Spitzer observes secondary transit of WASP-18 b

Admin Number of posts : 4320 Location : Earth Registration date : 2008-04-06

Spitzer Secondary Eclipses of WASP-18b
http://arxiv.org/abs/1005.1017

Abstract wrote:: The transiting exoplanet WASP-18b was discovered in 2008 by the Wide Angle Search for Planets (WASP) project. The \textit{Spitzer}\
Exoplanet Target of Opportunity Program observed secondary eclipses of WASP-18b using \textit{Spitzer}'s Infrared Array Camera (IR\ AC) in the 3.6-{\micron} and 5.8-{\micron} bands on 2008 December 20, and in the 4.5-{\micron} and 8.0-{\micron} bands on 2008 Dece\ mber 24. We report eclipse depths of \math{0.31\pm{0.02}, 0.38\pm{0.03}, 0.41\pm{0.02}, 0.43\pm{0.03}\%}, and brightness temperatu\ res of 2920 \pm {90}, 3150 \pm {130}, 3040 \pm {130} and 2960 \pm {130} K, respectively. WASP-18b is one of the hottest planets ye\ t discovered - as hot as an M-class star. The planet's pressure-temperature profile features a thermal inversion. The observation\ s also require WASP-18b to have near-zero albedo and almost no redistribution of energy from the day-side to the night side of the \ planet.

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