A Ground-Based Search for Thermal Emission from the Exoplanet TrES-1

Abstract

Eclipsing planetary systems give us an important window on extrasolar planet atmospheres. By measuring the depth of the secondary eclipse, when the planet moves behind the star, we can estimate the strength of the thermal emission from the day side of the planet. Attaining a ground-based detection of one of these eclipses has proven to be a significant challenge, as time-dependent variations in instrument throughput and atmospheric seeing and absorption overwhelm the small signal of the eclipse at infrared wavelengths. We gathered a series of simultaneous L grism spectra of the transiting planet system TrES-1 and a nearby comparison star of comparable brightness, allowing us to correct for these effects in principle. Combining the data from two eclipses, we demonstrate a detection sensitivity of 0.15% in the eclipse depth relative to the stellar flux. This approaches the sensitivity required to detect the planetary emission, which theoretical models predict should lie between 0.05-0.1% of the stellar flux in our 2.9-4.3 micron bandpass. We explore the factors that ultimately limit the precision of this technique, and discuss potential avenues for future improvements.

arXiv comment10 pages, 1 table, four figures, accepted for publication in PASP

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• A ground-based transmission spectrum of the super-Earth exoplanet GJ1214b
• The Statistics of Albedo and Heat Recirculation on Hot Exoplanets
• Homogeneous studies of transiting extrasolar planets. I. Light curve analyses
• The Broadband Infrared Emission Spectrum of the Exoplanet HD 189733b
• Features in the Broadband Eclipse Spectra of Exoplanets: Signal or Noise?
• Near-Infrared Thermal Emission from TrES-3b: A Ks-band detection and an H-band upper limit on the depth of the secondary eclipse
• VLT transit and occultation photometry for the bloated planet CoRoT-1b
• Ground-based secondary eclipse detection of the very-hot Jupiter OGLE-TR-56b
• Thermal Emission of WASP-14b Revealed with Three Spitzer Eclipses
• Ground-based, Near-infrared Exospectroscopy. II. Tentative Detection of Emission From the Extremely Hot Jupiter WASP-12b
• Characterization of Exoplanets: Secondary Eclipses