Context. Transmission spectroscopy is a powerful technique for probing exoplanetary atmospheres. A successful ground-based observational method uses a differential technique that uses high-dispersion spectroscopy, but it only preserves narrow features in transmission spectra. Broadband features, such as the remarkable Rayleigh-scattering slope from possible hazes in the atmosphere of HD 189733b as observed by the Hubble Space Telescope, cannot be probed in this way. Aims. Here we use the chromatic Rossiter-McLaughlin (RM) effect to measure the Rayleigh-scattering slope in the transmission spectrum of HD 189733b with the aim to show that it can be effectively used to measure broadband transmission features. The amplitude of the RM effects depends on the effective size of the planet, and in the case of an atmospheric contribution therefore depends on the observed wavelength. Methods. We analysed archival HARPS data of three transits of HD 189733b, covering a wavelength range of 400 to 700 nm. The radial velocity (RV) time-series were determined for white light and for six wavelength bins each 50 nm wide, using the crosscorrelation profiles as provided by the HARPS data reduction pipeline. The RM effect was first fitted to the white-light RV time series using the publicly available code AROME. The residuals to this best fit were subsequently subtracted from the RV time series of each wavelength bin, after which they were also fitted using the same code, leaving only the effective planet radius to vary. Results. We measured the slope in the transmission spectrum of HD 189733b at a 2.5σ significance. Assuming it is due to Rayleigh scattering and not caused by stellar activity, it would correspond to an atmospheric temperature, as set by the scale height, of T = 2300 ± 900 K, well in line with previously obtained results. Conclusions. Ground-based high-dispersion spectral observations can be used to probe broad-band features in the transmission spectra of extrasolar planets, such as the optical Rayleigh-scattering slope of HD 189733b, by using the chromatic Rossiter-McLaughlin effect. The precision achieved with HARPS per transit is about an order of magnitude lower than that with STIS on the Hubble Space Telescope. This method will be particularly interesting in conjunction with the new echelle spectrograph ESPRESSO, which currently is under construction for ESO's Very Large Telescope, which will provide a gain in signal-to-noise ratio of about a factor 4 compared to HARPS. This will be of great value because of the limited and uncertain future of the Hubble Space Telescope and because the future James Webb Space Telescope will not cover this wavelength regime.

Context. The atmospheric and surface characterization of rocky planets is a key goal of exoplanet science. Unfortunately, the measurements required for this are generally out of reach of present-day instrumentation. However, the planet Mercury in our own solar system exhibits a large exosphere composed of atomic species that have been ejected from the planetary surface by the process of sputtering. Since the hottest rocky exoplanets known so far are more than an order of magnitude closer to their parent star than Mercury is to the Sun, the sputtering process and the resulting exospheres could be orders of magnitude larger and potentially detectable using transmission spectroscopy, indirectly probing their surface compositions. Aims. The aim of this work is to search for an absorption signal from exospheric sodium (Na) and singly ionized calcium (Ca + ) in the optical transmission spectrum of the hot rocky super-Earth 55 Cancri e. Although the current best-fitting models to the planet mass and radius require a possible atmospheric component, uncertainties in the radius exist, making it possible that 55 Cancri e could be a hot rocky planet without an atmosphere. Methods. High resolution (R∼110000) time-series spectra of five transits of 55 Cancri e, obtained with three different telescopes (UVES/VLT, HARPS/ESO 3.6m & HARPS-N/TNG) were analysed. Targeting the sodium D lines and the calcium H and K lines, the potential planet exospheric signal was filtered out from the much stronger stellar and telluric signals, making use of the change of the radial component of the orbital velocity of the planet over the transit from −57 to +57 km sec −1 . Results. Combining all five transit data sets, we detect a signal potentially associated with sodium in the planet exosphere at a statistical significance level of 3σ. Combining the four HARPS transits that cover the calcium H and K lines, we also find a potential signal from ionized calcium (4.1 σ). Interestingly, this latter signal originates from just one of the transit measurements -with a 4.9σ detection at this epoch. Unfortunately, due to the low significance of the measured sodium signal and the potentially variable Ca + signal, we estimate the p-values of these signals to be too high (corresponding to <4σ) to claim unambiguous exospheric detections. By comparing the observed signals with artificial signals injected early in the analysis, the absorption by Na and Ca + are estimated to be at a level of ∼ 2.3 × 10 −3 and ∼ 7.0 × 10 −2 respectively, relative to the stellar spectrum.Conclusions. If confirmed, the 3σ signal would correspond to an optically thick sodium exosphere with a radius of 5 R ⊕ , which is comparable to the Roche lobe radius of the planet. The 4.9σ detection of Ca + in a single HARPS data set would correspond to an optically thick Ca + exosphere approximately five times larger than the Roche lobe radius. If this were a real detection, it would imply that the exosphere exhibits extreme variability. Although no formal detection has been made, we advocate th...

No abstract