Start year
2013
Organizational Unit
Organizing institutions
Grants related:
General
Description
The search for life in the universe has been driven by recent discoveries of planets around other stars (known as exoplanets), becoming one of the most active fields in modern astrophysics. The growing number of new exoplanets discovered in recent years and the recent advance on the study of their atmospheres are not only providing new valuable information about its physical properties, but also allowing to constrain the properties of the Solar system's planets within a more global context. The field is approaching to the important discovery of the first potentially habitable planets and encouraging more detailed studies of them. With the launching of upcoming related satellites like JWST, CHEOPS, TESS, ARIEL and PLATO, the exoplanets field faces a bright future.
It is for this reason that this field is aid of, and at the same time promotes, the development of increasingly sensitive and stable instrumentation for both, ground-based telescopes and space missions. Our group is particularly prepared for these two fronts. On the one hand, during the last years we have developed observational and reduction techniques of exoplanet transits data for the ORM telescopes, ours being one of the most productive groups in the exploitation of GTC. On the other hand, all ESA space missions (present and future) related to exoplanets have one or more components of the project as CoIs. Within the frame of this project, we intend that IAC researchers maintain an advantageous position regarding the operation of OSIRIS and CanariCam, first light
GTC's instruments, and participate in the construction, commissioning and operation of new instruments such as the high resolution optical spectrograph HORUS at GTC. The exploitation of the photometry and spectroscopy of transits with LIRIS at WHT is also one of our principal interests, especially in preparation for the installation in 2015 of EMIR on the GTC .
To summarize, the project "Exoplanets and Astrobiology" will focus on these four action lines:
1) The characterization of atmospheric and physical properties of exoplanets (GTC, WHT, ARIEL, HARPSN, CARMENES, ESPRESSO, etc. ..)
2) The search and confirmation of exoplanets by transits techniques (CoRoT, Kepler, K2, CHEOPS, XO, LCOGT, W FC, DISH, etc. ..)
3) The search and confirmation of exoplanet by radial velocity techniques (HARPSN, HORUS, LCOGT, SONG, CARMENES)
4) Astrobiology
Members
Principal investigator
Enric
Pallé Bago
Project staff
Hans Jörg
Deeg Deeg
Nicolas Cédric
Lodieu
Javier Andrés
Licandro Goldaracena
Víctor Javier
Sánchez Bejar
Juan Antonio
Belmonte Avilés
Roi
Alonso Sobrino
Grzegorz
Nowak
Patricia
Chinchilla Gallego
A. L. Cabrera Lavers
Felipe Andrés
Murgas Alcaino
Hannu
Parviainen
Collaborators
Dr.
Paulo Miles Paez
Dr.
Maria Rosa Zapatero Osorio
Dr.
M. Mas Hesse
Dr.
M. Deleuil
Dr.
D. Gandolfi
Dr.
M. Fridlund
Dr.
L. Doyle
Dr.
H. Rauer
Dr.
J. Cabrera
Dr.
Sz. Csizmadia
Dr.
D. Pollacco
Dr.
A. Hatzes
Dr.
T. Mazeh
Dr.
T. Boyajian
Dr.
B. Tingley
Dr.
D. Martin
Dr.
A Triaud
Dr.
D. Fabrycky
Antonio Cabrera Lavers
Results
- Detection of He in the atmosphere of an exoplanet from the ground, published in Science
- Detection of a super-earth around Barnard star, published in Nature
- Detection of the first TESS planets, with several papers of high relevance
- Discovery of Na and Halpha features in the spectrum of KELT-20b with TNG
- Publication of the Handbook of Exoplanets, the most extensive work of reference in the field of exoplanets. The Handbook was edited by members of our group, and includes contributions by about 300 experts worldwide, including 12 members of IAC.
Scientific activity
Related publications
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Rotationally resolved spectroscopy of (20000) Varuna in the near-infraredContext. Models of the escape and retention of volatiles by minor icy objects exclude any presence of volatile ices on the surface of trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) smaller than ~1000 km in diameter at the typical temperature in this region of the solar system, whereas the same models show that water ice is stable on the surface of objects over aEmery, J. P. et al.
Advertised on:
22014 -
Simultaneous optical and near-infrared linear spectropolarimetry of the earthshineAims: We aim to extend our current observational understanding of the integrated planet Earth spectropolarimetry from the optical to the near-infrared wavelengths. Major biomarkers like O2 and water vapor are strong flux absorbents in the Earth's atmosphere, and some linear polarization of the reflected stellar light is expected to occur at thesePallé, E. et al.
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22014 -
Intermittent Dust Mass Loss from Activated Asteroid P/2013 P5 (PANSTARRS)We present observations and models of the dust environment of activated asteroid P/2013 P5 (PANSTARRS). The object displayed a complex morphology during the observations, with the presence of multiple tails. We combined our own observations, all made with instrumentation attached to the 10.4 m Gran Telescopio Canarias on La Palma, with previouslyPozuelos, F. et al.
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22014 -
Observational results for eight long-period comets observed far from the SunContext. With this work we start a systematic analysis of the distant activity of several long-period comets in order to investigate the evolution of activity throughout the solar system and explore differences between comets that pass their perihelion at far or very close distances from the Sun. Aims: We present observational data for eight longDall'Ora, M. et al.
Advertised on:
12014 -
Thermophysical properties of near-Earth asteroid (341843) 2008 EV5 from WISE dataAims: We derive the thermal inertia of 2008 EV5, the baseline target for the Marco Polo-R mission proposal, and infer information about the size of the particles on its surface. Methods: Values of thermal inertia were obtained by fitting an asteroid thermophysical model to NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) infrared data. Grain sizeDelbo, M. et al.
Advertised on:
12014 -
Characterizing the Purple Earth: Modeling the Globally Integrated Spectral Variability of the Archean EarthOngoing searches for exoplanetary systems have revealed a wealth of planets with diverse physical properties. Planets even smaller than the Earth have already been detected and the efforts of future missions are aimed at the discovery, and perhaps characterization, of small rocky exoplanets within the habitable zone of their stars. Clearly, what weMontañés-Rodríguez, P. et al.
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12014 -
A deep WISE search for very late type objects and the discovery of two halo/thick-disc T dwarfs: WISE 0013+0634 and WISE 0833+0052A method is defined for identifying late-T and Y dwarfs in WISE down to low values of signal-to-noise. This requires a WISE detection only in the W2-band and uses the statistical properties of the WISE multiframe measurements and profile fit photometry to reject contamination resulting from non-point-like objects, variables and moving sources. ToLucas, P. W. et al.
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12014 -
Uncovering the Deeply Embedded Active Galactic Nucleus Activity in the Nuclear Regions of the Interacting Galaxy Arp 299We present mid-infrared (MIR) 8-13 μm spectroscopy of the nuclear regions of the interacting galaxy Arp 299 (IC 694+NGC 3690) obtained with CanariCam (CC) on the 10.4 m Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC). The high angular resolution (~0.''3-0.''6) of the data allows us to probe nuclear physical scales between 60 and 120 pc, which is a factor of 10Alonso-Herrero, A. et al.
Advertised on:
122013 -
Does the diurnal temperature range respond to changes in the cosmic ray flux?}Recent studies have suggested that measurements of the diurnal temperature range (DTR) over Europe may provide evidence of a long-hypothesized link between the cosmic ray (CR) flux and cloud cover. Such propositions are interesting, as previous investigations of CR–cloud links are limited by data issues including long-term reliability and viewLaken, B. A et al.
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42013 -
Composite analysis with Monte Carlo methods: an example with cosmic rays and cloudsThe composite (superposed epoch) analysis technique has been frequently employed to examine a hypothesized link between solar activity and the Earth's atmosphere, often through an investigation of Forbush decrease (Fd) events (sudden high-magnitude decreases in the flux cosmic rays impinging on the upper-atmosphere lasting up to several days). ThisLaken, B. A. et al.
Advertised on:
92013 -
Earthshine observations at high spectral resolution: exploring and detecting metal lines in the Earth's upper atmosphereObservations of the Earth as a planet using the earthshine technique (i.e. looking at the light reflected from the dark side of the Moon) have been used for climate and astrobiology studies. They provide information about the planetary albedo, a fundamental parameter of the Earth's energy balance. Here we present, for the first time, observationsGonzález-Merino, B. et al.
Advertised on:
112013 -
Kepler-77b: a very low albedo, Saturn-mass transiting planet around a metal-rich solar-like star⋆⋆⋆⋆⋆⋆We report the discovery of Kepler-77b (alias KOI-127.01), a Saturn-mass transiting planet in a 3.6-day orbit around a metal-rich solar-like star. We combined the publicly available Kepler photometry (quarters 1-13) with high-resolution spectroscopy from the Sandiford at McDonald and FIES at NOT spectrographs. We derived the system parameters via aGandolfi, D. et al.
Advertised on:
92013 -
High angular resolution imaging and infrared spectroscopy of CoRoT candidatesContext. Studies of transiting extrasolar planets are of key importance for understanding the nature of planets outside our solar system because their masses, diameters, and bulk densities can be measured. An important part of transit-search programmes is the removal of false-positives. In the case of the CoRoT space mission, the majority of theGuenther, E. W. et al.
Advertised on:
82013 -
Linear polarization of rapidly rotating ultracool dwarfsAims: We aim to study the near-infrared linear polarization signal of rapidly rotating ultracool dwarfs with spectral types ranging from M7 through T2 and projected rotational velocities of v sin i ≳ 30 km s-1. These dwarfs are believed to have dusty atmospheres and oblate shapes, which is an appropriate scenario to produce measurable linearMiles-Páez, P. A. et al.
Advertised on:
82013 -
TraMoS project - III. Improved physical parameters, timing analysis and starspot modelling of the WASP-4b exoplanet system from 38 transit observationsWe report 12 new transit observations of the exoplanet WASP-4b from the Transit Monitoring in the South (TraMoS) project. These transits are combined with all previously published transit data for this planet to provide an improved radius measurement of Rp = 1.395 ± 0.022Rjup and improved transit ephemerides. In a new homogeneous analysis in searchHoyer, S. et al.
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92013 -
Transiting exoplanets from the CoRoT space mission. XXIV. CoRoT-25b and CoRoT-26b: two low-density giant planetsWe report the discovery of two transiting exoplanets, CoRoT-25b and CoRoT-26b, both of low density, one of which is in the Saturn mass-regime. For each star, ground-based complementary observations through optical photometry and radial velocity measurements secured the planetary nature of the transiting body and allowed us to fully characterizeAlmenara, J. M. et al.
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72013 -
A sensitivity analysis of the WFCAM Transit Survey for short-period giant planets around M dwarfsThe WFCAM Transit Survey (WTS) is a near-infrared transit survey running on the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope (UKIRT), designed to discover planets around M dwarfs. The WTS acts as a poor-seeing backup programme for the telescope, and represents the first dedicated wide-field near-infrared transit survey. Observations began in 2007 gathering JKovács, Gábor et al.
Advertised on:
82013 -
Two Super-Earths Orbiting the Solar Analog HD 41248 on the Edge of a 7:5 Mean Motion ResonanceThere are a growing number of multi-planet systems known to be orbiting their host stars with orbital periods that place them in mean motion resonances (MMRs). These systems are generally in first-order resonances and dynamical studies have focused their efforts on understanding the origin and evolution of such dynamically resonantJenkins, J. S. et al.
Advertised on:
72013 -
Searching for planetary transits around M dwarfs with telescope networksAs of today, hundreds of extrasolar planets have been discoverd, and thousands of candidates are waiting for confirmation. Although we already have discovered dozens of the least massive planets (the so called super-Earths), only a few have been found to be orbiting low mass stars, and only one that actually transist a bright M star. Here, wePalle, E. et al.
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42013 -
CoRoT 101186644: A transiting low-mass dense M-dwarf on an eccentric 20.7-day period orbit around a late F-star. Discovered in the CoRoT lightcurvesWe present the study of the CoRoT transiting planet candidate 101186644, also named LRc01_E1_4780. Analysis of the CoRoT lightcurve and the HARPS spectroscopic follow-up observations of this faint (mV = 16) candidate revealed an eclipsing binary composed of a late F-type primary (Teff = 6090 ± 200 K) and a low-mass, dense late M-dwarf secondary onTal-Or, L. et al.
Advertised on:
52013
