[en] We identify three Kepler transiting planets, Kepler-7b, Kepler-12b, and Kepler-41b, whose orbital phase-folded light curves are dominated by planetary atmospheric processes including thermal emission and reflected light, while the impact of non-atmospheric (i.e., gravitational) processes, including beaming (Doppler boosting) and tidal ellipsoidal distortion, is negligible. Therefore, those systems allow a direct view of their atmospheres without being hampered by the approximations used in the inclusion of both atmospheric and non-atmospheric processes when modeling the phase-curve shape. We present here the analysis of Kepler-12b and Kepler-41b atmosphere based on their Kepler phase curve, while the analysis of Kepler-7b was already presented elsewhere. The model we used efficiently computes reflection and thermal emission contributions to the phase curve, including inhomogeneous atmospheric reflection due to longitudinally varying cloud coverage. We confirm Kepler-12b and Kepler-41b show a westward phase shift between the brightest region on the planetary surface and the substellar point, similar to Kepler-7b. We find that reflective clouds located on the west side of the substellar point can explain the phase shift. The existence of inhomogeneous atmospheric reflection in all three of our targets, selected due to their atmosphere-dominated Kepler phase curve, suggests this phenomenon is common. Therefore, it is also likely to be present in planetary phase curves that do not allow a direct view of the planetary atmosphere as they contain additional orbital processes. We discuss the implications of a bright-spot shift on the analysis of phase curves where both atmospheric and gravitational processes appear, including the mass discrepancy seen in some cases between the companion’s mass derived from the beaming and ellipsoidal photometric amplitudes. Finally, we discuss the potential detection of non-transiting but otherwise similar planets, whose mass is too small to show a gravitational photometric signal, but their atmosphere is reflective enough to show detectable phase modulations

[en] We present here a small anomalous radial velocity (RV) signal expected to be present in RV curves measured during planetary transits. This signal is induced by the convective blueshift (CB) effect-a net blueshift emanating from the stellar surface, resulting from a larger contribution of rising hot and bright gas relative to the colder and darker sinking gas. Since the CB radial component varies across the stellar surface, the light blocked by the planet during a transit will have a varying RV component, resulting in a small shift of the measured RVs. The CB-induced anomalous RV curve is different than, and independent of, the well-known Rossiter-McLaughlin (RM) effect, where the latter is used for determining the sky-projected angle between the host star rotation axis and the planet's orbital angular momentum axis. The observed RV curve is the sum of the CB and RM signals, and they are both superposed on the orbital Keplerian curve. If not accounted for, the presence of the CB RV signal in the spectroscopic transit RV curve may bias the estimate of the spin-orbit angle. In addition, future very high precision RVs will allow the use of transiting planets to study the CB of their host stars.

[en] We model the asymmetry of the KOI-13.01 transit lightcurve assuming a gravity-darkened rapidly rotating host star in order to constrain the system's spin-orbit alignment and transit parameters. We find that our model can reproduce the Kepler lightcurve for KOI-13.01 with a sky-projected alignment of λ = 23° ± 4° and with the star's north pole tilted away from the observer by 48° ± 4° (assuming M_* = 2.05 M_☉). With both these determinations, we calculate that the net misalignment between this planet's orbit normal and its star's rotational pole is 56° ± 4°. Degeneracies in our geometric interpretation also allow a retrograde spin-orbit angle of 124° ± 4°. This is the first spin-orbit measurement to come from gravity darkening and is one of only a few measurements of the full (not just the sky-projected) spin-orbit misalignment of an extrasolar planet. We also measure accurate transit parameters incorporating stellar oblateness and gravity darkening: R_* 1.756 ± 0.014 R_☉, R_p = 1.445 ± 0.016 R_Jup, and i = 85.⁰9 ± 0.⁰4. The new lower planetary radius falls within the planetary mass regime for plausible interior models for the transiting body. A simple initial calculation shows that KOI-13.01's circular orbit is apparently inconsistent with the Kozai mechanism having driven its spin-orbit misalignment; planet-planet scattering and stellar spin migration remain viable mechanisms. Future Kepler data will improve the precision of the KOI-13.01 transit lightcurve, allowing more precise determination of transit parameters and the opportunity to use the Photometric Rossiter-McLaughlin effect to resolve the prograde/retrograde orbit determination degeneracy.

[en] We report the discovery of the first eclipsing detached double white dwarf (WD) binary. In a pulsation search, the low-mass helium core WD NLTT 11748 was targeted for fast (∼1 minute) differential photometry with the Las Cumbres Observatory's Faulkes Telescope North. Rather than pulsations, we discovered ∼180 s 3%-6% dips in the photometry. Subsequent radial velocity measurements of the primary white dwarf from the Keck telescope found variations with a semi-amplitude K₁ = 271 ± 3 km s^-1 and confirmed the dips as eclipses caused by an orbiting WD with a mass M₂ = 0.648-0.771 M_sun for M₁ = 0.1-0.2 M_sun. We detect both the primary and secondary eclipses during the P_orb = 5.64 hr orbit and measure the secondary's brightness to be 3.5% ± 0.3% of the primary at SDSS-g'. Assuming that the secondary follows the mass-radius relation of a cold C/O WD and including the effects of microlensing in the binary, the primary eclipse yields a primary radius of R₁ = 0.043-0.039 R_sun for M₁ = 0.1-0.2 M_sun, consistent with the theoretically expected values for a helium core WD with a thick, stably burning hydrogen envelope. Though nearby (at ∼150 pc), the gravitational wave strain from NLTT 11748 is likely not adequate for direct detection by the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna. Future observational efforts will determine M₁, yielding accurate WD mass-radius measurement of both components, as well as a clearer indication of the binary's fate once contact is reached.

[en] Eccentric binaries known as heartbeat stars experience strong dynamical tides as the stars pass through periastron, providing a laboratory to study tidal interactions. We measure the rotation periods of 24 heartbeat systems, using the Kepler light curves to identify rotation peaks in the Fourier transform. Where possible, we compare the rotation period to the pseudosynchronization period derived by Hut. Few of our heartbeat stars are pseudosynchronized with the orbital period. For four systems, we were able to identify two sets of rotation peaks, which we interpret as the rotation from both stars in the binary. Most stars in our sample have rotation rates larger than the pseudosynchronization period while a single target rotates much faster than this rate. The majority of the systems have a rotation period that is approximately $\frac{3}{2}$ times the pseudosynchronization period, suggesting that other physical mechanisms strongly influence the star’s evolution.

[en] Tidal forces in eccentric binary stars known as heartbeat stars excite detectable oscillations that shed light on the processes of tidal synchronization and circularization. We examine the pulsation phases of tidally excited oscillations (TEOs) in heartbeat binary systems. The target list includes four published heartbeat binaries and four additional systems observed by Kepler. To the first order, the pulsation phases of TEOs can be explained by the geometric effect of the dominant l = 2, m = 0, or ±2 modes assuming pulsations are adiabatic. We found that this simple theoretical interpretation can account for more than half of the systems on the list, assuming their spin and orbit axes are aligned. We do find significant deviations from the adiabatic predictions for some other systems, especially for the misaligned binary KIC 8164262. The deviations can potentially help to probe the nonadiabaticity of pulsation modes as well as resonances in the tidal forcing.

[en] This paper presents multiband photometric follow-up observations of the Neptune-mass transiting planet GJ 436b, consisting of five new ground-based transit light curves obtained in 2007 May. Together with one already published light curve, we have at hand a total of six light curves, spanning 29 days. The analysis of the data yields an orbital period P = 2.64386 ± 0.00003 days, midtransit time T_c [HJD] = 2454235.8355 ± 0.0001, planet mass M_p = 23.1 ± 0.9 M ₊ = 0.073 ± 0.003 M _Jup, planet radius R_p = 4.2 ± 0.2 R ₊ = 0.37 ± 0.01 R _Jup, and stellar radius R_s = 0.45 ± 0.02 R _sun. Our typical precision for the midtransit timing for each transit is about 30 s. We searched the data for a possible signature of a second planet in the system through transit timing variations (TTV) and variation of the impact parameter. The analysis could not rule out a small, of the order of a minute, TTV and a long-term modulation of the impact parameter, of the order of +0.2 yr^-1.

[en] We report on the first ground-based measurement of the relativistic beaming effect (aka Doppler boosting). We observed the beaming effect in the detached, non-interacting eclipsing double white dwarf (WD) binary NLTT 11748. Our observations were motivated by the system's high mass-ratio and low-luminosity ratio, leading to a large beaming-induced variability amplitude at the orbital period of 5.6 hr. We observed the system during three nights at the 2.0 m Faulkes Telescope North with the SDSS-g' filter and fitted the data simultaneously for the beaming, ellipsoidal, and reflection effects. Our fitted relative beaming amplitude is (3.0 ± 0.4) x 10^-3, consistent with the expected amplitude from a blackbody spectrum given the photometric primary radial velocity (RV) amplitude and effective temperature. This result is a first step in testing the relation between the photometric beaming amplitude and the spectroscopic RV amplitude in NLTT 11748 and similar systems. We did not identify any variability due to the ellipsoidal or reflection effects, consistent with their expected undetectable amplitude for this system. Low-mass, helium-core WDs are expected to reside in binary systems, where in some of those systems the binary companion is a faint C/O WD and the two stars are detached and non-interacting, as in the case of NLTT 11748. The beaming effect can be used to search for the faint binary companion in those systems using wide-band photometry.

[en] We present photometry of six transits of the exoplanet XO-2b. By combining the light-curve analysis with theoretical isochrones to determine the stellar properties, we find the planetary radius to be 0.996^+0.031_-0.018 R _Jup and the planetary mass to be 0.565 ± 0.054 M _Jup. These results are consistent with those reported previously, and are also consistent with theoretical models for gas giant planets. The midtransit times are accurate to within 1 minute and are consistent with a constant period. However, the period we derive differs by 2.5σ from the previously published period. More data are needed to tell whether the period is actually variable (as it would be in the presence of an additional body) or if the timing errors have been underestimated.

[en] We observed two eclipses of the Kepler-13A planetary system, on UT 2014 April 28 and UT 2014 October 13, in the near-infrared using Wide Field Camera 3 on the Hubble Space Telescope . By using the nearby binary stars Kepler-13BC as a reference, we were able to create a differential light curve for Kepler-13A that had little of the systematics typically present in HST /WFC3 spectrophotometry. We measure a broadband (1.1–1.65 μ m) eclipse depth of 734 ± 28 ppm and are able to measure the emission spectrum of the planet at R  ≈ 50 with an average precision of 70 ppm. We find that Kepler-13Ab possesses a noninverted, monotonically decreasing vertical temperature profile. We exclude an isothermal profile and an inverted profile at more than 3 σ . We also find that the dayside emission of Kepler-13Ab appears generally similar to an isolated M7 brown dwarf at a similar effective temperature. Due to the relatively high mass and surface gravity of Kepler-13Ab, we suggest that the apparent lack of an inversion is due to cold-trap processes in the planet’s atmosphere. Using a toy model for where cold traps should inhibit inversions, as well as observations of other planets in this temperature range with measured emission spectra, we argue that with more detailed modeling and more observations we may be able to place useful constraints on the size of condensates on the daysides of hot Jupiters.