Title |
HAT-P-26b: A Neptune-mass exoplanet with a well-constrained heavy element abundance
|
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Published in |
Science, May 2017
|
DOI | 10.1126/science.aah4668 |
Pubmed ID | |
Authors |
Hannah R Wakeford, David K Sing, Tiffany Kataria, Drake Deming, Nikolay Nikolov, Eric D Lopez, Pascal Tremblin, David S Amundsen, Nikole K Lewis, Avi M Mandell, Jonathan J Fortney, Heather Knutson, Björn Benneke, Thomas M Evans |
Abstract |
A correlation between giant-planet mass and atmospheric heavy elemental abundance was first noted in the past century from observations of planets in our own Solar System and has served as a cornerstone of planet-formation theory. Using data from the Hubble and Spitzer Space Telescopes from 0.5 to 5 micrometers, we conducted a detailed atmospheric study of the transiting Neptune-mass exoplanet HAT-P-26b. We detected prominent H2O absorption bands with a maximum base-to-peak amplitude of 525 parts per million in the transmission spectrum. Using the water abundance as a proxy for metallicity, we measured HAT-P-26b's atmospheric heavy element content ([Formula: see text] times solar). This likely indicates that HAT-P-26b's atmosphere is primordial and obtained its gaseous envelope late in its disk lifetime, with little contamination from metal-rich planetesimals. |
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Mendeley readers
Geographical breakdown
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