Stellar limb-darkening impacts a wide range of astronomical measurements. The accuracy to which it is modelled limits the accuracy in any covariant parameters of interest, such as the radius of a transiting planet. With the ever growing availability of precise observations and the importance of robust estimates of astrophysical parameters, an emerging trend has been to freely fit the limb-darkening coefficients (LDCs) describing a limb-darkening law of choice, in order to propagate our ignorance of the true intensity profile. In practice, this approach has been limited to two-parameter limb-darkening laws, such as the quadratic law, due to the relative ease of sampling the physically allowed range of LDCs. Here, we provide a highly efficient method for sampling LDCs describing a more accurate three-parameter non-linear law. We first derive analytic criteria which can quickly test if a set of LDCs are physical, although naive sampling with these criteria leads to an acceptance rate less than 1%. We then show that the loci of allowed LDCs can be transformed into a cone-like volume, from which we are able to draw uniform samples. We show that samples drawn uniformly from the conal region are physically valid in 97.3% of realizations and encompass 94.4% of the volume of allowed parameter space. We provide Python and Fortran code (LDC3) to sample from this region (and perform the reverse calculation) at https://github.com/davidkipping/LDC3, which also includes a subroutine to efficiently test whether a sample is physically valid or not.
We release a new grid of stellar limb-darkening coefficients (LDCs, using the quadratic, power-2 and claret-4 laws) and intensity profiles for the Kepler, U, B, V and R passbands, based on STAGGER model atmospheres. The data can be downloaded from Zenodo (doi:10.5281/zenodo.5593162). We compare the newly-released LDCs, computed by ExoTETHyS, with previously published values, based on the same atmospheric models using a so-called "SPAM" procedure. The SPAM method relies on synthetic light curves in order to compute the LDCs that best represent the photometry of exoplanetary transits. We confirm…
The detection of the first exoplanet paved the way into the era of transit photometry space missions with a revolutionary photometric precision that aim at discovering new exoplanetary systems around different types of stars. With this high precision, it is possible to derive very accurately the radii of exoplanets which is crucial for constraining their type and composition. However, it requires an accurate description of host stars, especially their center-to-limb variation of intensities (so called limb darkening) as it affects the planet-to-star radius ratio determination. We aim at improv…
Spherically-symmetric model stellar atmospheres and limb darkening I: limb-darkening laws, gravity-darkening coefficients and angular diameter corrections for red giant stars
模型恒星大气是理解恒星干涉测量、微透镜、食双星和行星凌日观测的基本工具。然而,计算还包括假设,例如模型的几何形状。我们使用的强度分布计算的平面平行和球对称模型的大气,以确定拟合系数在BVRIHK,CoRot和开普勒波段的临边昏暗使用几种不同的拟合法律,重力暗化和干涉角直径校正。比较每种几何结构的预测变量,我们发现球对称模型几何结构导致对表面重力log g < 3的不同预测。特别是,最常用的临边暗化法律产生的球对称模型大气,这表明需要更复杂的法律的强度分布拟合差。球对称模型的角直径校正范围为0.67至1,而平面平行模型的范围为0.95至1。
We release the first grid of stellar limb-darkening coefficients (LDCs) and intensity profiles (IPs) computed by the consortium of the PLAnetary Transits and Oscillations of stars (PLATO), the next medium-class (M3) mission under development by the European Space Agency (ESA) to be launched in 2026. We have performed spectral synthesis with \texttt{TurboSpectrum} on a grid of \texttt{MARCS} model atmospheres. Finally, we adopted \texttt{ExoTETHyS} to convolve the high-resolution spectra ($R=2\times10^5$) with the state-of-the-art response functions for all the PLATO cameras, and computed the L…
Inaccurate limb-darkening models can be a significant source of error in the analysis of the light curves for transiting exoplanet and eclipsing binary star systems. To test the accuracy of published limb-darkening models, I have compared limb-darkening profiles predicted by stellar atmosphere models to the limb-darkening profiles measured from high-quality light curves of 43 FGK-type stars in transiting exoplanet systems observed by the Kepler and TESS missions. The comparison is done using the parameters $h^{\prime}_1 = I_λ(\frac{2}{3})$ and $h^{\prime}_2 = h^{\prime}_1 - I_λ(\frac{1}{3})$, …
This paper is part of an effort to correct the transmission spectra of a transiting planet orbiting an active star. In Paper I (Cracchiolo et al. 2020) we have demonstrated a methodology to minimize the potential bias induced by unocculted star spots on the transmission spectrum, assuming a spot model parameterized by filling factor and temperature. In this work we introduce the limb darkening effect, therefore the position of the spot in the stellar disk and the impact parameter of the transiting planet now play a key role. The method is tested on simulations of planetary transits of three re…
We provide here tables of stellar limb-darkening coefficients (LDCs) for the Ariel ESA M4 space mission. These tables include LDCs corresponding to different wavelength bins and white bands for the NIRSpec, AIRS-Ch0 and AIRS-Ch1 spectrographs, and those corresponding to the VISPhot, FGS1 and FGS2 photometers. The LDCs are calculated with the open-source software ExoTETHyS for three complete grids of stellar atmosphere models obtained with the ATLAS9 and PHOENIX codes. The three model grids are complementary, as the PHOENIX code adopts more modern input physics and spherical geometry, while the…
Limb darkening is an important stellar phenomenon and must be accounted for in the study of stellar spectra, eclipsing binaries, transiting planetary systems, and microlensing events. The power-2 limb-darkening law provides a good match to the specific intensities predicted by stellar atmosphere models: it is better than other two-parameter laws and is only surpassed by the four-parameter law. Predictions of the limb-darkening coefficients for the power-2 law are not widely available. We therefore compute them, using stellar atmosphere models generated by the ATLAS (plane-parallel) code. Limb-…
Although the main goal of the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (\textit{TESS}) is to search for new transiting exoplanets, its data can also be used to study in further detail already known systems. The \textit{TESS} bandpass is particularly interesting to study the limb-darkening effect of the stellar host which is imprinted in transit lightcurves, as the widely used \textsc{phoenix} and \textsc{atlas} stellar models predict different limb-darkening profiles. Here we study this effect by fitting the transit lightcurves of 176 known exoplanetary systems observed by \textit{TESS}, which al…
We present a novel, iterative method using an empirical Bayesian approach for modeling the limb darkened WASP-121b transit from the TESS light curve. Our method is motivated by the need to improve $R_{p}/R_{\ast}$ estimates for exoplanet atmosphere modeling, and is particularly effective with the limb darkening (LD) quadratic law requiring no prior central value from stellar atmospheric models. With the non-linear LD law, the method has all the advantages of not needing atmospheric models but does not converge. The iterative method gives a different $R_{p}/R_{\ast}$ for WASP-121b at a signific…
Analytical transit light curves for arbitrary power-law limb darkening: a unified framework
Peaceful Society Science and Innovation Foundation(和平社会科学与创新基金会);Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, University of British Columbia(不列颠哥伦比亚大学职业科学与职业治疗系);Department of Physics and Astronomy, Tarleton State University(塔伦州立大学物理与天文系)
Power-2 limb-darkening coefficients for the $uvby$, $UBVRIJHK$, SDSS $ugriz$, Gaia, Kepler, TESS, and CHEOPS photometric systems II. PHOENIX spherically symmetric stellar atmosphere models
Limb darkening (LD) is typically parameterised using a range of functional "laws" in models of the light curves of eclipsing binary and transiting planetary systems. The two-coefficient LD laws all suffer from a strong correlation between their coefficients, preventing a reliable determination of both coefficients from high-quality light curves. We use numerical simulations to propose re-parameterisations of the quadratic, logarithmic, square-root and cubic LD laws that show much weaker correlations, and implement them into the JKTEBOP code. We recommend that these re-parameterisations are use…
Empirical H- and K-band Limb Darkening for 31 CHARA Stars: A Near-Infrared Benchmark for Stellar-Atmosphere Models
The CHARA Array of Georgia State University(佐治亚州立大学CHARA阵列);University of Michigan(密歇根大学);European Southern Observatory(欧洲南方天文台);Instituto de Alta Investigación, Universidad de Tarapacá(塔拉帕卡大学高等研究院);European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere (ESO)(欧洲南方天文学研究组织(ESO));Université Côte d’Azur, Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur, CNRS(蔚蓝海岸大学、蔚蓝海岸天文台、法国国家科学研究中心)
We computed Doppler beaming factors for DA, DB, and DBA white dwarf models, as well as for main sequence and giant stars covering the transmission curves of the Sloan, UBVRI, HiPERCAM, Kepler, TESS, and Gaia photometric systems. The calculations of the limb-darkening coefficients for 3D models were carried out using the least-squares method for these photometric systems. The beaming factor calculations, which use realistic models of stellar atmospheres, show that the black body approximation is not accurate, particularly for the filters $u$, $u'$, $U$, $g$, $g'$, and $B$. The black body approa…
Limb darkening laws are convenient parameterizations of the stellar intensity center-to-limb variation, and their use is ubiquitous in eclipse and transit modeling. But they are not "laws" in any sense -- they are simple approximations of the real intensity variations, and their limitations are becoming more and more apparent as stellar atmosphere models improve and higher precision data become available. When fitting eclipses and transit light curves, one would ideally like to use model intensities that are based on fundamental stellar parameters such as the mass, radius, and effective temper…
Where does the simplified Stellar Contamination Model fail in Exoplanet Transmission Spectroscopy?
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology(加州理工学院喷气推进实验室);Center for Radio Astronomy and Astrophysics Mackenzie (CRAAM), Mackenzie Presbyterian University(麦肯锡长老会大学射电天体物理学中心)
A new method to compute limb-darkening coefficients for stellar atmosphere models with spherical symmetry: the space missions TESS, Kepler, Corot, and MOST
在处理球对称恒星大气模型的边缘暗化系数时,我们遇到的最大问题之一是边缘和中心部分同时调整的困难。特别是,对于大多数模型,根据Teff、log g或波长,不能很好地再现下降附近的区域。即使使用四项法则,这些分歧仍然存在。在这里,我们介绍了一种新的方法,大大提高了四肢和中心部分的描述,这将使用户能够测试模型的恒星大气与球对称更准确地在环境中,如系外行星凌日,食双星等。这里介绍的方法很简单。我们不像传统方法那样在平差中考虑所有$μ$点,而是只考虑每个模型的下降点($μ_{cri}$)之前的点。从这一点出发,我们强加一个条件${I(μ)}/{I (1)} = 0$。所有计算均采用最小二乘法进行。对于空间任务{ \sc TESS}、{ \sc KEPLER}、{\sc COROT}和{ \sc MOST}的测光系统,使用这种新方法得到的系数很好地再现了PHOENIX球形模型(COND和DRIFT)的强度分布。计算包括以下局部重力和有效温度范围:2.5 $\leq$ log g $\leq$ 6.0和1500 K $\leq$ T $_{\rm eff}$ $\leq$ 12000 K。新的球面系数可以很容易地适应最常用的光变曲线合成代码。