Published March 1, 2010 | Version v1
Journal article

THE BROADBAND INFRARED EMISSION SPECTRUM OF THE EXOPLANET TrES-3

  • 1. Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden St., Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States)
  • 2. Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Peyton Hall Rm. 105, Princeton, NJ 08544-1001 (United States)
  • 3. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, 8800 Greenbelt Road, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771 (United States)
  • 4. Lowell Observatory, 1400 West Mars Hill Road, Flagstaff, AZ 86001 (United States)

Description

We use the Spitzer Space Telescope to estimate the dayside thermal emission of the exoplanet TrES-3 integrated in the 3.6, 4.5, 5.8, and 8.0 μm bandpasses of the Infrared Array Camera (IRAC) instrument. We observe two secondary eclipses and find relative eclipse depths of 0.00346 ± 0.00035, 0.00372 ± 0.00054, 0.00449 ± 0.00097, and 0.00475 ± 0.00046, respectively, in the four IRAC bandpasses. We combine our results with the earlier K-band measurement of De Mooij et al., and compare them with models of the planetary emission. We find that the planet does not require the presence of an inversion layer in the high atmosphere. This is the first very strongly irradiated planet that does not have a temperature inversion, which indicates that stellar or planetary characteristics other than temperature have an important impact on temperature inversion. De Mooij and Snellen also detected a possible slight offset in the timing of the secondary eclipse in the K band. However, based on our four Spitzer channels, we place a 3σ upper limit of |ecos(ω)| < 0.0056, where e is the planet's orbital eccentricity and ω is the longitude of the periastron. This result strongly indicates that the orbit is circular, as expected from tidal circularization theory.

Availability note (English)

Available from http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/711/1/374

Additional details

Identifiers

Publishing Information

Journal Title
Astrophysical Journal
Journal Volume
711
Journal Issue
1
Journal Page Range
p. 374-379
ISSN
0004-637X
CODEN
ASJOAB

INIS

Country of Publication
United States
Country of Input or Organization
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
INIS RN
41121828
Subject category
S79: ASTROPHYSICS, COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY;
Descriptors DEI
CAMERAS; ECLIPSE; EMISSION; EMISSION SPECTRA; ORBITS; PLANETS; STARS; STELLAR ATMOSPHERES; TELESCOPES; TEMPERATURE INVERSIONS
Descriptors DEC
ATMOSPHERES; SPECTRA