Planetary phase variations of the 55 Cancri system
Article
Article Title | Planetary phase variations of the 55 Cancri system |
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ERA Journal ID | 1057 |
Article Category | Article |
Authors | Kane, Stephen R. (Author), Gelino, Dawn M. (Author), Ciardi, David R. (Author), Dragomir, Diana (Author) and von Braun, Kaspar (Author) |
Journal Title | The Astrophysical Journal: an international review of astronomy and astronomical physics |
Journal Citation | 740 (2), pp. 61-67 |
Article Number | 61 |
Number of Pages | 7 |
Year | 2011 |
Publisher | IOP Publishing |
Place of Publication | United States |
ISSN | 0004-637X |
1538-4357 | |
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) | https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/740/2/61 |
Web Address (URL) | http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/0004-637X/740/2/61 |
Abstract | Characterization of the composition, surface properties, and atmospheric conditions of exoplanets is a rapidly progressing field as the data to study such aspects become more accessible. Bright targets, such as the multi-planet 55 Cancri system, allow an opportunity to achieve high signal-to-noise for the detection of photometric phase variations to constrain the planetary albedos. The recent discovery that innermost planet, 55 Cancri e, transits the host star introduces new prospects for studying this system. Here we calculate photometric phase curves at optical wavelengths for the system with varying assumptions for the surface and atmospheric properties of 55 Cancri e. We show that the large differences in geometric albedo allows one to distinguish between various surface models, that the scattering phase function cannot be constrained with foreseeable data, and that planet b will contribute significantly to the phase variation, depending upon the surface of planet e. We discuss detection limits and how these models may be used with future instrumentation to further characterize these planets and distinguish between various assumptions regarding surface conditions. |
Keywords | planetary systems; stars; 55 Cancri; photometric techniques |
Contains Sensitive Content | Does not contain sensitive content |
ANZSRC Field of Research 2020 | 510109. Stellar astronomy and planetary systems |
Public Notes | For access to this article, please click on the URL link provided. |
Byline Affiliations | California Institute of Technology (Caltech), United States |
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), United States | |
University of British Columbia, Canada | |
Institution of Origin | University of Southern Queensland |
https://research.usq.edu.au/item/q4335/planetary-phase-variations-of-the-55-cancri-system
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