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Probing atmospheric escape through metastable He I triplet lines in 15 exoplanets observed with SPIRou
Authors:
A. Masson,
S. Vinatier,
B. Bézard,
M. López-Puertas,
M. Lampón,
F. Debras,
A. Carmona,
B. Klein,
E. Artigau,
W. Dethier,
S. Pelletier,
T. Hood,
R. Allart,
V. Bourrier,
C. Cadieux,
B. Charnay,
N. B. Cowan,
N. J. Cook,
X. Delfosse,
J. -F. Donati,
P. -G. Gu,
G. Hébrard,
E. Martioli,
C. Moutou,
O. Venot
, et al. (1 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
For several years, the metastable helium triplet line has been successfully used as a tracer to probe atmospheric escape in transiting exoplanets. This absorption in the near-infrared (1083.3 nm) can be observed from the ground using high-resolution spectroscopy, providing new constraints on the mass-loss rate and the temperature characterizing the upper atmosphere of close-in exoplanets.
The ai…
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For several years, the metastable helium triplet line has been successfully used as a tracer to probe atmospheric escape in transiting exoplanets. This absorption in the near-infrared (1083.3 nm) can be observed from the ground using high-resolution spectroscopy, providing new constraints on the mass-loss rate and the temperature characterizing the upper atmosphere of close-in exoplanets.
The aim of this work is to search for the He triplet signature in 15 transiting exoplanets -- ranging from super-Earths to ultrahot Jupiters -- observed with SPIRou, a high-resolution (R~70 000) near-infrared spectropolarimeter at the CFHT, in order to bring new constraints or to improve existing ones regarding atmospheric escape through a homogeneous study.
We developed a full data processing and analysis pipeline to correct for the residual telluric and stellar contributions. We then used two different 1D models based on the Parker-wind equations and nonlocal thermodynamic equilibrium (NLTE) radiative transfer to interpret the observational results.
We confirm published He triplet detections for HAT-P-11 b, HD 189733 b, and WASP-69 b. We tentatively detect the signature of escaping He in HD 209458 b, GJ 3470 b, and WASP-76 b. We report new constraints on the mass-loss rate and temperature for our three detections and set upper limits for the tentative and nondetections. We notably report improved constraints on the mass-loss rate and temperature of the escaping gas for TOI-1807 b, and report a nondetection for the debated atmospheric escape in GJ 1214 b. We also conducted the first search for the He signature in GJ 486 b since its discovery and report a nondetection of the He triplet. Finally, we studied the impact of important model assumptions on our retrieved parameters, notably the limitations of 1D models and the influence of the H/He ratio on the derived constraints.
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Submitted 13 June, 2024;
originally announced June 2024.
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Homogeneous search for helium in the atmosphere of 11 gas giant exoplanets with SPIRou
Authors:
R. Allart,
P. -B. Lemée-Joliecoeur,
A. Y. Jaziri,
D. Lafrenière,
E. Artigau,
N. Cook,
A. Darveau-Bernier,
L. Dang,
C. Cadieux,
A. Boucher,
V. Bourrier,
E. K. Deibert,
S. Pelletier,
M. Radica,
B. Benneke,
A. Carmona,
R. Cloutier,
N. B. Cowan,
X. Delfosse,
J. -F. Donati,
R. Doyon,
P. Figueira,
T. Forveille,
P. Fouqué,
E. Gaidos
, et al. (9 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
The metastable helium triplet in the near-infrared (10833Å) is among the most important probes of exoplanet atmospheres. It can trace their extended outer layers and constrain mass-loss. We use the near-infrared high-resolution spectropolarimeter SPIRou on the CFHT to search for the spectrally resolved helium triplet in the atmospheres of eleven exoplanets, ranging from warm mini-Neptunes to hot J…
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The metastable helium triplet in the near-infrared (10833Å) is among the most important probes of exoplanet atmospheres. It can trace their extended outer layers and constrain mass-loss. We use the near-infrared high-resolution spectropolarimeter SPIRou on the CFHT to search for the spectrally resolved helium triplet in the atmospheres of eleven exoplanets, ranging from warm mini-Neptunes to hot Jupiters and orbiting G, K, and M dwarfs. Observations were obtained as part of the SPIRou Legacy Survey and complementary open-time programs. We apply a homogeneous data reduction to all datasets and set constraints on the presence of metastable helium, despite the presence of systematics in the data. We confirm published detections for HAT-P-11b, HD189733b, and WASP-69b and set upper limits for the other planets. We apply the p-winds open source code to set upper limits on the mass-loss rate for the non-detections and to constrain the thermosphere temperature, mass-loss rate, line-of-sight velocity, and the altitude of the thermosphere for the detections. We confirm that the presence of metastable helium correlates with the stellar mass and the XUV flux received by the planets. We investigated the correlation between the mass-loss rate and the presence of metastable helium, but it remains difficult to draw definitive conclusions. Finally, some of our results are in contradiction with previous results in the literature, therefore we stress the importance of repeatable, homogeneous, and larger-scale analyses of the helium triplet to obtain robust statistics, study temporal variability, and better understand how the helium triplet can be used to explore the evolution of exoplanets.
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Submitted 10 July, 2023;
originally announced July 2023.
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TOI-1759 b: a transiting sub-Neptune around a low mass star characterized with SPIRou and TESS
Authors:
Eder Martioli,
Guillaume Hébrard,
Pascal Fouqué,
Étienne Artigau,
Jean-François Donati,
Charles Cadieux,
Stefano Bellotti,
Alain Lecavelier des Etangs,
Réne Doyon,
J. -D. do Nascimento Jr.,
L. Arnold,
A. Carmona,
N. J. Cook,
P. Cortes-Zuleta,
L. de Almeida,
X. Delfosse,
C. P. Folsom,
P. -C. König,
C. Moutou,
M. Ould-Elhkim,
P. Petit,
K. G. Stassun,
A. A. Vidotto,
T. Vandal,
B. Benneke
, et al. (35 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
We report the detection and characterization of the transiting sub-Neptune TOI-1759 b, using photometric time-series from TESS and near infrared spectropolarimetric data from SPIRou on the CFHT. TOI-1759 b orbits a moderately active M0V star with an orbital period of $18.849975\pm0.000006$ d, and we measure a planetary radius and mass of $3.06\pm0.22$ R$_\oplus$ and $6.8\pm2.0$ M$_\oplus$. Radial…
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We report the detection and characterization of the transiting sub-Neptune TOI-1759 b, using photometric time-series from TESS and near infrared spectropolarimetric data from SPIRou on the CFHT. TOI-1759 b orbits a moderately active M0V star with an orbital period of $18.849975\pm0.000006$ d, and we measure a planetary radius and mass of $3.06\pm0.22$ R$_\oplus$ and $6.8\pm2.0$ M$_\oplus$. Radial velocities were extracted from the SPIRou spectra using both the CCF and the LBL methods, optimizing the velocity measurements in the near infrared domain. We analyzed the broadband SED of the star and the high-resolution SPIRou spectra to constrain the stellar parameters and thus improve the accuracy of the derived planet parameters. A LSD analysis of the SPIRou Stokes $V$ polarized spectra detects Zeeman signatures in TOI-1759. We model the rotational modulation of the magnetic stellar activity using a GP regression with a quasi-periodic covariance function, and find a rotation period of $35.65^{+0.17}_{-0.15}$ d. We reconstruct the large-scale surface magnetic field of the star using ZDI, which gives a predominantly poloidal field with a mean strength of $18\pm4$ G. Finally, we perform a joint Bayesian MCMC analysis of the TESS photometry and SPIRou RVs to optimally constrain the system parameters. At $0.1176\pm0.0013$ au from the star, the planet receives $6.4$ times the bolometric flux incident on Earth, and its equilibrium temperature is estimated at $433\pm14$ K. TOI-1759 b is a likely gas-dominated sub-Neptune with an expected high rate of photoevaporation. Therefore, it is an interesting target to search for neutral hydrogen escape, which may provide important constraints on the planetary formation mechanisms responsible for the observed sub-Neptune radius desert.
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Submitted 2 February, 2022;
originally announced February 2022.
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Hot Jupiters and Hot Spots: The Short- and Long-term Chromospheric Activity on Stars with Giant Planets
Authors:
E. Shkolnik,
G. A. H. Walker,
D. A. Bohlender,
P. -G. Gu,
M. Kürster
Abstract:
We monitored the chromospheric activity in the Ca II H & K lines of 13 solar-type stars (including the Sun); 8 of them over three years at the CFHT and 5 in a single run at the VLT. Ten of the 13 targets have close planetary companions. All of the stars observed at the CFHT show long-term (months to years) changes in H & K intensity levels. Four stars display short-term (days) cyclical activity.…
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We monitored the chromospheric activity in the Ca II H & K lines of 13 solar-type stars (including the Sun); 8 of them over three years at the CFHT and 5 in a single run at the VLT. Ten of the 13 targets have close planetary companions. All of the stars observed at the CFHT show long-term (months to years) changes in H & K intensity levels. Four stars display short-term (days) cyclical activity. For two, HD 73256 and kappa^1 Ceti, the activity is likely associated with an active region rotating with the star, however, the flaring in excess of the rotational modulation may be associated with a hot jupiter. A planetary companion remains a possibility for kappa^1 Ceti. For the other two, HD 179949 and upsilon And, the cyclic variation is synchronized to the hot jupiter's orbit. For both stars this synchronicity with the orbit is clearly seen in two out of three epochs. The effect is only marginal in the third epoch at which the seasonal level of chromospheric activity had changed for both stars. Short-term chromospheric activity appears weakly dependent on the mean K-line reversal intensities for the sample of 13 stars. Also, a suggestive correlation exists between this activity and the M_p sin(i) of the star's hot jupiter. Because of their small separation (<= 0.1 AU), many of the hot jupiters lie within the Alfvén radius of their host stars which allows a direct magnetic interaction with the stellar surface. We discuss the conditions under which a planet's magnetic field might induce activity on the stellar surface and why no such effect was seen for the prime candidate, tau Boo. This work opens up the possibility of characterizing planet-star interactions, with implications for extrasolar planet magnetic fields and the energy contribution to stellar atmospheres.
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Submitted 23 November, 2004;
originally announced November 2004.