Burton, J.R., Watson, C.A., Rodriguez-Gil, P. et al. (4 more authors) (2015) Defocused transmission spectroscopy: a potential detection of sodium in the atmosphere of WASP-12b. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society , 446 (1). pp. 1071-1082. ISSN 0035-8711
Abstract
We report on a pilot study of a novel observing technique, defocused transmission spectroscopy, and its application to the study of exoplanet atmospheres using ground-based platforms. Similar to defocused photometry, defocused transmission spectroscopy has an added advantage over normal spectroscopy in that it reduces systematic errors due to flat-fielding, point spread function variations, slit-jaw imperfections and other effects associated with ground-based observations. For one of the planetary systems studied, WASP-12b, we report a tentative detection of additional Na absorption of 0.12 ± 0.03[+0.03] per cent during transit using a 2 Å wavelength mask. After consideration of a systematic that occurs mid-transit, it is likely that the true depth is actually closer to 0.15 per cent. This is a similar level of absorption reported in the atmosphere of HD 209458b (0.135 ± 0.017 per cent; Snellen et al. 2008). Finally, we outline methods that will improve the technique during future observations, based on our findings from this pilot study.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2014 The Authors Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society. This is an author produced version of a paper subsequently published in MNRAS. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Keywords: | methods: data analysis; methods: observational; techniques: spectroscopic; planets and satellites: atmospheres; planets and satellites: individual: WASP-12b, HD 189733b, HD 209458b |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Science (Sheffield) > Department of Physics and Astronomy (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 17 May 2017 15:02 |
Last Modified: | 25 Mar 2018 22:25 |
Published Version: | https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stu2149 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Oxford University Press |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1093/mnras/stu2149 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:116312 |