We present a new set of solar metallicity atmosphere and evolutionary models for very cool brown dwarfs and self-luminous giant exoplanets, which we term ATMO 2020. Atmosphere models are generated with our state-of-the-art 1D radiative-convective equilibrium code ATMO, and are used as surface boundary conditions to calculate the interior structure and evolution of 0.001 − 0.075 M objects. Our models include several key improvements to the input physics used in previous models available in the literature. Most notably, the use of a new H-He equation of state including ab initio quantum molecular dynamics calculations has raised the mass by ∼ 1 − 2% at the stellar-substellar boundary and has altered the cooling tracks around the hydrogen and deuterium burning minimum masses. A second key improvement concerns updated molecular opacities in our atmosphere model ATMO, which now contains significantly more line transitions required to accurately capture the opacity in these hot atmospheres. This leads to warmer atmospheric temperature structures, further changing the cooling curves and predicted emission spectra of substellar objects. We present significant improvement for the treatment of the collisionally broadened potassium resonance doublet, and highlight the importance of these lines in shaping the red-optical and near-infrared spectrum of brown dwarfs. We generate three different grids of model simulations, one using equilibrium chemistry and two using non-equilibrium chemistry due to vertical mixing, all three computed self-consistently with the pressure-temperature structure of the atmosphere. We show the impact of vertical mixing on emission spectra and in colourmagnitude diagrams, highlighting how the 3.5 − 5.5 µm flux window can be used to calibrate vertical mixing in cool T-Y spectral type objects.
We present an atmospheric transmission spectrum for the ultra-hot Jupiter WASP-121b, measured using the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) onboard the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). Across the 0.47-1 µm wavelength range, the data imply an atmospheric opacity comparable to -and in some spectroscopic channels exceeding -that previously measured at near-infrared wavelengths (1.15-1.65 µm). Wavelength-dependent variations in the opacity rule out a gray cloud deck at a confidence level of 3.8σ and may instead be explained by VO spectral bands. We find a cloud-free model assuming chemical equilibrium for a temperature of 1500 K and metal enrichment of 10-30× solar matches these data well. Using a free-chemistry retrieval analysis, we estimate a VO abundance of −6.6 +0.2 −0.3 dex. We find no evidence for TiO and place a 3σ upper limit of −7.9 dex on its abundance, suggesting TiO may have condensed from the gas phase at the day-night limb. The opacity rises steeply at the shortest wavelengths, increasing by approximately five pressure scale heights from 0.47 to 0.3 µm in wavelength. If this feature is caused by Rayleigh scattering due to uniformly-distributed aerosols, it would imply an unphysically high temperature of 6810±1530 K. One alternative explanation for the short-wavelength rise is absorption due to SH (mercapto radical), which has been predicted as an important product of non-equilibrium chemistry in hot Jupiter atmospheres. Irrespective of the identity of the NUV absorber, it likely captures a significant amount of incident stellar radiation at low pressures, thus playing a significant role in the overall energy budget, thermal structure, and circulation of the atmosphere.
We present the discovery of four new transiting hot Jupiters, detected mainly from SuperWASP-North and SOPHIE observations. These new planets, WASP-52b, WASP-58b, WASP-59b, and WASP-60b, have orbital periods ranging from 1.7 to 7.9 days, masses between 0.46 and 0.94 M Jup , and radii between 0.73 and 1.49 R Jup . Their G1 to K5 dwarf host stars have V magnitudes in the range 11.7−13.0. The depths of the transits are between 0.6 and 2.7%, depending on the target. With their large radii, WASP-52b and WASP-58b are new cases of low-density, inflated planets, whereas WASP-59b is likely to have a large, dense core. WASP-60 shows shallow transits. In the case of WASP-52 we also detected the Rossiter-McLaughlin anomaly via time-resolved spectroscopy of a transit. We measured the sky-projected obliquity λ = 24 • +17 −9 , indicating that WASP-52b orbits in the same direction as its host star is rotating and that this prograde orbit is slightly misaligned with the stellar equator. These four new planetary systems increase our statistics on hot Jupiters and provide new targets for follow-up studies.
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