Bibcode
Casasayas-Barris, N.; Parviainen, H.; Montanes-Rodriguez, P.; Lam, K.; Pollacco, D.; Nortmann, L.; Murgas, F.; Nowak, G.; Prieto-Arranz, J.; Chen, G.; Palle, E.
Bibliographical reference
Astronomy and Astrophysics, Volume 602, id.L15, 5 pp.
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6
2017
Journal
Citations
29
Refereed citations
26
Description
Context. WASP-127b is a planet with one of the lowest densities
discovered to date. With a sub-Saturn mass (Mp = 0.18
± 0.02 MJ) and super-Jupiter radius (Rp =
1.37 ± 0.04 RJ), it orbits a bright G5 star that is
about to leave the main-sequence. Aims: We aim to explore the
atmosphere of WASP-127b in order to retrieve its main atmospheric
components, and to find hints for its intriguing inflation and
evolutionary history. Methods: We used the ALFOSC spectrograph at
the NOT telescope to observe a low-resolution (R 330, seeing limited)
long-slit spectroscopic time series during a planetary transit, and
present here the first transmission spectrum for WASP-127b.
Results: We find a strong Rayleigh slope at blue wavelengths and a hint
of Na absorption, although the quality of the data does not allow us to
claim a detection. At redder wavelengths the absorption features of TiO
and VO are the best explanation to fit the data. Conclusions:
Although observations with a higher signal-to-noise ratio are needed to
conclusively confirm the absorption features, WASP-127b seems to posses
a cloud-free atmosphere and is one of the best targets on which to
perform further characterization studies in the near future.
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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
Enric
Pallé Bago