Planetary Atmospheres Research Unit - Royal Belgian Institute for
Space Aeronomy
Description:
Profiles of species in Venus atmosphere terminator. Data retrieved
from calibrated spectra obtained with the SPICAV-SOIR instrument on
board the Venus Express spacecraft. These spectra can be checked on
the ESA PSA repository. See: A.C. Vandaele et al., Contribution from
SOIR/VEX to the updated Venus International Reference Atmosphere
(VIRA), Adv. Space Res. (2015),
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.asr:2015.08.012.
A stellar occultation by the extreme large-perihelion trans-Neptunian object (541132)-Leleakuhonua (also known by the provisional designation of 2015TG_387_) was predicted by the Lucky Star project and observed with the Research and Education Collaborative Occultation Network (RECON) on 2018-October-20-UT. A single detection and a nearby nondetection provide constraints for the size and albedo. When a circular profile is assumed, the radius is r=110_-10_^+14^km, corresponding to a geometric albedo p_V_=0.21_-0.05_^+0.03^, for an adopted absolute magnitude of HV=5.6, typical of other objects in dynamically similar orbits. The occultation also provides a high-precision astrometric constraint.
We present a list of 203 potential occultations by Saturn and its rings of stars from the Hubble Space Telescope Guide Star Catalog (GSC), during the years 1991-1999. Because the GSC is not a complete catalog, this is not an exhaustive list of Saturn occultations. In particular, stars brighter than magnitude 8 are not included. However, this list does include many fainter candidates than do current occultation candidate lists for Saturn; these fainter stars also can provide a high signal-to-noise ratio if observed with a large telescope or in the infrared where Saturn and its rings have absorption bands. We list the occultation circumstances, as well as star information found in the GSC.
On 28th January 2018, the large Trans-Neptunian Object 2002 TC_302_ occulted a m_v_~15.3 star with designation 593-005847 in the UCAC4 stellar catalog, corresponding to Gaia source 130957813463146112. Twelve positive occultation chords were obtained from Italy, France, Slovenia and Switzerland. Also, four negative detections were obtained near the north and south limbs. This represents the best observed stellar occultation by a TNO other than Pluto in terms of the number of chords published thus far. From the twelve chords, an accurate elliptical fit to the instantaneous projection of the body can be obtained, compatible with the near misses. The resulting ellipse has major and minor axes of 543+/-18km and 460+/-11km, respectively, with a position angle of 3+/-1 degrees for the minor axis. This information, combined with rotational light curves obtained with the 1.5-m telescope at Sierra Nevada Observatory and the 1.23-m telescope at Calar Alto observatory, allows us to derive possible three-dimensional shapes and density estimations for the body based on hydrostatic equilibrium assumptions. The effective diameter in equivalent area is around 84km smaller than the radiometrically derived diameter using thermal data from Herschel and Spitzer Space Telescopes. This might indicate the existence of an unresolved satellite of up to ~300km in diameter, to account for all the thermal flux, although the occultation and thermal diameters are compatible within their error bars given the considerable uncertainty of the thermal results. The existence of a potential satellite also appears to be consistent with other ground-based data presented here. From the effective occultation diameter combined with absolute magnitude measurements we derive a geometric albedo of 0.147+/-0.005, which would be somewhat smaller if 2002 TC_302_ has a satellite. The best occultation light curves do not show any signs of ring features or any signatures of a global atmosphere.
The WATTS' charts provide the elevation of the limb of the moon using 1800 contour maps (step of 0.2deg) that cover all libration ranges of the moon. The contours of the maps were digitised by H.M. Nautical Almanac Office in the late 1960's, and then converted to a grid format by US Naval Observatory in the early 1970's. These charts are present in 2 forms: as an ascii file watts.dat (without carriage-return or line-feed!), or as a 3-D FITS file watts.fit (transformed from the ascii files with the program "make_fit.c"). More details, especially about the transformations between the original charts and the files stored here, and the special processing of the 36.0{deg} map (map#181), can be found in the "doc.txt" file.
Theory suggests that the orbits of some close-in giant planets should decay due to tidal interactions with their host stars. To date, WASP-12b is the only hot Jupiter reported to have a decaying orbit, at a rate of 29{+/-}2ms/yr. We analyzed data from NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) to verify that WASP-12b's orbit is indeed changing. We find that the TESS transit and occultation data are consistent with a decaying orbit with an updated period of 1.091420090{+/-}0.000000041days and a decay rate of 32.53{+/-}1.62ms/yr. We find an orbital decay timescale of {tau}=P/|P|=2.90{+/-}0.14Myr. If the observed decay results from tidal dissipation, the modified tidal quality factor is Q_*_'=1.39{+/-}0.15x10^5^, which falls at the lower end of values derived for binary star systems and hot Jupiters. Our result highlights the power of space-based photometry for investigating the orbital evolution of short-period exoplanets.
As part of our ongoing program of predictions and observations of stellar occultations by solar system bodies, we have completed a search for candidates for occultations by Triton over the decade 2000 to 2009. Star positions near Triton's projected orbit as determined by the DE405 ephemeris and NEP016 orbit model were measured on (unfiltered) CCD strip scans recorded with the 0.6 m telescope at the George R. Wallace Astrophysical Observatory to a depth of 16th to 18th magnitude, depending on the quality of individual strip scans. Within 1.0" of the predicted orbit of Triton during this period, 128 stars were found, including 12 stars brighter than 14th magnitude. Only appulses with geocentric minimum separations of less than about 0.37" will result in an occultation visible from Earth, but potential errors in the ephemeris and in the positions of our candidates preclude accurate prediction of actual occultation events without further astrometry.
We have completed a search for candidates for stellar occultations by Triton over the years 1995-1999 CCD strip scan images provided star positions in the relevant sky area to a depth of about 17.5Rmag. Over this time period, we find that Triton passes within 1.0arcsec of 75 stars. Appulses with geocentric minimum separations of less than 0.35arcsec will result in stellar occultations, but further astrometry and photometry is necessary to refine individual predictions for identification of actual occultations. Finder charts are included to aid in further studies and prediction refinement. The two most promising potential occultations, Tr176 and Tr180, occur in 1997.
A search for Triton stellar occultation candidates for the period 1992-1994 has been completed with CCD strip-scanning observations. The search reached an R magnitude of about 17.4 and found 129 candidates within 1.5arcsec of Triton's ephemeris during this period. Of these events, we expect around 30 occultations to be visible from the Earth, indicating that a number of Triton occultation events should be visible from major observatories. Even the faintest of our candidate events could produce useful occultation data if observed with a large enough telescope. Our astrometric accuracy is inadequate to identify which of these appulse events will produce occultations on the Earth; further astrometry is needed to refine the predictions for positive occultation identification. To aid in selecting candidates for additional astrometric and photometric studies, we include finder charts and Earth-based visibility charts for each event.
Secondary eclipses are a powerful tool to measure directly the thermal emission from extrasolar planets, and to constrain their type and physical parameters. We started a project to obtain reliable broad-band measurements of the thermal emission of transiting exoplanets. Ground-based high-cadence near-infrared relative photometry was used to obtain a sub-millimagnitude precision light curve of a secondary eclipse of WASP-4b -- a 1.12M_J_ hot Jupiter on a 1.34-day orbit around G7V star. The data show a clear ~10{sigma} detection of the planet's thermal emission at 2.2{mu}. The calculated thermal emission corresponds to a fractional eclipse depth of 0.185^+0.014^_-0.013_%, with a related brightness temperature in Ks of T_B_=1995+/-40K, centered at Tc=2455102.61162^+0.00071^_-0.00077_HJD. We could set a limit on the eccentricity of e*cos{omega}=0.0027+/-0.0018, compatible with a near-circular orbit. The calculated brightness temperature, and the specific models suggest a highly inefficient redistribution of heat from the day-side to the night-side of the planet, and a consequent emission mainly from the day-side. The high-cadence ground-based technique is capable of detecting the faint signal of the secondary eclipse of extrasolar planets, which makes it a valuable complement to space-based mid-IR observations.