Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Hydrosphere: Modeling The Planetary Structure Of Ocean Planets And Icy Moons, Karlee R. Taylor

Macalester Journal of Physics and Astronomy

In recent years, “water worlds” have become increasingly of interest to astrobiologists due to their high potential for habitability, as the large amount water on their surfaces is not only necessary for life, but also promises long-term climatic stability. However, also necessary for life is the exchange of chemical compounds between the geosphere and the hydrosphere - something which may be ob- structed by the presence of high pressure ices on these ocean planets and icy moons. In order to explore the habitability of bodies with various surface temperatures, water masses, and core radii, this project develops a model of …

Identifying And Analyzing Multi-Star Systems Among Tess Planetary Candidates Using Gaia, Katie E. Bailey

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Exoplanets represent a young, rapidly advancing subfield of astrophysics where much is still unknown. It is therefore important to analyze trends among their parameters to learn more about these systems. More complexity is added to these systems with the presence of additional stellar companions. To study these complex systems, one can employ programming languages such as Python to parse databases such as those constructed by TESS and Gaia to bridge the gap between exoplanets and stellar companions. Data can then be analyzed for trends in these multi-star exoplanet systems and in juxtaposition to their single-star counterparts. This research was able …

The Role Of Volatile Enrichment In The Radiogenic Heating And Thermal Evolution Of Rocky Exoplanets, Ula Jones, Asmaa Boujibar

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

Internal heating in terrestrial planets is a fundamental physical process controlling the internal structure of a planet, mantle convection, volcanic activity, and the generation of magnetic fields. Internal heating results from various processes including radioactive decay and accretional energy, as well as additional irradiation and tidal heating in planets with short orbital periods. The largest long-term heat source for terrestrial planets is radioactive heating, especially from the decay of uranium (U), thorium (Th), and potassium (K) isotopes. K is a moderately volatile element, while U and Th are refractory elements; during planetary accretion volatiles are depleted relative to refractory elements, …

A Comparative L-Dwarf Sample Exploring The Interplay Between Atmospheric Assumptions And Data Properties, Eileen C. Gonzales, Ben Burningham, Jacqueline K. Faherty, Nikole K. Lewis, Channon Visscher, Mark Marley

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

Comparisons of atmospheric retrievals can reveal powerful insights on the strengths and limitations of our data and modeling tools. In this paper, we examine a sample of five L dwarfs of similar effective temperature (Teff) or spectral type to compare their pressure–temperature (P-T) profiles. Additionally, we explore the impact of an object's metallicity and the signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) of the observations on the parameters we can retrieve. We present the first atmospheric retrievals: 2MASS J15261405+2043414, 2MASS J05395200−0059019, 2MASS J15394189−0520428, and GD 165B increasing the small but growing number of L dwarfs retrieved. When compared to the atmospheric retrievals …

A Comparison Of Exotic And Pyraf In Analyzing Exoplanet Transits, Kailei A. Gallup

Physics

In this paper we discuss the data analysis processes using PyRaf, a Python-based version of IRAF, which is one of the most commonly used coding softwares in the astronomy community, as well as the analysis process using EXOTIC. Additionally, we will compare the outcomes from each process to determine if either has significant benefits over the other.

Detection Of Ongoing Mass Loss From Hd 63433c, A Young Mini-Neptune, Michael Zhang, Heather A. Knutson, Lile Wang, Fei Dai, Leonardo A. Dos Santos, Luca Fossati, Gregory W. Henry, David Ehrenreich, Yann Alibert, Sergio Hoyer, Thomas G. Wilson, Andrea Bonfanti

Information Systems and Engineering Management Research Publications

We detect Lyα absorption from the escaping atmosphere of HD 63433c, a R = 2.67R_⊕, P = 20.5 day mini-Neptune orbiting a young (440 Myr) solar analog in the Ursa Major Moving Group. Using Hubble Space Telescope (HST)/Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph, we measure a transit depth of 11.1 ± 1.5% in the blue wing and 8 ± 3% in the red. This signal is unlikely to be due to stellar variability, but should be confirmed by an upcoming second transit observation with HST. We do not detect Lyα absorption from the inner planet, a smaller …

Performance Of Near-Infrared High-Contrast Imaging Methods With Jwst From Commissioning, Jens Kammerer, Julien Girard, Aarynn L. Carter, Marshall D. Perrin, Rachel Cooper, Deepashri Thatte, Thomas Vandal, Jarron Leisenring, Jason Wang, William O. Balmer, Anand Sivaramakrishnan, Laurent Pueyo, Kimberly Ward-Duong, Ben Sunnquist, Jéa Adams Redai

Astronomy: Faculty Publications

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) will revolutionize the field of high-contrast imaging and enable both the direct detection of Saturn-mass planets and the characterization of substellar companions in the mid-infrared. While JWST will feature unprecedented sensitivity, angular resolution will be the key factor when competing with ground-based telescopes. Here, we aim to characterize the performance of several extreme angular resolution imaging techniques available with JWST in the 3-5 µm regime based on data taken during the instrument commissioning. Firstly, we introduce custom tools to simulate, reduce, and analyze JWST NIRCam and MIRI coronagraphy data and use these tools to …

Information Entropic Content Of Astrophysical Spectra: Applications To Cosmology And Astrobiology, Sara Vannah

Dartmouth College Ph.D Dissertations

Astrophysics faces two critical challenges: the difficulty of observing very distant targets and the difficulty of interpreting science in diverse and often extreme environments that have not been replicated on Earth. In this thesis, we discuss two types of spectra — one from early universe cosmology and one from astrobiology — where improvements in telescope technology are just ushering in a wave of precise observations, addressing the first challenge. This accelerates the need for a solution to the second challenge. Traditional methods for analyzing these two spectra rely heavily on unsettled science, biasing results to match the input assumptions. In …

Hidden Symmetries Of The Kepler Problem, Julia Kathryn Sheffler

Senior Projects Spring 2022

The orbits of planets can be described by solving Kepler’s problem which considers the motion due to by gravity (or any inverse square force law). The solutions to Kepler’s problem, for energies less then 0, are ellipses, with a few conserved quantities: energy, angular momentum and the Laplace-Runge-Lenz (LRL) vector. Each conserved quantity corresponds to symmetries of the system via N ̈other’s theorem. Energy conservation relates to time translations and angular momentum to three dimensional rotations. The symmetry related to the LRL vector is more difficult to visualize since it lives in phase space rather than configuration space. To understand …

Investigating Signs Of Orbital Decay In The Tres-1 Exoplanetary System, Amanda F. Wester

Honors Theses and Capstones

Transit observations of exoplanetary systems can be used to investigate orbital decay. TrES-1b is an exoplanet hypothesized to be experiencing orbital decay due to observed transit timing variations (TTVs) [12]. Numerous transits must be observed to establish a long term pattern to conclusively determine if the planet’s orbit is decaying. Measurements were made using the UNH Observatory where 2 transits were observed of the TrES-1b transiting system on February 27, 2022 and March 5, 2022. A CCD camera was used to image the transit and capture calibration images. The software AstroImageJ (AIJ) was used to calibrate the images and perform …

The Sonora Substellar Atmosphere Models. Ii. Cholla: A Grid Of Cloud-Free, Solar Metallicity Models In Chemical Disequilibrium For The Jwst Era, Theodora Karalidi, Mark Marley, Jonathan J. Fortney, Caroline Morley, Didier Saumon, Roxana Lupu, Channon Visscher, Richard Freedman

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

Exoplanet and brown dwarf atmospheres commonly show signs of disequilibrium chemistry. In the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) era, high-resolution spectra of directly imaged exoplanets will allow the characterization of their atmospheres in more detail, and allow systematic tests for the presence of chemical species that deviate from thermochemical equilibrium in these atmospheres. Constraining the presence of disequilibrium chemistry in these atmospheres as a function of parameters such as their effective temperature and surface gravity will allow us to place better constraints on the physics governing these atmospheres. This paper is part of a series of works presenting the Sonora …

The Emission Spectrum Of The Hot Jupiter Wasp-79b From Hst/Wfc3, Trevor O. Foote, Nikole K. Lewis, Brian M. Kilpatrick, Jayesh M. Goyal, Giovanni Bruno, Hannah R. Wakeford, Nina Robbins-Blanch, Tiffany Kataria, Ryan J. Macdonald, Mercedes López-Morales, David K. Sing, Thomas Mikal-Evans, Vincent Bourrier, Gregory Henry, Lars A. Buchhave

Information Systems and Engineering Management Research Publications

Here we present a thermal emission spectrum of WASP-79b, obtained via Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field Camera 3 G141 observations as part of the PanCET program. As we did not observe the ingress or egress of WASP-79b's secondary eclipse, we consider two scenarios: a fixed mid-eclipse time based on the expected occurrence time, and a mid-eclipse time as a free parameter. In both scenarios, we can measure thermal emission from WASP-79b from 1.1 to 1.7 μm at 2.4σ confidence consistent with a 1900 K brightness temperature for the planet. We combine our observations with Spitzer dayside photometry (3.6 and 4.5 …

California Legacy Survey. Ii. Occurrence Of Giant Planets Beyond The Ice Line, Benjamin J. Fulton, Lee J. Rosenthal, Lea A. Hirsch, Howard Isaacson, Andrew W. Howard, Cayla M. Dedrick, Ilya A. Sherstyuk, Sarah C. Blunt, Erik A. Petigura, Heather A. Knutson, Aida Behmard, Ashley Chontos, Justin R. Crepp, Ian J. M. Crossfield, Paul A. Dalba, Debra A. Fischer, Gregory W. Henry, Stephen R. Kane, Molly Kosiarek, Geoffrey W. Marcy, Ryan A. Rubenzahl, Lauren M. Weiss, Jason T. Wright

Information Systems and Engineering Management Research Publications

We used high-precision radial velocity measurements of FGKM stars to determine the occurrence of giant planets as a function of orbital separation spanning 0.03–30 au. Giant planets are more prevalent at orbital distances of 1–10 au compared to orbits interior or exterior of this range. The increase in planet occurrence at ∼1 au by a factor of ∼4 is highly statistically significant. A fall-off in giant planet occurrence at larger orbital distances is favored over models with flat or increasing occurrence. We measure ${14.1}_{-1.8}^{+2.0}$ giant planets per 100 stars with semimajor axes of 2–8 au and ${8.9}_{-2.4}^{+3.0}$ giant planets per …

The Search For Life: Exoplanet Detection With Deep Learning, Natasha Scannell

Theses and Dissertations

The discovery of new exoplanets, planets outside of our solar system, is essential for increasing our understanding of the universe. Exoplanets capable of harboring life are particularly of interest. Over 600 GB of data was collected by the Kepler Space Telescope, and about 30 GB is being collected each day by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite since its launch in 2018. Traditional methods of experts examining this data manually are no longer tractable; automation is necessary to accomplish the task of vetting all of this data to identify planet candidates from astrophysical false positives.

Previous state-of-the-art models, Astronet and Exonet, …

Tess Delivers Five New Hot Giant Planets Orbiting Bright Stars From The Full-Frame Images, J. E. Rodriguez, S. N. Quinn, G. Zhou, A. Vanderburg, L. D. Nielsen, R. A. Wittenmyer, R. Brahm, P. A. Reed, C. X. Huang, S. Vach, D. R. Ciardi, R. J. Oelkers, K. G. Stassun, C. Hellier, B. S. Gaudi, J. D. Eastman, K. A. Collins, A. Bieryla, S. Christian, D. W. Latham, I. Carleo, D. J. Wright, E. Matthews, E. J. Gonzales, C. Ziegler, C. D. Dressing, S. B. Howell, T.-G. Tan, J. Wittrock, P. Plavchan, K. K. Mcleod, D. Baker, G. Wang, D. J. Radford, R. P. Schwarz, M. Esposito, G. R. Ricker, R. K. Vanderspek, S. Seager, J. N. Winn, J. M. Jenkins, B. Addison, D. R. Anderosn, T. Barclay, T. G. Beatty, P. Berlind, F. Bouchy, M. Bowen, B. P. Bowler, C. E. Brasseur, C. Briceño, D. A. Caldwell, M. L. Calkins, S. Cartwright, P. Chaturvedi, G. Chaverot, S. Chimaladinne, J. L. Christiansen, K. I. Collins, I. J. M. Crossfield, K. Eastridge, N. Espinoza, G. A. Esquerdo, D. L. Felix, T. Fenske, W. Fong, T. Gan, S. Giacalone, H. Gill, L. Gordon, A. Granados, N. Grieves, E. W. Guenther, N. Guerrero, T. Henning, C. E. Henze, K. Hesse, M. J. Hobson, J. Horner, D. J. James, Eric L. N. Jensen, M. Jimenez, A. Jordán, S. R. Kane, J. Kielkopf, K. Kim, R. B. Kuhn, N. Latouf, N. M. Law, A. M. Levine, M. B. Lund, A. W. Mann, S. Mao, R. A. Matson, M. W. Mengel, J. Mink, P. Newman, T. O’Dwyer, J. Okumura, E. Palle, J. Pepper, E. V. Quintana, P. Sarkis, A. B. Savel, J. E. Schlieder, C. Schnaible, A. Shporer, R. Sefako, J. V. Seidel, R. J. Siverd, B. Skinner, M. Stalport, D. J. Stevens, C. Stibbards, C. G. Tinney, R. G. West, D. A. Yahalomi, H. Zhang

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Works

We present the discovery and characterization of five hot and warm Jupiters—TOI-628 b (TIC 281408474; HD 288842), TOI-640 b (TIC 147977348), TOI-1333 b (TIC 395171208, BD+47 3521A), TOI-1478 b (TIC 409794137), and TOI-1601 b (TIC 139375960)—based on data from NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). The five planets were identified from the full-frame images and were confirmed through a series of photometric and spectroscopic follow-up observations by the TESS Follow-up Observing Program Working Group. The planets are all Jovian size (RP = 1.01–1.77 RJ) and have masses that range from 0.85 to 6.33 MJ. The host stars of these systems …

Speckle Imaging Characterization Of Radial Velocity Exoplanet Systems, Paul A. Dalba, Stephen R. Kane, Steve B. Howell, Elliott P. Horch, Zhexing Li, Lea A. Hirsch, Jennifer Burt, Timothy D. Brandt, Teo Močnik, Gregory W. Henry, Mark E. Everett, Lee J. Rosenthal, Andrew W. Howard

Information Systems and Engineering Management Research Publications

We conducted speckle imaging observations of 53 stellar systems that were members of long-term radial velocity (RV) monitoring campaigns and exhibited substantial accelerations indicative of planetary or stellar companions in wide orbits. Our observations were made with blue and red filters using the Differential Speckle Survey Instrument at Gemini-South and the NN-Explore Exoplanet Stellar Speckle Imager at the WIYN telescope. The speckle imaging identifies eight luminous companions within 2'' of the primary stars. In three of these systems—HD 1388, HD 87359, and HD 104304—the properties of the imaged companion are consistent with the RV measurements, suggesting that these companions may …

The Tess-Keck Survey. Ii. An Ultra-Short-Period Rocky Planet And Its Siblings Transiting The Galactic Thick-Disk Star Toi-561, L. M. Weiss, F. Dai, D. Huber, J. M. Brewer, K. A. Collins, D. R. Ciardi, E. C. Matthews, C. Ziegler, S. B. Howell, N. M. Batalha, I. J. M. Crossfield, C. Dressing, B. Fulton, A. W. Howard, H. Isaacson, S. R. Kane, E. A. Petigura, P. Robertson, A. Roy, R. A. Rubenzahl, J. D. Twicken, Z. R. Claytor, K. G. Stassun, M. G. Macdougall, A. Chontos, S. Giacalone, P. A. Dalba, T. Mocnik, M. L. Hill, C. Beard, J. M. Akana Murphy, L. J. Rosenthal, A. Behmard, J. Van Zandt, J. Lubin, M. R. Kosiarek, M. B. Lund, J. L. Christiansen, R. A. Matson, C. A. Beichman, J. E. Schlieder, E. J. Gonzales, C. Briceño, N. Law, A. W. Mann, K. I. Collins, P. Evans, A. Fukui, Eric L.N. Jensen, F. Murgas, N. Narita, E. Palle, H. Parviainen, R. P. Schwarz, T.-G. Tan, J. S. Acton, P. Eigmüller, J. Jenkins, G. Ricker, S. Seager, J. N. Winn

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Works

We report the discovery of TOI-561, a multiplanet system in the galactic thick disk that contains a rocky, ultra-short-period planet. This bright (V = 10.2) star hosts three small transiting planets identified in photometry from the NASA TESS mission: TOI-561 b (TOI-561.02, P = 0.44 days, Rp = 1.45 ± 0.11 R⊕), c (TOI-561.01, P = 10.8 days, Rp = 2.90 ± 0.13 R⊕), and d (TOI-561.03, P = 16.3 days, Rp = 2.32 ± 0.16 R⊕). The star is chemically ([Fe/H] = −0.41 ± 0.05, [α/Fe] = +0.23 ± 0.05) and kinematically consistent with the galactic thick-disk population, making …

Simulating Systematic Errors In Exoplanetary Transits For The James Webb Space Telescope, David C. Wright Iii

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is a next-generation space telescope that will be capable of making transformative observations of planetary transits. As its launch date grows ever closer, it becomes imperative that astronomers have access to accurate simulations of JWST observations in order to best plan observations and devise data analysis pipelines. Unfortunately, available simulation tools do not provide the most accurate or realistic simulations, including noise and systematic errors. In this thesis, I present an open-source time-domain simulator of planetary transits that is capable of accurately modeling these effects in observations made by JWST.

Toi 122b And Toi 237b: Two Small Warm Planets Orbiting Inactive M Dwarfs Found By Tess, W. C. Waalkes, Z. K. Berta-Thompson, K. A. Collins, A. D. Feinstein, B. M. Tofflemire, B. Rojas-Ayala, M. L. Silverstein, E. Newton, G. R. Ricker, R. Vanderspek, D. W. Latham, S. Seager, J. N. Winn, J. M. Jenkins, J. Christiansen, R. F. Goeke, A. M. Levine, H. P. Osborn, S. A. Rinehart, M. E. Rose, E. B. Ting, J. D. Twicken, K. Barkaoui, J. L. Bean, C. Briceño, D. R. Ciardi, K. I. Collins, D. Conti, T. Gan, M. Gillon, G. Isopi, E. Jehin, Eric L.N. Jensen, J. F. Kielkopf, N. Law, F. Mallia, A. W. Mann, B. T. Montet, F. J. Pozuelos, H. Relles, J. E. Libby-Roberts, C. Ziegler

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Works

We report the discovery and validation of TOI 122b and TOI 237b, two warm planets transiting inactive M dwarfs observed by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). Our analysis shows that TOI 122b has a radius of 2.72 ± 0.18 R⊕ and receives 8.8 ± 1.0 times Earth's bolometric insolation, and TOI 237b has a radius of 1.44±0.12 R⊕ and receives 3.7 ± 0.5 times Earth's insolation, straddling the 6.7 × Earth insolation that Mercury receives from the Sun. This makes these two of the cooler planets yet discovered by TESS, even on their 5.08 and 5.43 day orbits. Together, …

Vetting Of 384 Tess Objects Of Interest With Triceratops And Statistical Validation Of 12 Planet Candidates, S. Giacalone, C. D. Dressing, Eric L.N. Jensen, K. A. Collins, G. R. Ricker, R. Vanderspek, S. Seager, J. N. Winn, J. M. Jenkins, T. Barclay, K. Barkaoui, C. Cadieux, D. Charbonneau, K. I. Collins, D. M. Conti, R. Doyon, P. Evans, M. Ghachoui, M. Gillon, N. M. Guerrero, R. Hart, E. Jehin, J. F. Kielkopf, B. Mclean, F. Murgas, E. Palle, H. Parviainen, F. J. Pozuelos, H. M. Relles, A. Shporer, Q. Socia, C. Stockdale, T.-G. Tan, G. Torres, J. D. Twicken, W. C. Waalkes, I. A. Waite

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Works

We present TRICERATOPS, a new Bayesian tool that can be used to vet and validate TESS Objects of Interest (TOIs). We test the tool on 68 TOIs that have been previously confirmed as planets or rejected as astrophysical false positives. By looking in the false-positive probability (FPP)−nearby false-positive probability (NFPP) plane, we define criteria that TOIs must meet to be classified as validated planets (FPP < 0.015 and NFPP < 10−3), likely planets (FPP < 0.5 and NFPP < 10−3), and likely nearby false positives (NFPP > 10−1). We apply this procedure on 384 unclassified TOIs and statistically validate 12, classify 125 as likely planets, and classify 52 as likely nearby false positives. Of the 12 statistically validated planets, 9 are newly …

Physical Parameters Of The Multiplanet Systems Hd 106315 And Gj 9827*†, Molly R. Kosiarek, David A. Berardo, Ian J. M. Crossfield, Cesar Laguna, Caroline Piaulet, Joseph M. Akana Murphy, Steve B. Howell, Gregory W. Henry, Howard Isaacson, Benjamin Fulton, Lauren M. Weiss, Erik A. Petigura, Aida Behmard, Lea A. Hirsch, Johanna Teske, Jennifer A. Burt, Sean M. Mills, Ashley Chontos, Teo Močnik, Andrew W. Howard, Michael Werner, John H. Livingston, Jessica Krick, Charles Beichman, Varoujan Gorjian, Laura Kreidberg, Caroline Morley, Jessie L. Christiansen, Farisa Y. Morales, Nicholas J. Scott, Jeffrey D. Crane, Sharon Xuesong Wang, Stephen A. Shectman, Lee J. Rosenthal, Samuel K. Grunblatt, Ryan A. Rubenzahl, Paul A. Dalba, Steven Giacalone, Chiara Dane Villanueva, Qingtian Liu, Fei Dai, Michelle L. Hill, Malena Rice, Stephen R. Kane, Andrew W. Mayo

Information Systems and Engineering Management Research Publications

HD 106315 and GJ 9827 are two bright, nearby stars that host multiple super-Earths and sub-Neptunes discovered by K2 that are well suited for atmospheric characterization. We refined the planets' ephemerides through Spitzer transits, enabling accurate transit prediction required for future atmospheric characterization through transmission spectroscopy. Through a multiyear high-cadence observing campaign with Keck/High Resolution Echelle Spectrometer and Magellan/Planet Finder Spectrograph, we improved the planets' mass measurements in anticipation of Hubble Space Telescope transmission spectroscopy. For GJ 9827, we modeled activity-induced radial velocity signals with a Gaussian process informed by the Calcium II H&K lines in order to more accurately …

Two Young Planetary Systems Around Field Stars With Ages Between 20 And 320 Myr From Tess, G. Zhou, S. N. Quinn, J. Irwin, C. X. Huang, K. A. Collins, L. G. Bouma, L. Khan, A. Landrigan, A. M. Vanderburg, J. E. Rodriguez, D. W. Latham, G. Torres, S. T. Douglas, A. Bieryla, G. A. Esquerdo, P. Berlind, M. L. Calkins, L. A. Buchhave, D. Charbonneau, K. I. Collins, J. F. Kielkopf, Eric L.N. Jensen, T.-G. Tan, R. Hart, B. Carter, C. Stockdale, C. Ziegler, N. Law, A. W. Mann, S. B. Howell, R. A. Matson, N. J. Scott, E. Furlan, R. J. White, C. Hellier, D. R. Anderson, R. G. West, G. Ricker, R. Vanderspek, S. Seager, J. M. Jenkins, J. N. Winn, I. Mireles, P. Rowden, D. A. Yahalomi, B. Wohler, C. E. Brasseur, T. Daylan, K. D. Colón

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Works

Planets around young stars trace the early evolution of planetary systems. We report the discovery and validation of two planetary systems with ages lesssim300 Myr from observations by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). The $40\mbox{--}320$Myr old G star TOI-251 hosts a ${2.74}_{-0.18}^{+0.18}\,{R}_{\oplus }$mini-Neptune with a $4.94$day period. The $20\mbox{--}160$Myr old K star TOI-942 hosts a system of inflated Neptune-sized planets, with TOI-942b orbiting in a period of $4.32$days with a radius of ${4.81}_{-0.20}^{+0.20}\,{R}_{\oplus }$and TOI-942c orbiting in a period of $10.16$days with a radius of ${5.79}_{-0.18}^{+0.19}\,{R}_{\oplus }$. Though we cannot place either host star into a known stellar association …

The Hubble Space Telescope Pancet Program: An Optical To Infrared Transmission Spectrum Of Hat-P-32ab, Munazza K. Alam, Mercedes López-Morales, Nikolay Nikolov, David K. Sing, Gregory W. Henry, Claire Baxter, Jean-Michel Désert, Joanna K. Barstow, Thomas Mikal-Evans, Vincent Bourrier, Panayotis Lavvas, Hannah R. Wakeford, Michael H. Williamson, Jorge Sanz-Forcada, Lars A. Buchhave, Ofer Cohen, Antonio García Muñoz

Information Systems and Engineering Management Research Publications

We present a 0.3−5 μm transmission spectrum of the hot Jupiter HAT-P-32Ab observed with the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph and Wide Field Camera 3 instruments mounted on the Hubble Space Telescope, combined with Spitzer Infrared Array Camera photometry. The spectrum is composed of 51 spectrophotometric bins with widths ranging between 150 and 400 Å, measured to a median precision of 215 ppm. Comparisons of the observed transmission spectrum to a grid of 1D radiative-convective equilibrium models indicate the presence of clouds/hazes, consistent with previous transit observations and secondary eclipse measurements. To provide more robust constraints on the planet's atmospheric properties, …

A Remnant Planetary Core In The Hot-Neptune Desert, D. J. Armstrong, T. A. Lopez, V. Adibekyan, R. A. Booth, E. M. Bryant, K. A. Collins, A. Esmenhuber, C. X. Huang, G. W. King, J. Lillo-Box, J. J. Lissauer, E. C. Matthews, O. Mousis, L. D. Nielsen, H. Osborn, J. Otegi, N. C. Santos, S. G. Sousa, K. G. Stassun, D. Veras, C. Ziegler, J. S. Acton, J. M. Almenara, D. R. Anderson, D. Barrado, S. C. C. Barros, D. Bayliss, C. Belardi, F. Bouchy, C. Briceño, M. Brogi, D. J. A. Brown, M. R. Burleigh, S. L. Casewell, A. Chaushev, D. R. Ciardi, K. I. Collins, K. D. Colón, B. F. Cooke, I. J. M. Crossfield, R. F. Díaz, Magali Deleuil, E. Delgado Mena, O. D. S. Demangeon, C. Dorn, X. Dumusque, P. Eigmüller, M. Fausnaugh, P. Figueira, T. Gan, S. Gandhi, S. Gill, M. R. Goad, M. N. Günther, R. Helled, S. Hojjatpanah, S. B. Howell, J. Jackman, J. S. Jenkins, J. M. Jenkins, Eric L.N. Jensen, G. M. Kennedy, D. W. Latham, N. Law, M. Lendl, M. Lozovsky, A. W. Mann, M. Moyano, J. Mccormac, F. Meru, C. Mordasini, A. Osborn, D. Pollacco, D. Queloz, L. Raynard, G. R. Ricker, P. Rowqden, A. Santerne, J. E. Schlieder, S. Seager, L. Sha, T.-G. Tan, R. H. Tilbrook, E. Ting, S. Udry, R. Vanderspek, C. A. Watson, R. G. West, P. A. Wilson, J. N. Winn, P. Wheatley, J. N. Villasenor, J. I. Vines, Z Zhan

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Works

The interiors of giant planets remain poorly understood. Even for the planets in the Solar System, difficulties in observation lead to large uncertainties in the properties of planetary cores. Exoplanets that have undergone rare evolutionary processes provide a route to understanding planetary interiors. Planets found in and near the typically barren hot-Neptune ‘desert’1,2 (a region in mass–radius space that contains few planets) have proved to be particularly valuable in this regard. These planets include HD149026b3, which is thought to have an unusually massive core, and recent discoveries such as LTT9779b4 and NGTS-4b5, on which photoevaporation has removed a substantial part …

Investigating The Stability Of Observed Low Semi-Major Axis Exoplanetary Systems With Hypothetical Outer Planets Using The Program Mercury6, Kendall Butler

Honors College

This project investigates the stability of observed planetary systems, and whether this stability remains in the presence of additional outer planets. This made use of the program Mercury6, an n-body integrator that computes the changes in planetary orbits over time. The Systems HD 136352, GJ 9827, and HD 7924 were studied with initial conditions taken from the available observational data. This information was curated using the online NASA Exoplanet archive of confirmed exoplanets. With these initial conditions, Mercury6 computed the changing planetary orbits of each system for 5 million years. For each of these systems, a single outer planet, which …

Orbital Refinement And Stellar Properties For The Hd 9446, Hd 43691, And Hd 179079 Planetary Systems, Michelle L. Hill, Teo Močnik, Stephen R. Kane, Gregory W. Henry, Joshua Pepper, Natalie R. Hinkel, Paul A. Dalba, Benjamin Fulton, Keivan Stassun, Lee J. Rosenthal, Andrew W. Howard, Steve B. Howell, Mark E. Everett, Tabetha S. Boyajian, Debra A. Fischer, Joseph E. Rodriguez, Thomas G. Beatty, David J. James

Information Systems and Engineering Management Research Publications

The Transit Ephemeris Refinement and Monitoring Survey is a project that aims to detect transits of intermediate-long period planets by refining orbital parameters of the known radial velocity planets using additional data from ground-based telescopes, calculating a revised transit ephemeris for the planet, then monitoring the planet host star during the predicted transit window. Here we present the results from three systems that had high probabilities of transiting planets: HD 9446 b and c, HD 43691 b, and HD 179079 b. We provide new radial velocity (RV) measurements that are then used to improve the orbital solution for the known …

The Exogravity Project: Using Single Mode Interferometry To Characterize Exoplanets, S. Lacour, J. J. Wang, M. Nowak, L. Pueyo, F. Eisenhauer, A. M. Lagrange, P. Mollière, R. Abuter, A. Amorin, R. Asensio-Torres, M. Bauböck, M. Benisty, J. P. Berger, H. Beust, S. Blunt, A. Boccaletti, A. Bohn, M. Bonnefoy, H. Bonnet, W. Brandner, F. Cantalloube, P. Caselli, B. Charnay, G. Chauvin, E. Choquet, V. Christiaens, Y. Clénet, A. Cridland, P. T. De Zeeuw, R. Dembet, J. Dexter, A. Drescher, Kimberly Ward-Duong, Et Al

Astronomy: Faculty Publications

Combining adaptive optics and interferometric observations results in a considerable contrast gain compared to single-telescope, extreme AO systems. Taking advantage of this, the ExoGRAVITY project is a survey of known young giant exoplanets located in the range of 0.1"to 2"from their stars. The observations provide astrometric data of unprecedented accuracy, being crucial for refining the orbital parameters of planets and illuminating their dynamical histories. Furthermore, GRAVITY will measure non-Keplerian perturbations due to planet-planet interactions in multi-planet systems and measure dynamical masses. Over time, repetitive observations of the exoplanets at medium resolution (R = 500) will provide a catalogue of K-band …

Searching For Trends In Atmospheric Compositions Of Extrasolar Planets, Kassandra Weber, Paola Rodriguez Hidalgo, Adam Turk, Troy Maloney, Stephen Kane

IdeaFest: Interdisciplinary Journal of Creative Works and Research from Cal Poly Humboldt

No abstract provided.

Book Review: Exoplanets : Hidden Worlds And The Quest For Extraterrestrial Life, T. D. Oswalt

Publications

This document is Dr. Oswalt’s review of Exoplanets : Hidden Worlds and the Quest for Extraterrestrial Life. Harvard, 2018. 254p bibl index, 9780674976900 $24.95, 9780674988897

Bayesian Model Comparisons In Planetary Science, John Henry Boisvert

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Model comparison in the modern era allows us to use statistical methods that were previously difficult with older machines. I present a state-of-the-art model comparison code that uses modern Bayesian statistics to measure the Bayes factor between two competing models. The Bayes factor is the ratio of the probability of the data given one model to the probability of the data given another model. My code was used to compare models in five problems in planetary science. The first three pertain to radial velocity exoplanet data. There is a degeneracy in the radial velocity exoplanet signal between a single planet …