Bright Opportunities for Atmospheric Characterization of Small Planets: Masses and Radii of K2-3 b, c, and d and GJ3470 b from Radial Velocity Measurements and Spitzer Transits

Molly R. Kosiarek , Ian J. M. Crossfield , Kevin K. Hardegree-Ullman , John H. Livingston , Björn Benneke (1) , Gregory W. Henry , Ward S. Howard , David Berardo , Sarah Blunt , Benjamin J. Fulton , Lea A. Hirsch , Andrew W. Howard , Howard Isaacson (2) , Erik A. Petigura , Evan Sinukoff (3) , Lauren Weiss (4) , X. Bonfils (5) , Courtney D. Dressing , Heather A. Knutson (6) , Joshua E. Schlieder (7) , Michael Werner , Varoujan Gorjian , Jessica Krick (8) , Farisa Y. Morales , Nicola Astudillo-Defru (9) , J.-M. Almenara (5) , X. Delfosse (5) , T. Forveille (5) , C. Lovis (7) , M. Mayor (7) , F. Murgas , F. Pepe (7) , N. C. Santos (10) , S. Udry (7) , H. T. Corbett , Octavi Fors , Nicholas M. Law , Jeffrey K. Ratzloff , Daniel del Ser , Molly Kosiarek (11) , Ian Crossfield (12) , Kevin Hardegree-Ullman , John Livingston (13) , Gregory Henry , Ward Howard , Benjamin J Fulton (14) , Lea Hirsch (2) , Andrew W Howard (15) , Erik Petigura (15) , Courtney Dressing , Heather Knutson (15) , Joshua Schlieder (16) , Farisa Morales , Nicholas Law , Jeffrey Ratzloff , Daniel Del Ser

1 Département de Physique [Montréal]
2 EPS - Department of Earth and Planetary Science [UC Berkeley]
3 Institute for Astronomy [Honolulu]
4 UdeM - Université de Montréal
5 IPAG - Institut de Planétologie et d'Astrophysique de Grenoble
6 Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences [Pasadena]
7 ObsGE - Observatoire Astronomique de l'Université de Genève
8 CALTECH - California Institute of Technology
9 Universidad de Concepción - University of Concepcion [Chile]
10 CAUP - Centro de Astrofísica da Universidade do Porto
11 Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics [UCSC Santa Cruz]
12 MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research
13 SRI - SRI International [Menlo Park]
14 IPAC - Infrared Processing and Analysis Center
15 Caltech Department of Astronomy [Pasadena]
16 MPIA - Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie

We report improved masses, radii, and densities for four planets in two bright M-dwarf systems, K2-3 and GJ3470, derived from a combination of new radial velocity and transit observations. Supplementing K2 photometry with follow-up Spitzer transit observations refined the transit ephemerides of K2-3 b, c, and d by over a factor of 10. We analyze ground-based photometry from the Evryscope and Fairborn Observatory to determine the characteristic stellar activity timescales for our Gaussian Process fit, including the stellar rotation period and activity region decay timescale. The stellar rotation signals for both stars are evident in the radial velocity data and is included in our fit using a Gaussian process trained on the photometry. We find the masses of K2-3 b, K2-3 c, and GJ3470 b to be 6.48{}-0.93+0.99, 2.14{}-1.04+1.08, and 12.58{}-1.28+1.31 M ⊕, respectively. K2-3 d was not significantly detected and has a 3σ upper limit of 2.80 M ⊕. These two systems are training cases for future TESS systems; due to the low planet densities (ρ < 3.7 g cm-3) and bright host stars (K < 9 mag), they are among the best candidates for transmission spectroscopy in order to characterize the atmospheric compositions of small planets.

Mots clés: techniques: radial velocities; planets and satellites: composition; techniques: photometric

Domaines: Planète et Univers [physics]

Molly R. Kosiarek, Ian J. M. Crossfield, Kevin K. Hardegree-Ullman, John H. Livingston, Björn Benneke, et al.. Bright Opportunities for Atmospheric Characterization of Small Planets: Masses and Radii of K2-3 b, c, and d and GJ3470 b from Radial Velocity Measurements and Spitzer Transits. The Astronomical Journal, 2019, 157 (3), pp.97. ⟨10.3847/1538-3881/aaf79c⟩. ⟨hal-02393097⟩