that for planets with an Earth-like ocean, the IHZ should follow the mean-stellar flux limit for all eccentricities. This work will aid in the prioritization of potentially habitable exoplanets with non-zero eccentricity for follow-up characterization.
分类： 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间： 2023-02-19
Thomas Barclay
Kyle B. Sheppard
Natasha Latouf
Avi M. Mandell
Elisa V. Quintana
Emily A. Gilbert
Giuliano Liuzzi
Geronimo L. Villanueva
Giada Arney
Jonathan Brande
Knicole D. Colón
Giovanni Covone
Ian J. M. Crossfield
Mario Damiano
Shawn D. Domagal-Goldman
Thomas J. Fauchez
Stefano Fiscale
Francesco Gallo
Christina L. Hedges
Renyu Hu
摘要： We present observations of the 1.35+/-0.07 Earth-radius planet L 98-59 c using Wide Field Camera~3 on the Hubble Space Telescope. L 98-59 is a nearby (10.6 pc), bright (H=7.4 mag), M3V star that harbors three small, transiting planets. As one of the closest known transiting multi-planet systems, L 98-59 offers one of the best opportunities to probe and compare the atmospheres of rocky planets that formed in the same stellar environment. We measured the transmission spectrum of L 98-59 c during a single transit, with the extracted spectrum showing marginal evidence for wavelength-dependent transit depth variations which would indicate the presence of an atmosphere. Forward modeling was used to constrain possible atmospheric compositions of the planet based on the shape of the transmission spectrum. Although L 98-59 is a fairly quiet star, we have seen evidence for stellar activity, and therefore we cannot rule out a scenario where the source of the signal originates with inhomogeneities on the host-star surface. While intriguing, our results are inconclusive and additional data is needed to verify any atmospheric signal. Fortunately, additional data will soon be collected from both HST and JWST. Should this result be confirmed with additional data, L 98-59 c would be the first planet smaller than 2 Earth-radii with a detected atmosphere, and among the first small planets with a known atmosphere to be studied in detail by the JWST.
分类： 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间： 2023-02-19
Casey Brinkman
Lauren M. Weiss
Fei Dai
Daniel Huber
Edwin S. Kite
Diana Valencia
Jacob L. Bean
Corey Beard
Aida Behmard
Sarah Blunt
Madison Brady
Benjamin Fulton
Steven Giacalone
Andrew W. Howard
Howard Isaacson
David Kasper
Jack Lubin
Mason MacDougall
Joseph M. Akana Murphy
Mykhalo Plotnykov
摘要： TOI-561 is a galactic thick disk star hosting an ultra-short period (0.45 day orbit) planet with a radius of 1.37 R$_{\oplus}$, making it one of the most metal-poor ([Fe/H] = -0.41) and oldest ($\sim$10 Gyr) sites where an Earth-sized planet has been found. We present new simultaneous radial velocity measurements (RVs) from Gemini-N/MAROON-X and Keck/HIRES, which we combined with literature RVs to derive a mass of M$_{b}$=2.24 $\pm$ 0.20 M$_{\oplus}$. We also used two new Sectors of TESS photometry to improve the radius determination, finding R$_{b}$=$1.37 \pm 0.04 R_\oplus$, and confirming that TOI-561 b is one of the lowest-density super-Earths measured to date ($\rho_b$= 4.8 $\pm$ 0.5 g/cm$^{3}$). This density is consistent with an iron-poor rocky composition reflective of the host star's iron and rock-building element abundances; however, it is also consistent with a low-density planet with a volatile envelope. The equilibrium temperature of the planet ($\sim$2300 K) suggests that this envelope would likely be composed of high mean molecular weight species, such as water vapor, carbon dioxide, or silicate vapor, and is likely not primordial. We also demonstrate that the composition determination is sensitive to the choice of stellar parameters, and that further measurements are needed to determine if TOI-561 b is a bare rocky planet, a rocky planet with an optically thin atmosphere, or a rare example of a non-primordial envelope on a planet with a radius smaller than 1.5 R$_{\oplus}$.
分类： 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间： 2023-02-19
摘要： Early Mars had rivers, but the cause of Mars' wet-to-dry transition remains unknown. Past climate on Mars can be probed using the spatial distribution of climate-sensitive landforms. We analyzed global databases of water-worked landforms and identified changes in the spatial distribution of rivers over time. These changes are simply explained by comparison to a simplified meltwater model driven by an ensemble of global climate model simulations, as the result of $\gtrsim$10 K global cooling, from global average surface temperature (T) $\ge$ 268 K to T $\sim$ 258 K, due to a weaker greenhouse effect. In other words, river-forming climates on Early Mars were warm and wet first, and cold and wet later. Surprisingly, analysis of the greenhouse effect within our ensemble of global climate model simulations suggests that this shift was primarily driven by waning non-CO2 radiative forcing, and not changes in CO2 radiative forcing.
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