| Issue |
A&A
Volume 559, November 2013
|
|
|---|---|---|
| Article Number | A32 | |
| Number of page(s) | 8 | |
| Section | Planets and planetary systems | |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201321971 | |
| Published online | 31 October 2013 | |
The blue sky of GJ3470b: the atmosphere of a low-mass planet unveiled by ground-based photometry⋆,⋆⋆
1 Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia, Università degli Studi di Padova, Vicolo dell’Osservatorio 3, 35122 Padova, Italy
e-mail: valerio.nascimbeni@unipd.it
2 INAF – Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova, vicolo dell’Osservatorio 5, 35122 Padova, Italy
3 INAF – Osservatorio Astrofisico di Catania, via S. Sofia 78, 95123 Catania, Italy
4 INAF – Osservatorio Astronomico di Palermo, Piazza del Parlamento 1, 90134 Palermo, Italy
5 INAF – Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri, largo E. Fermi 5, 50125 Firenze, Italy
6 INAF – Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica Cosmica Milano, via Bassini 15, 20133 Milano, Italy
Received: 27 May 2013
Accepted: 30 August 2013
GJ3470b is a rare example of a “hot Uranus” transiting exoplanet orbiting a nearby M1.5 dwarf. It is crucial for atmospheric studies because it is one of the most inflated low-mass planets known, bridging the boundary between “super-Earths” and Neptunian planets. We present two new ground-based light curves of GJ3470b gathered by the LBC camera at the Large Binocular Telescope. Simultaneous photometry in the ultraviolet (λc = 357.5 nm) and optical infrared (λc = 963.5 nm) allowed us to detect a significant change in the effective radius of GJ3470b as a function of wavelength. This can be interpreted as a signature of scattering processes occurring in the planetary atmosphere, which should be cloud-free and with a low mean molecular weight. The unprecedented accuracy of our measurements demonstrates that the photometric detection of Earth-sized planets around M dwarfs is achievable using 8−10 m size ground-based telescopes. We provide updated planetary parameters and a greatly improved orbital ephemeris for any forthcoming study of this planet.
Key words: techniques: photometric / planetary systems / stars: individual: GJ3470
Based on data acquired using the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT). The LBT is an international collaboration among institutions in the United States, Italy, and Germany. LBT Corporation partners are the University of Arizona on behalf of the Arizona university system; Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica, Italy; LBT Beteiligungsgesellschaft, Germany, representing the Max-Planck Society, the Astrophysical Institute Potsdam, and Heidelberg University; the Ohio State University; and the Research Corporation, on behalf of the University of Notre Dame, University of Minnesota, and University of Virginia.
Photometric data are only available at the CDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or via http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr/viz-bin/qcat?J/A+A/559/A32
© ESO, 2013
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