20573 simulations of planetary transits around spotted stars were conducted using the transit-starspot model, \texttt{PRISM}. In total 3888 different scenarios were considered using three different host star spectral types, M4V, M1V and K5V. The mean amplitude of the starspot anomaly was measured and compared to the photometric precision of the light curve, to determine if the starspot anomaly's characteristic "blip" was noticeable in the light curve. The simulations show that, starspot anomalies will be observable in TESS 2\,min cadence data. The smallest starspot detectable in TESS transit light curves has a radius of $\approx1900$\,km. The starspot detection limits for the three host stars are: $4900\pm1700$\,km (M4V), $13800\pm6000$\,km (M1V) and $15900\pm6800$\,km (K5V). The smallest change in flux of the starspot ($ΔF_\mathrm{spot} = 0.00015\pm0.00001$) can be detected when the ratio between the planetary and stellar radii, $k = 0.082\pm0.004$. The results confirm known dependencies between the amplitude of the starspot anomaly and the photometric parameters of the light curve. The results allowed the characterisation of the relationship between the change in flux of the starspot anomaly and the change in flux of the planetary transit for TESS transit light curves.
We present the analysis of 4 months of Kepler photometry of the K4V star HAT-P-11, including 26 transits of its "super-Neptune" planet. The transit data exhibit numerous anomalies that we interpret as passages of the planet over dark starspots. These spot-crossing anomalies preferentially occur at two specific phases of the transit. These phases can be understood as the intersection points between the transit chord and the active latitudes of the host star, where starspots are most abundant. Based on the measured characteristics of spot-crossing anomalies, and previous observations of the Ross…
We determine the starspot detection rate in exoplanetary transit light curves for M and K dwarf stars observed by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) using various starspot filling factors and starspot distributions. We used $3.6\times10^9$ simulations of planetary transits around spotted stars using the transit-starspot model \prism. The simulations cover a range of starspot filling factors using one of three distributions: uniform, polar-biased, and mid-latitude. After construction of the stellar disc and starspots, we checked the transit cord for starspots and examined the chan…
We present results of numerical simulations of flux and linear polarization variations in transiting exoplanetary systems, caused by the host star disk symmetry breaking. We consider different configurations of planetary transits depending on orbital parameters. Starspot contribution to the polarized signal is also estimated. Applying the method to known systems and simulating observational conditions, a number of targets is selected where transit polarization effects could be detected. We investigate several principal benefits of the transit polarimetry, particularly, for determining orbital …
The angle between the spin axis of the host star and the orbit of its planets (i.e., the stellar obliquity) is precious information about the formation and evolution of exoplanetary systems. Measurements of the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect revealed that many stars that host a hot-Jupiter have high obliquities, suggesting that hot-Jupiter formation involves excitation of orbital inclinations. In this contribution we show how the passage of the planet over starspots can be used to measure the obliquity of exoplanetary systems. This technique is used to obtain - for the first time - the obliquity o…
We present photometry of 4 transits of the exoplanet WASP-4b, each with a precision of approximately 500 ppm and a time sampling of 40-60s. We have used the data to refine the estimates of the system parameters and ephemerides. During two of the transits we observed a short-lived, low-amplitude anomaly that we interpret as the occultation of a starspot by the planet. We also find evidence for a pair of similar anomalies in previously published photometry. The recurrence of these anomalies suggests that the stellar rotation axis is nearly aligned with the orbital axis, or else the star spot wou…
Starspot mapping with adaptive parallel tempering. II. Application to TESS data for M-dwarf flare stars, AU Microscopii, YZ Canis Minoris, and EV Lacertae
The flaring M4 dwarf GJ 1243 has become a benchmark for studying stellar flare and starspot activity thanks to the exceptional photometric monitoring archive from the Kepler mission. New light curves from the TESS mission for this star allow precise stellar activity characterization over more than a decade timescale. We have carried out the first flare and starspot analysis of GJ 1243 from over 50 days of data from TESS Sectors 14 and 15. Using 133 flare events detected in the 2-minute cadence TESS data, we compare the cumulative flare frequency distributions, and find the flare activity for G…
The WASP-148 planetary system has a rare architecture with a transiting Saturn-mass planet on a tight orbit which is accompanied by a slightly more massive planet on a nearby outer orbit. Using new space-born photometry and ground-based follow-up transit observations and data available in literature, we performed modeling that accounts for gravitational interactions between both planets. Thanks to the new transit timing data for planet b, uncertainties of orbital periods and eccentricities for both planets were reduced relative to previously published values by a factor of 3-4. Variation in tr…
Multiwavelength Campaign Observations of a Young Solar-type Star, EK Draconis. III. Comparison between Starspot Mapping, Zeeman Doppler Imaging, and Multiwavelength Variability
Hitotsubashi University（一桥大学）；The University of Tokyo（东京大学）；The Hakubi Center for Advanced Research, Kyoto University（京都大学博雅研究高级中心）；Department of Physics, Kyoto University（京都大学物理学系）；NASA Goddard Space Flight Center（美国宇航局戈达德太空飞行中心）；Department of Physics, The Catholic University of America（美利坚天主教大学物理学系）；Division of Science, National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, NINS（日本国立天文台科学部）；Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planétologie, Université de Toulouse, CNRS, CNES（图卢兹大学、法国国家科学研究中心、法国国家空间研究中心天体物理与行星学研究所在）；Department of Physics, American University（美国大学物理学系）
Transmission spectroscopy is an important technique to probe the atmospheres of exoplanets. With the advent of TESS and, in the future, of PLATO, more and more transiting planets around bright stars will be found and the observing time at large telescopes currently used to apply these techniques will not suffice. We demonstrate here that 2-m class telescopes equipped with spectrographs with high resolving power may be used for a certain number of potential targets. We obtained a time series of high-resolution FEROS spectra at the 2.2-m telescope at La Silla of the very hot Jupiter hosting plan…
Catholic University of America（美国天主教大学）；Tel Aviv University（特拉维夫大学）；ThetaRay（ThetaRay公司）
A novel artificial intelligence (AI) technique that uses machine learning (ML) methodologies combines several algorithms, which were developed by ThetaRay, Inc., is applied to NASA's Transiting Exoplanets Survey Satellite (TESS) dataset to identify exoplanetary candidates. The AI/ML ThetaRay system is trained initially with Kepler exoplanetary data and validated with confirmed exoplanets before its application to TESS data. Existing and new features of the data, based on various observational parameters, are constructed and used in the AI/ML analysis by employing semi-supervised and unsupervis…
Zero-age main-sequence (ZAMS) stars are considered to have enormous starspots and show strong chromospheric emission lines because of their strong surface magnetic field. We discuss the dynamo activities of ZAMS stars with respect to their periodic light variation caused by a starspot and with respect to the strength of the chromospheric emission lines. The light curves of $33$ ZAMS stars in IC 2391 and IC 2602 were obtained from \textit{TESS} photometric data. The light curves can be grouped into the following four categories: single frequency, possible shape changer, beater, and complex vari…
We measure rotation periods and sinusoidal amplitudes in Evryscope light curves for 122 two-minute K5-M4 TESS targets selected for strong flaring. The Evryscope array of telescopes has observed all bright nearby stars in the South, producing two-minute cadence light curves since 2016. Long-term, high-cadence observations of rotating flare stars probe the complex relationship between stellar rotation, starspots, and superflares. We detect periods from 0.3487 to 104 d, and observe amplitudes from 0.008 to 0.216 g' mag. We find the Evryscope amplitudes are larger than those in TESS with the effec…
The obliquities of planet-hosting stars are clues about the formation of planetary systems. Previous observations led to the hypothesis that for close-in giant planets, spin-orbit alignment is enforced by tidal interactions. Here, we examine two problems with this hypothesis. First, Mazeh and coworkers recently used a new technique -- based on the amplitude of starspot-induced photometric variability -- to conclude that spin-orbit alignment is common even for relatively long-period planets, which would not be expected if tides were responsible. We re-examine the data and find a statistically s…
We measure starspot filling fractions for 240 stars in the Pleiades and M67 open star clusters using APOGEE high-resolution H-band spectra. For this work we developed a modified spectroscopic pipeline which solves for starspot filling fraction and starspot temperature contrast. We exclude binary stars, finding that the large majority of binaries in these clusters (80%) can be identified from Gaia DR3 and APOGEE criteria -- important for field star applications. Our data agree well with independent activity proxies, indicating that this technique recovers real starspot signals. In the Pleiades,…
We present analysis of the starspot properties and chromospheric activity on HD 134319 using high precision photometry by TESS in sectors 14-16 (T1), 21-23 (T2) and high-resolution spectroscopy by OHP/ELODIE and Keck/HIRES during years 1995-2013. We applied a two-spot model with GLS determined period $P=4.436391\pm0.00137$ day to model chunks sliding over TESS light curve, and measured relative equivalent widths of Ca II H and K, H$β$ and H$α$ emissions by subtracting overall spectrum from individual spectrum. It was found that a two-spot configuration, i.e. a primary, slowly evolving and long…
Orbiting a M dwarf 12 pc away, the transiting exoplanet GJ 1132b is a prime target for transmission spectroscopy. With a mass of 1.7 Earth masses and radius of 1.1 Earth radii, GJ 1132b's bulk density indicates that this planet is rocky. Yet with an equilibrium temperature of 580 K, GJ 1132b may still retain some semblance of an atmosphere. Understanding whether this atmosphere exists and its composition will be vital for understanding how the atmospheres of terrestrial planets orbiting M dwarfs evolve. We observe five transits of GJ 1132b with the Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) on the Hubble Spac…
We present a study of the M dwarf exoplanetary systems forthcoming from NASA's TESS mission. While the mission's footprint is too complex to be characterized by a single detection completeness, we extract an ensemble completeness function that recovers the M dwarf planet detections from previous work. We employ this completeness function, together with a dual-population planet occurrence model that includes compact multiple planetary systems, to infer anew the planet yield. We predict both the number of M dwarf planets likely from TESS and their system architectures. We report four main findin…
High-precision transit observations provide excellent opportunities for characterizing the physical properties of exoplanetary systems. These physical properties supply many pieces of information for unvealing the internal structure, external atmosphere, and dynamical history of the planets. We present revised properties of transiting systems WASP-35 and HAT-P-30/WASP-51 through analyzing newly available TESS photometry and ground-based observations obtained at 1m telescope of Yunnan Observatories as well as from the literature. The improved system parameters are consistent with the previous r…
Young, rapidly-rotating M dwarfs exhibit prominent starspots, which create quasiperiodic signals in their photometric and Doppler spectroscopic measurements. The periodic Doppler signals can mimic radial velocity (RV) changes expected from orbiting exoplanets. Exoplanets can be distinguished from activity-induced false positives by the chromaticity and long-term incoherence of starspot signals, but these qualities are poorly constrained for fully-convective M stars. Coherent photometric starspot signals on M dwarfs may persist for hundreds of rotations, and the wavelength dependence of starspo…
The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and the Kepler space mission observed a large number of planetary transits showing anomalies due to starspot eclipses, with more such observations expected in the near future by the K2 mission and the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). To facilitate analysis of this phenomenon, we present spotrod, a model for planetary transits of stars with an arbitrary limb darkening law and a number of homogeneous, circular spots on their surface. A free, open source implementation written in C, ready to use in Python, is available for download. We analyze Kepler …
We revisited ten known exoplanetary systems using publicly available data provided by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). The sample presented in this work consists of short period transiting exoplanets, with inflated radii and large reported uncertainty on their planetary radii. The precise determination of these values is crucial in order to develop accurate evolutionary models and understand the inflation mechanisms of these systems. Aiming to evaluate the planetary radius measurement, we made use of the planet-to-star radii ratio, a quantity that can be measured during a tran…
Several of NASA missions (TESS, JWST, WFIRST, etc.) and mission concepts (LUVOIR, HabEx, and OST) emphasize the exploration and characterization of exoplanets, and the study of the interstellar medium. We anticipate that a much broader set of chemical environments exists on exoplanets, necessitating data from a correspondingly broader set of chemical reactions. Similarly, the conditions that exist in astrophysical environments are very different from those traditionally probed in laboratory chemical kinetics studies. These are areas where quantum mechanical theory, applied to important reactio…
Transit timing and starspot-induced transit depth variations in the $\sim$17 Myr old HIP 67522 system
University of Geneva（日内瓦大学）；University of Bern（伯尔尼大学）；European Space Agency (ESA)（欧洲空间局）；Queen Mary University of London（伦敦玛丽女王大学）；Leibniz-Institut für Astrophysik Potsdam (AIP)（波茨坦莱布尼茨天体物理研究所）
We studied light curves of GJ 1243, YZ CMi, and V374 Peg, observed by TESS for the presence of stellar spots and stellar flares. One of the main goals was to model light curves of spotted stars to estimate the number of spots along with their parameters using our original BASSMAN software. The modeled light curves were subtracted from the observations to increase efficiency of flare detection. Flares were detected automatically with our new dedicated software WARPFINDER. We estimated the presence of two spots on GJ 1243 with mean temperature about 2800$\,$K and spottedness varying between $3\%…
Precise exoplanet characterization requires precise classification of exoplanet host stars. The masses of host stars are commonly estimated by comparing their spectra to those predicted by stellar evolution models. However, spectroscopically determined properties are difficult to measure accurately for stars that are substantially different from the Sun, such as M-dwarfs and evolved stars. Here, we propose a new method to dynamically measure the masses of transiting planets near mean-motion resonances and their host stars by combining observations of transit timing variations with radial veloc…
The transit method of exoplanet discovery and characterization has enabled numerous breakthroughs in exoplanetary science. These include measurements of planetary radii, mass-radius relationships, stellar obliquities, bulk density constraints on interior models, and transmission spectroscopy as a means to study planetary atmospheres. The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) has added to the exoplanet inventory by observing a significant fraction of the celestial sphere, including many stars already known to host exoplanets. Here we describe the science extraction from TESS observations…
Constraining the presence of exotrojans in hot Jupiter systems using TTV observations from TESS
School of Physics and Astronomy, Sun Yat-sen University（中山大学物理学院）；CSST Science Center for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Great Bay Area, Sun Yat-sen University（中山大学粤港澳大湾区宇宙科学中心）；Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC)（加那利群岛天文研究所）；Departamento de Astrofísica, Universidad de La Laguna (ULL)（拉帕拉斯大学天体物理学系）；Hainan University（海南大学）
Most future surveys designed to discover transiting exoplanets, including TESS and PLATO, will target bright (V<13) and nearby solar-type stars having a spectral type later than F5. In order to enhance the probability of identifying transits, these surveys must cover a very large area on the sky, because of the intrinsically low areal density of bright targets. Unfortunately, no existing catalog of stellar parameters is both deep and wide enough to provide a homogeneous input list. As the first Gaia data release exploitable for this purpose is expected to be released not earlier than late 2017…
V1298 Tau is a young (20-30 Myr) solar-mass K star hosting four transiting exoplanets with sizes between 0.5 - 0.9 $R_J$. Given the system's youth, it provides a unique opportunity to understand the evolution of planetary radii at different separations in the same stellar environment. V1298 Tau was originally observed 6 years ago during K2 Campaign 4. Now, V1298 Tau has been re-observed during the extended mission of NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). Here, we present new photometric observations of V1298 Tau from the 10-minute TESS Full-Frame Images. We use the TESS data to …
We present an analysis of the Qatar-1 and TrES-5 transiting exoplanetary systems, which contain Jupiter-like planets on short-period orbits around K-dwarf stars. Our data comprise a total of 20 transit light curves obtained using five medium-class telescopes, operated using the defocussing technique. The average precision we reach in all our data is $RMS_{Q} = 1.1$ mmag for Qatar-1 ($V = 12.8$) and $RMS_{T} = 1.0$ mmag for TrES-5 ($V = 13.7$). We use these data to refine the orbital ephemeris, photometric parameters, and measured physical properties of the two systems. One transit event for ea…
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 re-visit the principles of transmission spectroscopy for transiting extrasolar planets, focusing on the overlap between the planetary spectrum and the illuminating stellar spectrum. Virtually all current models of exoplanetary transmission spectra utilize an approximation that is inaccurate when the spectrum of the illuminating star has a complex line structure, such as molecular bands in M-dwarf spectra. In those cases, it is desirable to model the observations using a coupled stellar-planetary radiative transfer model calculated at high spectral resolving power, followed by convolution to…
The ESA Ariel mission has been adopted for launch in 2029 and will conduct a survey of around one thousand exoplanetary atmospheres during its primary mission life. By providing homogeneous datasets, with a high SNR and wide wavelength coverage, Ariel will unveil the atmospheric demographics of these far-away worlds, helping to constrain planet formation and evolution processes on a galactic scale. Ariel seeks to undertake a statistical survey of a diverse population of planets and, therefore, the sample of planets from which this selection can be made is of the utmost importance. While many s…
Orbital dynamics provide valuable insights into the evolution and diversity of exoplanetary systems. Currently, only one hot Jupiter, WASP-12b, is confirmed to have a decaying orbit. Another, WASP-4b, exhibits hints of a changing orbital period that could be caused by orbital decay, apsidal precession, or the acceleration of the system towards the Earth. We have analyzed all data sectors from NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite together with all radial velocity (RV) and transit data in the literature to characterize WASP-4b's orbit. Our analysis shows that the full RV data set is cons…
ZZ UMa is a detached eclipsing binary with an orbital period of 2.299 d that shows total eclipses and starspot activity. We used five sectors of light curves from the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) and two published sets of radial velocities to establish the properties of the system to high precision. The primary star has a mass of 1.135 +/- 0.009 Msun and a radius of 1.437 +/- 0.007 Rsun, whilst the secondary component has a mass of 0.965 +/- 0.005 Msun and a radius of 1.075 +/- 0.005 Rsun. The properties of the primary star agree with theoretical predictions for a slightly supe…
According to core-accretion formation models, the conditions under which gas giants will form around M dwarfs are very restrictive. Also, the correlation of the occurrence of these planets with the metallicity of host stars is still unknown due to the intrinsic faintness of M dwarfs in the optical and some intricacies in their spectra. Interestingly, NASA's TESS mission has started to create a growing sample of these systems, with eleven observed planets located in close-in orbits: contrary to what is expected for low stellar masses. Tidal interactions with the host star will play a key role i…
Accurate atmospheric parameters and chemical composition of stars play a vital role in characterizing physical parameters of exoplanetary systems and understanding of their formation. A full asteroseismic characterization of a star is also possible if its main atmospheric parameters are known. The NASA Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) space telescope will play a very important role in searching of exoplanets around bright stars and stellar asteroseismic variability research. We have observed all 302 bright (V < 8 mag) and cooler than F5 spectral class stars in the northern TESS con…
Exploring Space Weather From Young Solar-like Stars as Windows to Exoplanetary Habitability
NASA GSFC（美国国家航空航天局戈达德太空飞行中心）；Kyoto University（京都大学）；University of Colorado, Boulder（科罗拉多大学博尔德分校）；Pennsylvania State University（宾夕法尼亚州立大学）；LMSAL（劳伦斯利弗莫尔国家实验室太阳天体物理学部门）；University of Alabama, Huntsville（阿拉巴马大学亨茨维尔分校）；SETI（搜寻地外文明研究所）；The Catholic University of America（美利坚天主教大学）
Transits of exoplanets across cool stars contain blended information about structures on the stellar surface and about the planetary body and atmosphere. To advance understanding of how this information is entangled, a surface-flux transport code, based on observed properties of the Sun's magnetic field, is used to simulate the appearance of hypothetical stellar photospheres from the visible near 4000 Angstrom to the near-IR at 1.6 micron, by mapping intensities characteristic of faculae and spots onto stellar disks. Stellar appearances are computed for a Sun-like star of solar activity up to …
In the blooming field of exoplanetary science, NASA's Kepler Space Telescope has revolutionized our understanding of exoplanets. Kepler's very precise and long-duration photometry is ideal for detecting planetary transits around Sun-like stars. The forthcoming Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) is expected to continue Kepler's legacy. Along with transits, the Doppler technique remains an invaluable tool for discovering planets. The next generation of spectrographs, such as G-CLEF, promises precision radial velocity measurements. In this paper, we explore the possibility of detecting …
COUNTESS I: A Uniformly Vetted Catalog of Known and New Transiting Exoplanets in the TESS Northern Continuous Viewing Zone
University of Florida（佛罗里达大学）；Penn State（宾夕法尼亚州立大学）；Center for Exoplanets and Habitable Worlds（系外行星与宜居世界中心）；Caltech/IPAC-NASA Exoplanet Science Institute（加州理工学院/IPAC-NASA 系外行星科学研究所）；California Institute of Technology（加州理工学院）
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…
Exoplanetary systems closest to the Sun, with the brightest host stars, provide the most favorable opportunities for characterization studies of the host star and their planet(s). The Transit Ephemeris Refinement and Monitoring Survey uses both new radial velocity measurements and photometry in order to greatly improve planetary orbit uncertainties and the fundamental properties of the star, in this case HD 130322. The only companion, HD 130322b, orbits in a relatively circular orbit, e = 0.029 every ~10.7 days. Radial velocity measurements from multiple sources, including 12 unpublished from …
Massachusetts Institute of Technology（麻省理工学院）；Google（谷歌）；University of Southern Queensland（南昆士兰大学）；Princeton University（普林斯顿大学）
The TESS mission produces a large amount of time series data, only a small fraction of which contain detectable exoplanetary transit signals. Deep learning techniques such as neural networks have proved effective at differentiating promising astrophysical eclipsing candidates from other phenomena such as stellar variability and systematic instrumental effects in an efficient, unbiased and sustainable manner. This paper presents a high quality dataset containing light curves from the Primary Mission and 1st Extended Mission full frame images and periodic signals detected via Box Least Squares (…
