Exoplanet atmospheres at high resolution through a modest-size telescope Fe II in MASCARA-2b and KELT-9b with FIES on the Nordic Optical Telescope
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Exoplanet atmospheres at high resolution through a modest-size telescope Fe II in MASCARA-2b and KELT-9b with FIES on the Nordic Optical Telescope. / Bello-Arufe, Aaron; Buchhave, Lars A.; Mendonca, Joao M.; Tronsgaard, Rene; Heng, Kevin; Hoeijmakers, H. Jens; Mayo, Andrew W.
In: Astronomy & Astrophysics, Vol. 662, A51, 15.06.2022.Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
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T1 - Exoplanet atmospheres at high resolution through a modest-size telescope Fe II in MASCARA-2b and KELT-9b with FIES on the Nordic Optical Telescope
AU - Bello-Arufe, Aaron
AU - Buchhave, Lars A.
AU - Mendonca, Joao M.
AU - Tronsgaard, Rene
AU - Heng, Kevin
AU - Hoeijmakers, H. Jens
AU - Mayo, Andrew W.
PY - 2022/6/15
Y1 - 2022/6/15
N2 - Ground-based, high-resolution spectrographs are providing us with an unprecedented view of the dynamics and chemistry of the atmospheres of planets outside the Solar System. While there are a large number of stable and precise high-resolution spectrographs on modest-size telescopes, it is the spectrographs at observatories with apertures larger than 3.5 m that dominate the atmospheric follow-up of exoplanets. In this work we explore the potential of characterising exoplanetary atmospheres with FIES, a high-resolution spectrograph at the 2.56 m Nordic Optical Telescope. We observed two transits of MASCARA-2 b (also known as KELT-20 b) and one transit of KELT-9 b to search for atomic iron, a species that has recently been discovered in both neutral and ionised forms in the atmospheres of these ultra-hot Jupiters using large telescopes. Using a cross-correlation method, we detect a signal of Fe II at the 4.5 sigma and 4.0 sigma level in the transits of MaSCARA-2 b. We also detect Fe II in the transit of KELT-9 b at the 8.5 sigma level. Although we do not find any significant Doppler shift in the signal of MASCARA-2 b, we do measure a moderate blueshift (3-6 km s(-1)) of the feature in KELT-9 b, which might be a manifestation of high-velocity winds transporting Fe II from the planetary dayside to the nightside. Our work demonstrates the feasibility of investigating exoplanet atmospheres with FIES, and it potentially unlocks a wealth of additional atmosphere detections with this and other high-resolution spectrographs mounted on similar-size telescopes.
AB - Ground-based, high-resolution spectrographs are providing us with an unprecedented view of the dynamics and chemistry of the atmospheres of planets outside the Solar System. While there are a large number of stable and precise high-resolution spectrographs on modest-size telescopes, it is the spectrographs at observatories with apertures larger than 3.5 m that dominate the atmospheric follow-up of exoplanets. In this work we explore the potential of characterising exoplanetary atmospheres with FIES, a high-resolution spectrograph at the 2.56 m Nordic Optical Telescope. We observed two transits of MASCARA-2 b (also known as KELT-20 b) and one transit of KELT-9 b to search for atomic iron, a species that has recently been discovered in both neutral and ionised forms in the atmospheres of these ultra-hot Jupiters using large telescopes. Using a cross-correlation method, we detect a signal of Fe II at the 4.5 sigma and 4.0 sigma level in the transits of MaSCARA-2 b. We also detect Fe II in the transit of KELT-9 b at the 8.5 sigma level. Although we do not find any significant Doppler shift in the signal of MASCARA-2 b, we do measure a moderate blueshift (3-6 km s(-1)) of the feature in KELT-9 b, which might be a manifestation of high-velocity winds transporting Fe II from the planetary dayside to the nightside. Our work demonstrates the feasibility of investigating exoplanet atmospheres with FIES, and it potentially unlocks a wealth of additional atmosphere detections with this and other high-resolution spectrographs mounted on similar-size telescopes.
KW - instrumentation
KW - spectrographs
KW - planets and satellites
KW - atmospheres
KW - gaseous planets
KW - IRON EMISSION-LINES
KW - GAPS PROGRAM
KW - TRANSMISSION SPECTRUM
KW - ORBITAL MOTION
KW - HARPS-N
KW - HOT
KW - SPECTROSCOPY
KW - DAYSIDE
KW - PLANET
KW - TRANSIT
U2 - 10.1051/0004-6361/202142787
DO - 10.1051/0004-6361/202142787
M3 - Journal article
VL - 662
JO - Astronomy & Astrophysics
JF - Astronomy & Astrophysics
SN - 0004-6361
M1 - A51
ER -
ID: 315472222