Bibcode
Cáceres, C.; Kabath, P.; Hoyer, S.; Ivanov, V. D.; Rojo, P.; Girard, J. H.; Miller-Ricci Kempton, E.; Fortney, J. J.; Minniti, D.
Referencia bibliográfica
Astronomy and Astrophysics, Volume 565, id.A7, 9 pp.
Fecha de publicación:
5
2014
Revista
Número de citas
19
Número de citas referidas
17
Descripción
Context. GJ 1214 b is one of the few known transiting super-Earth-sized
exoplanets with a measured mass and radius. It orbits an M-dwarf, only
14.55 pc away, making it a favorable candidate for follow-up studies.
However, the composition of GJ 1214 b's mysterious atmosphere has yet to
be fully unveiled. Aims: Our goal is to distinguish between the
various proposed atmospheric models to explain the properties of GJ 1214
b: hydrogen-rich or hydrogen-He mix, or a heavy molecular weight
atmosphere with reflecting high clouds, as latest studies have
suggested. Methods: Wavelength-dependent planetary radii
measurements from the transit depths in the optical/NIR are the best
tool to investigate the atmosphere of GJ 1214 b. We present here (i)
photometric transit observations with a narrow-band filter centered on
2.14 μm and a broad-band I-Bessel filter centered on 0.8665 μm,
and (ii) transmission spectroscopy in the H and K atmospheric windows
that cover three transits. The photometric and spectrophotometric time
series obtained were analyzed with MCMC simulations to measure the
planetary radii as a function of wavelength. We determined radii ratios
of 0.1173-0.0024+0.0022 for I-Bessel and
0.11735-0.00076+0.00072 at 2.14 μm.
Results: Our measurements indicate a flat transmission spectrum, in
agreement with the last atmospheric models that favor featureless
spectra with clouds and high molecular weight compositions.
Based on observations obtained at the Southern Astrophysical Research
(SOAR) Telescope, which is a joint project of the Ministério da
Ciência, Tecnologia, e Inovação (MCTI) da
República Federativa do Brasil, the US National Optical Astronomy
Observatory (NOAO), the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
(UNC), and Michigan State University (MSU). SofI results are based on
observations made with ESO Telescopes at the La Silla Paranal
Observatory under programme ID 087.C-0509.Tables of the lightcurve data
are only available at the CDS via anonymous ftp to http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr
(ftp://130.79.128.5) or via http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr/viz-bin/qcat?J/A+A/565/A7
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