Edwards, Billy;
Changeat, Quentin;
Tsiaras, Angelos;
Allan, Andrew;
Behr, Patrick;
Hagey, Simone R;
Himes, Michael D;
... Ward-Thompson, Derek; + view all
(2023)
Characterizing a World Within the Hot-Neptune Desert: Transit Observations of LTT 9779 b with the Hubble Space Telescope/WFC3.
The Astronomical Journal
, 166
(4)
p. 158.
10.3847/1538-3881/acea77.
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Abstract
We present an atmospheric analysis of LTT 9779 b, a rare planet situated in the hot-Neptune desert, that has been observed with Hubble Space Telescope (HST)/WFC3 with G102 and G141. The combined transmission spectrum, which covers 0.8–1.6 μm, shows a gradual increase in transit depth with wavelength. Our preferred atmospheric model shows evidence for H2O, CO2, and FeH with a significance of 3.1σ, 2.4σ, and 2.1σ, respectively. In an attempt to constrain the rate of atmospheric escape for this planet, we search for the 1.083 μm helium line in the G102 data but find no evidence of excess absorption that would indicate an escaping atmosphere using this tracer. We refine the orbital ephemerides of LTT 9779 b using our HST data and observations from TESS, searching for evidence of orbital decay or apsidal precession, which are not found. The phase-curve observation of LTT 9779 b with JWST NIRISS should provide deeper insights into the atmosphere of this planet and the expected atmospheric escape might be detected with further observations concentrated on other tracers such as Lyα.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Characterizing a World Within the Hot-Neptune Desert: Transit Observations of LTT 9779 b with the Hubble Space Telescope/WFC3 |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.3847/1538-3881/acea77 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881%2Facea77 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | © 2023 IOP Publishing. Original content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences > Dept of Physics and Astronomy |
| URI: | https://discovery-pp.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10177592 |
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