Constraining Exoplanet Mass from Transmission Spectroscopy
Determination of an exoplanet's mass is a key to understanding its basic properties, including its potential for supporting life. To date, mass constraints for exoplanets are predominantly based on radial velocity (RV) measurements, which are not suited for planets with low masses, large semima...
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| Format: | Article |
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American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
2018
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/118910 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2415-2191 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6892-6948 |
| _version_ | 1811090082617098240 |
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| author | de Wit, Julien Seager, Sara |
| author2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences |
| author_facet | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences de Wit, Julien Seager, Sara |
| author_sort | de Wit, Julien |
| collection | MIT |
| description | Determination of an exoplanet's mass is a key to understanding its basic properties, including its potential for supporting life. To date, mass constraints for exoplanets are predominantly based on radial velocity (RV) measurements, which are not suited for planets with low masses, large semimajor axes, or those orbiting faint or active stars. Here, we present a method to extract an exoplanet's mass solely from its transmission spectrum. We find good agreement between the mass retrieved for the hot Jupiter HD 189733b from transmission spectroscopy with that from RV measurements. Our method will be able to retrieve the masses of Earth-sized and super-Earth planets using data from future space telescopes that were initially designed for atmospheric characterization. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T14:32:50Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/118910 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T14:32:50Z |
| publishDate | 2018 |
| publisher | American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1189102022-10-01T21:39:37Z Constraining Exoplanet Mass from Transmission Spectroscopy de Wit, Julien Seager, Sara Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics de Wit, Julien Seager, Sara Determination of an exoplanet's mass is a key to understanding its basic properties, including its potential for supporting life. To date, mass constraints for exoplanets are predominantly based on radial velocity (RV) measurements, which are not suited for planets with low masses, large semimajor axes, or those orbiting faint or active stars. Here, we present a method to extract an exoplanet's mass solely from its transmission spectrum. We find good agreement between the mass retrieved for the hot Jupiter HD 189733b from transmission spectroscopy with that from RV measurements. Our method will be able to retrieve the masses of Earth-sized and super-Earth planets using data from future space telescopes that were initially designed for atmospheric characterization. Wallonie-Bruxelles International Belgian American Educational Foundation, inc. Grayce B. Kerr Fund, Inc. Duesberg-Baily Thil Lorrain Foundation 2018-11-06T15:02:24Z 2018-11-06T15:02:24Z 2013-12 2018-10-02T14:56:50Z Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 0036-8075 1095-9203 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/118910 de Wit, J., and S. Seager. “Constraining Exoplanet Mass from Transmission Spectroscopy.” Science, vol. 342, no. 6165, Dec. 2013, pp. 1473–77. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2415-2191 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6892-6948 http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/SCIENCE.1245450 Science Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use. application/pdf American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) arXiv |
| spellingShingle | de Wit, Julien Seager, Sara Constraining Exoplanet Mass from Transmission Spectroscopy |
| title | Constraining Exoplanet Mass from Transmission Spectroscopy |
| title_full | Constraining Exoplanet Mass from Transmission Spectroscopy |
| title_fullStr | Constraining Exoplanet Mass from Transmission Spectroscopy |
| title_full_unstemmed | Constraining Exoplanet Mass from Transmission Spectroscopy |
| title_short | Constraining Exoplanet Mass from Transmission Spectroscopy |
| title_sort | constraining exoplanet mass from transmission spectroscopy |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/118910 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2415-2191 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6892-6948 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT dewitjulien constrainingexoplanetmassfromtransmissionspectroscopy AT seagersara constrainingexoplanetmassfromtransmissionspectroscopy |