Rayleigh scattering in the transmission spectrum of HAT-P-18b

Abstract

We have performed ground-based transmission spectroscopy of the hot Jupiter HAT-P-18b using the ACAM instrument on the William Herschel Telescope (WHT). Differential spectroscopy over an entire night was carried out at a resolution of $R\approx 400$ using a nearby comparison star. We detect a bluewards slope extending across our optical transmission spectrum which runs from 4750 to 9250Å. The slope is consistent with Rayleigh scattering at the equilibrium temperature of the planet (852K). We do not detect enhanced sodium absorption, which indicates that a high-altitude haze is masking the feature and giving rise to the Rayleigh slope. This is only the second discovery of a Rayleigh scattering slope in a hot Jupiter atmosphere from the ground, and our study illustrates how ground-based observations can provide transmission spectra with precision comparable to the Hubble Space Telescope.

11 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS

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