ALBERT

Description: High-resolution spectra of the CN B2 summation operator +-X2 summation operator + (0,0) band at 390 nanometers yield isotopic ratios for comets C/1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp) and C/2000 WM1 (LINEAR) as follows: 165 +/- 40 and 115 +/- 20 for 12C/13C, 140 +/- 35 and 140 +/- 30 for 14N/15N. Our N isotopic measurements are lower than the terrestrial 14N/15N = 272 and the ratio for Hale-Bopp from measurements of HCN, the presumed parent species of CN. This isotopic anomaly suggests the existence of other parent(s) of CN, with an even lower N isotopic ratio. Organic compounds like those found in interplanetary dust particles are good candidates.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Arpigny, Claude -- Jehin, Emmanuel -- Manfroid, Jean -- Hutsemekers, Damien -- Schulz, Rita -- Stuwe, J A -- Zucconi, Jean-Marc -- Ilyin, Ilya -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2003 Sep 12;301(5639):1522-4.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Institut d'Astrophysique et de Geophysique, Sart-Tilman, Batiment B5c, B-4000 Liege, Belgium. Claude.Arpigny@ulg.ac.be〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12970562" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: On 4 July 2005, many observatories around the world and in space observed the collision of Deep Impact with comet 9P/Tempel 1 or its aftermath. This was an unprecedented coordinated observational campaign. These data show that (i) there was new material after impact that was compositionally different from that seen before impact; (ii) the ratio of dust mass to gas mass in the ejecta was much larger than before impact; (iii) the new activity did not last more than a few days, and by 9 July the comet's behavior was indistinguishable from its pre-impact behavior; and (iv) there were interesting transient phenomena that may be correlated with cratering physics.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Meech, K J -- Ageorges, N -- A'Hearn, M F -- Arpigny, C -- Ates, A -- Aycock, J -- Bagnulo, S -- Bailey, J -- Barber, R -- Barrera, L -- Barrena, R -- Bauer, J M -- Belton, M J S -- Bensch, F -- Bhattacharya, B -- Biver, N -- Blake, G -- Bockelee-Morvan, D -- Boehnhardt, H -- Bonev, B P -- Bonev, T -- Buie, M W -- Burton, M G -- Butner, H M -- Cabanac, R -- Campbell, R -- Campins, H -- Capria, M T -- Carroll, T -- Chaffee, F -- Charnley, S B -- Cleis, R -- Coates, A -- Cochran, A -- Colom, P -- Conrad, A -- Coulson, I M -- Crovisier, J -- deBuizer, J -- Dekany, R -- de Leon, J -- Dello Russo, N -- Delsanti, A -- DiSanti, M -- Drummond, J -- Dundon, L -- Etzel, P B -- Farnham, T L -- Feldman, P -- Fernandez, Y R -- Filipovic, M D -- Fisher, S -- Fitzsimmons, A -- Fong, D -- Fugate, R -- Fujiwara, H -- Fujiyoshi, T -- Furusho, R -- Fuse, T -- Gibb, E -- Groussin, O -- Gulkis, S -- Gurwell, M -- Hadamcik, E -- Hainaut, O -- Harker, D -- Harrington, D -- Harwit, M -- Hasegawa, S -- Hergenrother, C W -- Hirst, P -- Hodapp, K -- Honda, M -- Howell, E S -- Hutsemekers, D -- Iono, D -- Ip, W-H -- Jackson, W -- Jehin, E -- Jiang, Z J -- Jones, G H -- Jones, P A -- Kadono, T -- Kamath, U W -- Kaufl, H U -- Kasuga, T -- Kawakita, H -- Kelley, M S -- Kerber, F -- Kidger, M -- Kinoshita, D -- Knight, M -- Lara, L -- Larson, S M -- Lederer, S -- Lee, C-F -- Levasseur-Regourd, A C -- Li, J Y -- Li, Q-S -- Licandro, J -- Lin, Z-Y -- Lisse, C M -- LoCurto, G -- Lovell, A J -- Lowry, S C -- Lyke, J -- Lynch, D -- Ma, J -- Magee-Sauer, K -- Maheswar, G -- Manfroid, J -- Marco, O -- Martin, P -- Melnick, G -- Miller, S -- Miyata, T -- Moriarty-Schieven, G H -- Moskovitz, N -- Mueller, B E A -- Mumma, M J -- Muneer, S -- Neufeld, D A -- Ootsubo, T -- Osip, D -- Pandea, S K -- Pantin, E -- Paterno-Mahler, R -- Patten, B -- Penprase, B E -- Peck, A -- Petitas, G -- Pinilla-Alonso, N -- Pittichova, J -- Pompei, E -- Prabhu, T P -- Qi, C -- Rao, R -- Rauer, H -- Reitsema, H -- Rodgers, S D -- Rodriguez, P -- Ruane, R -- Ruch, G -- Rujopakarn, W -- Sahu, D K -- Sako, S -- Sakon, I -- Samarasinha, N -- Sarkissian, J M -- Saviane, I -- Schirmer, M -- Schultz, P -- Schulz, R -- Seitzer, P -- Sekiguchi, T -- Selman, F -- Serra-Ricart, M -- Sharp, R -- Snell, R L -- Snodgrass, C -- Stallard, T -- Stecklein, G -- Sterken, C -- Stuwe, J A -- Sugita, S -- Sumner, M -- Suntzeff, N -- Swaters, R -- Takakuwa, S -- Takato, N -- Thomas-Osip, J -- Thompson, E -- Tokunaga, A T -- Tozzi, G P -- Tran, H -- Troy, M -- Trujillo, C -- Van Cleve, J -- Vasundhara, R -- Vazquez, R -- Vilas, F -- Villanueva, G -- von Braun, K -- Vora, P -- Wainscoat, R J -- Walsh, K -- Watanabe, J -- Weaver, H A -- Weaver, W -- Weiler, M -- Weissman, P R -- Welsh, W F -- Wilner, D -- Wolk, S -- Womack, M -- Wooden, D -- Woodney, L M -- Woodward, C -- Wu, Z-Y -- Wu, J-H -- Yamashita, T -- Yang, B -- Yang, Y-B -- Yokogawa, S -- Zook, A C -- Zauderer, A -- Zhao, X -- Zhou, X -- Zucconi, J-M -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2005 Oct 14;310(5746):265-9. Epub 2005 Sep 8.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2680 Woodlawn Drive, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16150977" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Pluto and Eris are icy dwarf planets with nearly identical sizes, comparable densities and similar surface compositions as revealed by spectroscopic studies. Pluto possesses an atmosphere whereas Eris does not; the difference probably arises from their differing distances from the Sun, and explains their different albedos. Makemake is another icy dwarf planet with a spectrum similar to Eris and Pluto, and is currently at a distance to the Sun intermediate between the two. Although Makemake's size (1,420 +/- 60 km) and albedo are roughly known, there has been no constraint on its density and there were expectations that it could have a Pluto-like atmosphere. Here we report the results from a stellar occultation by Makemake on 2011 April 23. Our preferred solution that fits the occultation chords corresponds to a body with projected axes of 1,430 +/- 9 km (1sigma) and 1,502 +/- 45 km, implying a V-band geometric albedo p(V) = 0.77 +/- 0.03. This albedo is larger than that of Pluto, but smaller than that of Eris. The disappearances and reappearances of the star were abrupt, showing that Makemake has no global Pluto-like atmosphere at an upper limit of 4-12 nanobar (1sigma) for the surface pressure, although a localized atmosphere is possible. A density of 1.7 +/- 0.3 g cm(-3) is inferred from the data.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Ortiz, J L -- Sicardy, B -- Braga-Ribas, F -- Alvarez-Candal, A -- Lellouch, E -- Duffard, R -- Pinilla-Alonso, N -- Ivanov, V D -- Littlefair, S P -- Camargo, J I B -- Assafin, M -- Unda-Sanzana, E -- Jehin, E -- Morales, N -- Tancredi, G -- Gil-Hutton, R -- de la Cueva, I -- Colque, J P -- Da Silva Neto, D N -- Manfroid, J -- Thirouin, A -- Gutierrez, P J -- Lecacheux, J -- Gillon, M -- Maury, A -- Colas, F -- Licandro, J -- Mueller, T -- Jacques, C -- Weaver, D -- Milone, A -- Salvo, R -- Bruzzone, S -- Organero, F -- Behrend, R -- Roland, S -- Vieira-Martins, R -- Widemann, T -- Roques, F -- Santos-Sanz, P -- Hestroffer, D -- Dhillon, V S -- Marsh, T R -- Harlingten, C -- Bagatin, A Campo -- Alonso, M L -- Ortiz, M -- Colazo, C -- Lima, H J F -- Oliveira, A S -- Kerber, L O -- Smiljanic, R -- Pimentel, E -- Giacchini, B -- Cacella, P -- Emilio, M -- England -- Nature. 2012 Nov 22;491(7425):566-9. doi: 10.1038/nature11597.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia, CSIC, Apartado 3004, 18080 Granada, Spain. ortiz@iaa.es〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23172214" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Hitherto, rings have been found exclusively around the four giant planets in the Solar System. Rings are natural laboratories in which to study dynamical processes analogous to those that take place during the formation of planetary systems and galaxies. Their presence also tells us about the origin and evolution of the body they encircle. Here we report observations of a multichord stellar occultation that revealed the presence of a ring system around (10199) Chariklo, which is a Centaur--that is, one of a class of small objects orbiting primarily between Jupiter and Neptune--with an equivalent radius of 124 +/- 9 kilometres (ref. 2). There are two dense rings, with respective widths of about 7 and 3 kilometres, optical depths of 0.4 and 0.06, and orbital radii of 391 and 405 kilometres. The present orientation of the ring is consistent with an edge-on geometry in 2008, which provides a simple explanation for the dimming of the Chariklo system between 1997 and 2008, and for the gradual disappearance of ice and other absorption features in its spectrum over the same period. This implies that the rings are partly composed of water ice. They may be the remnants of a debris disk, possibly confined by embedded, kilometre-sized satellites.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Braga-Ribas, F -- Sicardy, B -- Ortiz, J L -- Snodgrass, C -- Roques, F -- Vieira-Martins, R -- Camargo, J I B -- Assafin, M -- Duffard, R -- Jehin, E -- Pollock, J -- Leiva, R -- Emilio, M -- Machado, D I -- Colazo, C -- Lellouch, E -- Skottfelt, J -- Gillon, M -- Ligier, N -- Maquet, L -- Benedetti-Rossi, G -- Ramos Gomes, A Jr -- Kervella, P -- Monteiro, H -- Sfair, R -- El Moutamid, M -- Tancredi, G -- Spagnotto, J -- Maury, A -- Morales, N -- Gil-Hutton, R -- Roland, S -- Ceretta, A -- Gu, S-h -- Wang, X-b -- Harpsoe, K -- Rabus, M -- Manfroid, J -- Opitom, C -- Vanzi, L -- Mehret, L -- Lorenzini, L -- Schneiter, E M -- Melia, R -- Lecacheux, J -- Colas, F -- Vachier, F -- Widemann, T -- Almenares, L -- Sandness, R G -- Char, F -- Perez, V -- Lemos, P -- Martinez, N -- Jorgensen, U G -- Dominik, M -- Roig, F -- Reichart, D E -- LaCluyze, A P -- Haislip, J B -- Ivarsen, K M -- Moore, J P -- Frank, N R -- Lambas, D G -- England -- Nature. 2014 Apr 3;508(7494):72-5. doi: 10.1038/nature13155. Epub 2014 Mar 26.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Observatorio Nacional/MCTI, Rua General Jose Cristino 77, CEP 20921-400 Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil. ; LESIA, Observatoire de Paris, CNRS UMR 8109, Universite Pierre et Marie Curie, Universite Paris-Diderot, 5 place Jules Janssen, F-92195 Meudon Cedex, France. ; Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia, CSIC, Apartado 3004, 18080 Granada, Spain. ; Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Justus-von-Liebig-Weg 3, 37077 Gottingen, Germany. ; 1] Observatorio Nacional/MCTI, Rua General Jose Cristino 77, CEP 20921-400 Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil [2] Observatorio do Valongo/UFRJ, Ladeira Pedro Antonio 43, CEP 20.080-090 Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil [3] Observatoire de Paris, IMCCE, UPMC, CNRS, 77 Avenue Denfert-Rochereau, 75014 Paris, France. ; Observatorio do Valongo/UFRJ, Ladeira Pedro Antonio 43, CEP 20.080-090 Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil. ; Institut d'Astrophysique de l'Universite de Liege, Allee du 6 Aout 17, B-4000 Liege, Belgium. ; Physics and Astronomy Department, Appalachian State University, Boone, North Carolina 28608, USA. ; Instituto de Astrofisica, Facultad de Fisica, Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile, Avenida Vicuna Mackenna 4860, Santiago 7820436, Chile. ; Universidade Estadual de Ponta Grossa, O.A. - DEGEO, Avenida Carlos Cavalcanti 4748, Ponta Grossa 84030-900, PR, Brazil. ; 1] Polo Astronomico Casimiro Montenegro Filho/FPTI-BR, Avenida Tancredo Neves 6731, CEP 85867-900, Foz do Iguacu, PR, Brazil [2] Universidade Estadual do Oeste do Parana (Unioeste), Avenda Tarquinio Joslin dos Santos, 1300, CEP 85870-650, Foz do Iguacu, PR, Brazil. ; 1] Ministerio de Educacion de la Provincia de Cordoba, Santa Rosa 751, Cordoba 5000, Argentina [2] Observatorio Astronomico, Universidad Nacional de Cordoba, Laprida 854, Cordoba 5000, Argentina. ; 1] Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, Juliane Maries vej 30, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark [2] Centre for Star and Planet Formation, Geological Museum, Oster Voldgade 5, 1350 Copenhagen, Denmark. ; Instituto de Fisica e Quimica, Avenida BPS 1303, CEP 37500-903, Itajuba, MG, Brazil. ; UNESP - Universidade Estadual Paulista, Avenida Ariberto Pereira da Cunha, 333, CEP 12516-410 Guaratingueta, SP, Brazil. ; 1] LESIA, Observatoire de Paris, CNRS UMR 8109, Universite Pierre et Marie Curie, Universite Paris-Diderot, 5 place Jules Janssen, F-92195 Meudon Cedex, France [2] Observatoire de Paris, IMCCE, UPMC, CNRS, 77 Avenue Denfert-Rochereau, 75014 Paris, France. ; 1] Observatorio Astronomico Los Molinos, DICYT, MEC, 12400 Montevideo, Uruguay [2] Departamento de Astronomia, Facultad Ciencias, Universidad de la Republica, 11300 Montevideo, Uruguay. ; Observatorio El Catalejo, Mussio 255, Santa Rosa, La Pampa 6300, Argentina. ; San Pedro de Atacama Celestial Explorations, Casilla 21, San Pedro de Atacama 1410000, Chile. ; Complejo Astronomico El Leoncito (CASLEO) and San Juan National University, Avenida Espana 1512 sur, J5402DSP, San Juan, Argentina. ; Observatorio Astronomico Los Molinos, DICYT, MEC, 12400 Montevideo, Uruguay. ; 1] Departamento de Astronomia, Facultad Ciencias, Universidad de la Republica, 11300 Montevideo, Uruguay [2] Observatorio del IPA, Consejo de Formacion en Educacion, 11800 Montevideo, Uruguay. ; 1] Yunnan Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming 650011, China [2] Key Laboratory for the Structure and Evolution of Celestial Objects, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming 650011, China. ; 1] Instituto de Astrofisica, Facultad de Fisica, Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile, Avenida Vicuna Mackenna 4860, Santiago 7820436, Chile [2] Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Konigstuhl 17, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany. ; Department of Electrical Engineering and Center of Astro-Engineering, Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile, Avenida Vicuna Mackenna 4860, Santiago 7820436, Chile. ; Polo Astronomico Casimiro Montenegro Filho/FPTI-BR, Avenida Tancredo Neves 6731, CEP 85867-900, Foz do Iguacu, PR, Brazil. ; 1] Observatorio Astronomico, Universidad Nacional de Cordoba, Laprida 854, Cordoba 5000, Argentina [2] Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas (CONICET), Cordoba 5000, Argentina [3] Instituto de Astronomia Teorica y Experimental IATE-CONICET, Cordoba 5000, Argentina [4] Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Fisicas y Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Cordoba (UNC), Cordoba 5000, Argentina. ; Observatorio Astronomico, Universidad Nacional de Cordoba, Laprida 854, Cordoba 5000, Argentina. ; Observatoire de Paris, IMCCE, UPMC, CNRS, 77 Avenue Denfert-Rochereau, 75014 Paris, France. ; Unidad de Astronomia, Facultad de Ciencias Basicas, Universidad de Antofagasta, Avenida Angamos 601, Antofagasta, Region II, Chile. ; Departamento de Astronomia, Facultad Ciencias, Universidad de la Republica, 11300 Montevideo, Uruguay. ; Scottish Universities Physics Alliance, University of St Andrews, School of Physics and Astronomy, North Haugh, St Andrews KY16 9SS, UK. ; Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, USA. ; 1] Observatorio Astronomico, Universidad Nacional de Cordoba, Laprida 854, Cordoba 5000, Argentina [2] Instituto de Astronomia Teorica y Experimental IATE-CONICET, Cordoba 5000, Argentina.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24670644" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: The dwarf planet Eris is a trans-Neptunian object with an orbital eccentricity of 0.44, an inclination of 44 degrees and a surface composition very similar to that of Pluto. It resides at present at 95.7 astronomical units (1 AU is the Earth-Sun distance) from Earth, near its aphelion and more than three times farther than Pluto. Owing to this great distance, measuring its size or detecting a putative atmosphere is difficult. Here we report the observation of a multi-chord stellar occultation by Eris on 6 November 2010 UT. The event is consistent with a spherical shape for Eris, with radius 1,163 +/- 6 kilometres, density 2.52 +/- 0.05 grams per cm(3) and a high visible geometric albedo, Pv = 0.96(+0.09)(-0.04). No nitrogen, argon or methane atmospheres are detected with surface pressure larger than approximately 1 nanobar, about 10,000 times more tenuous than Pluto's present atmosphere. As Pluto's radius is estimated to be between 1,150 and 1,200 kilometres, Eris appears as a Pluto twin, with a bright surface possibly caused by a collapsed atmosphere, owing to its cold environment. We anticipate that this atmosphere may periodically sublimate as Eris approaches its perihelion, at 37.8 astronomical units from the Sun.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Sicardy, B -- Ortiz, J L -- Assafin, M -- Jehin, E -- Maury, A -- Lellouch, E -- Hutton, R Gil -- Braga-Ribas, F -- Colas, F -- Hestroffer, D -- Lecacheux, J -- Roques, F -- Santos-Sanz, P -- Widemann, T -- Morales, N -- Duffard, R -- Thirouin, A -- Castro-Tirado, A J -- Jelinek, M -- Kubanek, P -- Sota, A -- Sanchez-Ramirez, R -- Andrei, A H -- Camargo, J I B -- da Silva Neto, D N -- Gomes, A Ramos Jr -- Martins, R Vieira -- Gillon, M -- Manfroid, J -- Tozzi, G P -- Harlingten, C -- Saravia, S -- Behrend, R -- Mottola, S -- Melendo, E Garcia -- Peris, V -- Fabregat, J -- Madiedo, J M -- Cuesta, L -- Eibe, M T -- Ullan, A -- Organero, F -- Pastor, S -- de Los Reyes, J A -- Pedraz, S -- Castro, A -- de la Cueva, I -- Muler, G -- Steele, I A -- Cebrian, M -- Montanes-Rodriguez, P -- Oscoz, A -- Weaver, D -- Jacques, C -- Corradi, W J B -- Santos, F P -- Reis, W -- Milone, A -- Emilio, M -- Gutierrez, L -- Vazquez, R -- Hernandez-Toledo, H -- England -- Nature. 2011 Oct 26;478(7370):493-6. doi: 10.1038/nature10550.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉LESIA-Observatoire de Paris, CNRS, Universite Pierre et Marie Curie, Universite Paris-Diderot, 11, Rue Marcelin Berthelot, 92195 Meudon cedex, France. bruno.sicardy@obspm.fr〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22031441" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Star-like objects with effective temperatures of less than 2,700 kelvin are referred to as 'ultracool dwarfs'. This heterogeneous group includes stars of extremely low mass as well as brown dwarfs (substellar objects not massive enough to sustain hydrogen fusion), and represents about 15 per cent of the population of astronomical objects near the Sun. Core-accretion theory predicts that, given the small masses of these ultracool dwarfs, and the small sizes of their protoplanetary disks, there should be a large but hitherto undetected population of terrestrial planets orbiting them--ranging from metal-rich Mercury-sized planets to more hospitable volatile-rich Earth-sized planets. Here we report observations of three short-period Earth-sized planets transiting an ultracool dwarf star only 12 parsecs away. The inner two planets receive four times and two times the irradiation of Earth, respectively, placing them close to the inner edge of the habitable zone of the star. Our data suggest that 11 orbits remain possible for the third planet, the most likely resulting in irradiation significantly less than that received by Earth. The infrared brightness of the host star, combined with its Jupiter-like size, offers the possibility of thoroughly characterizing the components of this nearby planetary system.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Gillon, Michael -- Jehin, Emmanuel -- Lederer, Susan M -- Delrez, Laetitia -- de Wit, Julien -- Burdanov, Artem -- Van Grootel, Valerie -- Burgasser, Adam J -- Triaud, Amaury H M J -- Opitom, Cyrielle -- Demory, Brice-Olivier -- Sahu, Devendra K -- Bardalez Gagliuffi, Daniella -- Magain, Pierre -- Queloz, Didier -- England -- Nature. 2016 May 2;533(7602):221-4. doi: 10.1038/nature17448.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Institut d'Astrophysique et de Geophysique, Universite de Liege, Allee du 6 Aout 19C, 4000 Liege, Belgium. ; NASA Johnson Space Center, 2101 NASA Parkway, Houston, Texas, 77058, USA. ; Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA. ; Center for Astrophysics and Space Science, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, USA. ; Institute of Astronomy, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0HA, UK. ; Astrophysics Group, Cavendish Laboratory, 19 J J Thomson Avenue, Cambridge, CB3 0HE, UK. ; Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Koramangala, Bangalore 560 034, India.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27135924" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: M-dwarf stars--hydrogen-burning stars that are smaller than 60 per cent of the size of the Sun--are the most common class of star in our Galaxy and outnumber Sun-like stars by a ratio of 12:1. Recent results have shown that M dwarfs host Earth-sized planets in great numbers: the average number of M-dwarf planets that are between 0.5 to 1.5 times the size of Earth is at least 1.4 per star. The nearest such planets known to transit their star are 39 parsecs away, too distant for detailed follow-up observations to measure the planetary masses or to study their atmospheres. Here we report observations of GJ 1132b, a planet with a size of 1.2 Earth radii that is transiting a small star 12 parsecs away. Our Doppler mass measurement of GJ 1132b yields a density consistent with an Earth-like bulk composition, similar to the compositions of the six known exoplanets with masses less than six times that of the Earth and precisely measured densities. Receiving 19 times more stellar radiation than the Earth, the planet is too hot to be habitable but is cool enough to support a substantial atmosphere, one that has probably been considerably depleted of hydrogen. Because the host star is nearby and only 21 per cent the radius of the Sun, existing and upcoming telescopes will be able to observe the composition and dynamics of the planetary atmosphere.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Berta-Thompson, Zachory K -- Irwin, Jonathan -- Charbonneau, David -- Newton, Elisabeth R -- Dittmann, Jason A -- Astudillo-Defru, Nicola -- Bonfils, Xavier -- Gillon, Michael -- Jehin, Emmanuel -- Stark, Antony A -- Stalder, Brian -- Bouchy, Francois -- Delfosse, Xavier -- Forveille, Thierry -- Lovis, Christophe -- Mayor, Michel -- Neves, Vasco -- Pepe, Francesco -- Santos, Nuno C -- Udry, Stephane -- Wunsche, Anael -- England -- Nature. 2015 Nov 12;527(7577):204-7. doi: 10.1038/nature15762.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA. ; Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA. ; Observatoire de Geneve, Universite de Geneve, 51 chemin des Maillettes, 1290 Sauverny, Switzerland. ; Universite Grenoble Alpes, IPAG, F-38000 Grenoble, France. ; CNRS, IPAG, F-38000 Grenoble, France. ; Institut d'Astrophysique et de Geophysique, Universite de Liege, Allee du 6 Aout 17, Batiment B5C, 4000 Liege, Belgium. ; Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822, USA. ; Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille, UMR 6110 CNRS, Universite de Provence, 38 rue Frederic Joliot-Curie, 13388, Marseille Cedex 13, France. ; Departamento de Fisica, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, 59072-970 Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil. ; Instituto de Astrofisica e Ciencias do Espaco, Universidade do Porto, CAUP, Rua das Estrelas, 4150-762 Porto, Portugal. ; Departamento de Fisica e Astronomia, Faculdade de Ciencias, Universidade do Porto, Rua Campo Alegre, 4169-007 Porto, Portugal.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26560298" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: WASP-80b is a missing link in the study of exoatmospheres. It falls between the warm Neptunes and the hot Jupiters and is amenable for characterization, thanks to its host star's properties. We observed the planet through transit and during occultation with Warm Spitzer . Combining our mid-infrared transits with optical time series, we find that the planet presents a transmission spectrum indistinguishable from a horizontal line. In emission, WASP-80b is the intrinsically faintest planet whose dayside flux has been detected in both the 3.6 and 4.5 μm Spitzer channels. The depths of the occultations reveal that WASP-80b is as bright and as red as a T4 dwarf, but that its temperature is cooler. If planets go through the equivalent of an L–T transition, our results would imply that this happens at cooler temperatures than for brown dwarfs. Placing WASP-80b's dayside into a colour–magnitude diagram, it falls exactly at the junction between a blackbody model and the T-dwarf sequence; we cannot discern which of those two interpretations is the more likely. WASP-80b's flux density is as low as GJ 436b at 3.6 μm; the planet's dayside is also fainter, but bluer than HD 189733Ab's nightside (in the [3.6] and [4.5] Spitzer bands). Flux measurements on other planets with similar equilibrium temperatures are required to establish whether irradiated gas giants, such as brown dwarfs, transition between two spectral classes. An eventual detection of methane absorption in transmission would also help lift that degeneracy. We obtained a second series of high-resolution spectra during transit, using HARPS. We reanalyse the Rossiter–McLaughlin effect. The data now favour an aligned orbital solution and a stellar rotation nearly three times slower than stellar line broadening implies. A contribution to stellar line broadening, maybe macroturbulence, is likely to have been underestimated for cool stars, whose rotations have therefore been systematically overestimated.