Secondary Eclipse Depths Research Articles

PLATON II: New Capabilities and a Comprehensive Retrieval on HD 189733b Transit and Eclipse Data

Abstract Recently, we introduced PLanetary Atmospheric Tool for Observer Noobs (PLATON), a Python package that calculates model transmission spectra for exoplanets and retrieves atmospheric characteristics based on observed spectra. We now expand its capabilities to include the ability to compute secondary eclipse depths. We have also added the option to calculate models using the correlated-k method for radiative transfer, which improves accuracy without sacrificing speed. Additionally, we update the opacities in PLATON—many of which were generated using old or proprietary line lists—using the most recent and complete public line lists. These opacities are made available at R = 1000 and R = 10,000 over the 0.3–30 μm range, and at R = 375,000 in select near-IR bands, making it possible to utilize PLATON for ground-based high-resolution cross-correlation studies. To demonstrate PLATON’s new capabilities, we perform a retrieval on published Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and Spitzer transmission and emission spectra of the archetypal hot Jupiter HD 189733b. This is the first joint transit and secondary eclipse retrieval for this planet in the literature, as well as the most comprehensive set of both transit and eclipse data assembled for a retrieval to date. We find that these high signal-to-noise data are well matched by atmosphere models with a C/O ratio of and a metallicity of times solar where the terminator is dominated by extended nanometer-sized haze particles at optical wavelengths. These are among the smallest uncertainties reported to date for an exoplanet, demonstrating both the power and the limitations of HST and Spitzer exoplanet observations.

Exploring the Atmospheric Dynamics of the Extreme Ultrahot Jupiter KELT-9b Using TESS Photometry

Abstract We carry out a phase-curve analysis of the KELT-9 system using photometric observations from NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). The measured secondary eclipse depth and peak-to-peak atmospheric brightness modulation are and 566 ± 16 ppm, respectively. The planet’s brightness variation reaches maximum 31 ± 5 minutes before the midpoint of the secondary eclipse, indicating a 5.°2 ± 0.°9 eastward shift in the dayside hot spot from the substellar point. We also detect stellar pulsations on KELT-9 with a period of 7.58695 ± 0.00091 hr. The dayside emission of KELT-9b in the TESS bandpass is consistent with a blackbody brightness temperature of 4600 ± 100 K. The corresponding nightside brightness temperature is 3040 ± 100 K, comparable to the dayside temperatures of the hottest known exoplanets. In addition, we detect a significant phase-curve signal at the first harmonic of the orbital frequency and a marginal signal at the second harmonic. While the amplitude of the first harmonic component is consistent with the predicted ellipsoidal distortion modulation assuming equilibrium tides, the phase of this photometric variation is shifted relative to the expectation. Placing KELT-9b in the context of other exoplanets with phase-curve observations, we find that the elevated nightside temperature and relatively low day–night temperature contrast agree with the predictions of atmospheric models that include H2 dissociation and recombination. The nightside temperature of KELT-9b implies an atmospheric composition containing about 50% molecular and 50% atomic hydrogen at 0.1 bar, a nightside emission spectrum that deviates significantly from a blackbody, and a 0.5–2.0 μm transmission spectrum that is featureless at low resolution.

The TESS light curve of the eccentric eclipsing binary 1SWASP J011351.29+314909.7 – no evidence for a very hot M-dwarf companion

ABSTRACT A 2014 study of the eclipsing binary star 1SWASPJ011351.29+314909.7 (J0113+31) reported an unexpectedly high effective temperature for the M-dwarf companion to the 0.95-M⊙ primary star. The effective temperature inferred from the secondary eclipse depth was ∼600 K higher than the value predicted from stellar models. Such an anomalous result questions our understanding of low-mass stars and might indicate a significant uncertainty when inferring properties of exoplanets orbiting them. We seek to measure the effective temperature of the M-dwarf companion using the light curve of J0113+31 recently observed by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). We use the pycheops modelling software to fit a combined transit and eclipse model to the TESS light curve. To calculate the secondary effective temperature, we compare the best-fitting eclipse depth to the predicted eclipse depths from theoretical stellar models. We determined the effective temperature of the M dwarf to be Teff,2 = 3208 ± 43 K, assuming log g2 = 5, [Fe/H] = −0.4, and no alpha-element enhancement. Varying these assumptions changes Teff,2 by less than 100 K. These results do not support a large anomaly between observed and theoretical low-mass star temperatures.

TESS unveils the phase curve of WASP-33b

We present the detection and characterization of the full-orbit phase curve and secondary eclipse of the ultra-hot Jupiter WASP-33b at optical wavelengths, along with the pulsation spectrum of the host star. We analyzed data collected by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) in sector 18. WASP-33b belongs to a very short list of highly irradiated exoplanets that were discovered from the ground and were later visited by TESS. The host star of WASP-33b is of δ Scuti-type and shows nonradial pulsations in the millimagnitude regime, with periods comparable to the period of the primary transit. These completely deform the photometric light curve, which hinders our interpretations. By carrying out a detailed determination of the pulsation spectrum of the host star, we find 29 pulsation frequencies with a signal-to-noise ratio higher than 4. After cleaning the light curve from the stellar pulsations, we confidently report a secondary eclipse depth of 305.8 ± 35.5 parts-per-million (ppm), along with an amplitude of the phase curve of 100.4 ± 13.1 ppm and a corresponding westward offset between the region of maximum brightness and the substellar point of 28.7 ± 7.1 degrees, making WASP-33b one of the few planets with such an offset found so far. Our derived Bond albedo, AB = 0.369 ± 0.050, and heat recirculation efficiency, ɛ = 0.189 ± 0.014, confirm again that he behavior of WASP-33b is similar to that of other hot Jupiters, despite the high irradiation received from its host star. By connecting the amplitude of the phase curve to the primary transit and depths of the secondary eclipse, we determine that the day- and nightside brightness temperatures of WASP-33b are 3014 ± 60 K and 1605 ± 45 K, respectively. From the detection of photometric variations due to gravitational interactions, we estimate a planet mass of MP = 2.81 ± 0.53 MJ. Based on analyzing the stellar pulsations in the frame of the planetary orbit, we find no signals of star-planet interactions.

Smaller than Expected Bright-spot Offsets in Spitzer Phase Curves of the Hot Jupiter Qatar-1b

Abstract We present Spitzer full-orbit thermal phase curves of the hot Jupiter Qatar-1b, a planet with the same equilibrium temperature—and intermediate surface gravity and orbital period—as the well-studied planets HD 209458b and WASP-43b. We measure secondary eclipse depths of 0.21 ± 0.02% at 3.6 μm and 0.30 ± 0.02% at 4.5 μm, corresponding to dayside brightness temperatures of K and K, respectively, consistent with a vertically isothermal dayside. The respective nightside brightness temperatures are and K, in line with a trend that hot Jupiters all have similar nightside temperatures. We infer a Bond albedo of and a moderate day–night heat recirculation efficiency, similar to HD 209458b. General circulation models for HD 209458b and WASP-43b predict that their bright spots should be shifted east of the substellar point by tens of degrees, and these predictions were previously confirmed with Spitzer full-orbit phase curve observations. The phase curves of Qatar-1b are likewise expected to exhibit eastward offsets. Instead, the observed phase curves are consistent with no offset: 11° ± 7° at 3.6 μm and −4° ± 7° at 4.5 μm. The discrepancy in circulation patterns between these three otherwise similar planets points to the importance of secondary parameters like rotation rate and surface gravity, and the presence or absence of clouds, in determining atmospheric conditions on hot Jupiters.

Statistical Characterization of Hot Jupiter Atmospheres Using Spitzer’s Secondary Eclipses

Abstract We report 78 secondary eclipse depths for a sample of 36 transiting hot Jupiters observed at 3.6 and 4.5 μm using the Spitzer Space Telescope. Our eclipse results for 27 of these planets are new, and include highly irradiated worlds such as KELT-7b, WASP-87b, WASP-76b, and WASP-64b, and important targets for James Webb Space Telescope such as WASP-62b. We find that WASP-62b has a slightly eccentric orbit ( ), and we confirm the eccentricity of HAT-P-13b and WASP-14b. The remainder are individually consistent with circular orbits, but we find statistical evidence for eccentricity increasing with orbital period in our range from 1 to 5 days. Our day-side brightness temperatures for the planets yield information on albedo and heat redistribution, following Cowan & Agol (2011). Planets having maximum day-side temperatures exceeding ∼2200 K are consistent with having zero albedo and a distribution of stellar irradiance uniformly over the day-side hemisphere. Our most intriguing result is that we detect a systematic difference between the emergent spectra of these hot Jupiters as compared to blackbodies. The ratio of observed brightness temperatures, Tb(4.5)/Tb(3.6), increases with equilibrium temperature by 100 ± 24 parts-per-million per Kelvin, over the entire temperature range in our sample (800–2500 K). No existing model predicts this trend over such a large range of temperature. We suggest that this may be due to a structural difference in the atmospheric temperature profiles of real planetary atmospheres as compared to models.

TESS Phase Curve of the Hot Jupiter WASP-19b

Abstract We analyze the phase curve of the short-period transiting hot Jupiter system WASP-19, which was observed by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) in Sector 9. WASP-19 is one of only five transiting exoplanet systems with full-orbit phase curve measurements at both optical and infrared wavelengths. We measure a secondary eclipse depth of ppm and detect a strong atmospheric brightness modulation signal with a semiamplitude of 319 ± 51 ppm. No significant offset is detected between the substellar point and the region of maximum brightness on the dayside. There is also no significant nightside flux detected, which is in agreement with the nightside effective blackbody temperature of derived from the published Spitzer phase curves for this planet. Placing the eclipse depth measured in the TESS bandpass alongside the large body of previous values from the literature, we carry out the first atmospheric retrievals of WASP-19b’s secondary eclipse spectrum using the SCARLET code. The retrieval analysis indicates that WASP-19b has a dayside atmosphere consistent with an isotherm at T = 2240 ± 40 K and a visible geometric albedo of 0.16 ± 0.04, indicating significant contribution from reflected starlight in the TESS bandpass and moderately efficient day–night heat transport.

Temporal Variability in Hot Jupiter Atmospheres

Abstract Hot Jupiters receive intense incident stellar light on their daysides, which drives vigorous atmospheric circulation that attempts to erase their large dayside-to-nightside flux contrasts. Propagating waves and instabilities in hot Jupiter atmospheres can cause emergent properties of the atmosphere to be time-variable. In this work, we study such weather in hot Jupiter atmospheres using idealized cloud-free general circulation models with double-gray radiative transfer. We find that hot Jupiter atmospheres can be time-variable at the ∼0.1%–1% level in globally averaged temperature and at the ∼1%–10% level in globally averaged wind speeds. As a result, we find that observable quantities are also time-variable: the secondary eclipse depth can be variable at the ≲2% level, the phase-curve amplitude can change by ≲1%, the phase-curve offset can shift by ≲5°, and terminator-averaged wind speeds can vary by ≲2 km s−1. Additionally, we calculate how the eastern and western limb-averaged wind speeds vary with incident stellar flux and the strength of an imposed drag that parameterizes Lorentz forces in partially ionized atmospheres. We find that the eastern limb is blueshifted in models over a wide range of equilibrium temperature and drag strength, while the western limb is only redshifted if equilibrium temperatures are ≲1500 K and drag is weak. Lastly, we show that temporal variability may be observationally detectable in the infrared through secondary eclipse observations with the James Webb Space Telescope, phase-curve observations with future space telescopes (e.g., ARIEL), and/or Doppler wind speed measurements with high-resolution spectrographs.

Spitzer Phase Curves of KELT-1b and the Signatures of Nightside Clouds in Thermal Phase Observations

Abstract We observed two full orbital phase curves of the transiting brown dwarf KELT-1b, at 3.6 and 4.5 μm, using the Spitzer Space Telescope. Combined with previous eclipse data from Beatty et al., we strongly detect KELT-1b’s phase variation as a single sinusoid in both bands, with amplitudes of 964 ± 36 ppm at 3.6 μm and 979 ± 54 ppm at 4.5 μm, and confirm the secondary eclipse depths measured by Beatty et al. We also measure noticeable eastward hotspot offsets of 28.°4 ± 3.°5 at 3.6 μm and 18.°6 ± 5.°2 at 4.5 μm. Both the day–night temperature contrasts and the hotspot offsets we measure are in line with the trends seen in hot Jupiters, though we disagree with the recent suggestion of an offset trend by Zhang et al. Using an ensemble analysis of Spitzer phase curves, we argue that nightside clouds are playing a noticeable role in modulating the thermal emission from these objects, based on: (1) the lack of a clear trend in phase offsets with equilibrium temperature, (2) the sharp day–night transitions required to have non-negative intensity maps, which also resolves the inversion issues raised by Keating & Cowan, (3) the fact that all the nightsides of these objects appear to be at roughly the same temperature of 1000 K, while the dayside temperatures increase linearly with equilibrium temperature, and (4) the trajectories of these objects on a Spitzer color–magnitude diagram, which suggest colors only explainable via nightside clouds.

Estimating dayside effective temperatures of hot Jupiters and associated uncertainties through Gaussian process regression

ABSTRACT In this work, we outline a new method for estimating dayside effective temperatures of exoplanets and associated uncertainties using Gaussian process (GP) regression. By applying our method to simulated observations, we show that the GP method estimates uncertainty more robustly than other model-independent approaches. We find that unbiased estimates of effective temperatures can be made using as few as three broad-band measurements (white-light HST WFC3 and the two warm Spitzer IRAC channels), although we caution that estimates made using only IRAC can be significantly biased. We then apply our GP method to the 12 hot Jupiters in the literature whose secondary eclipse depths have been measured by WFC3 and IRAC channels 1 and 2: CoRoT-2 b; HAT-P-7 b; HD 189733 b; HD 209458 b; Kepler-13A b; TrES-3 b; WASP-4 b; WASP-12 b; WASP-18 b; WASP-33 b; WASP-43 b; and WASP-103 b. We present model-independent dayside effective temperatures for these planets, with uncertainty estimates that range from ±66 to ±136 K.

Storms or systematics? The changing secondary eclipse depth of WASP-12b

WASP-12b is one of the most well-studied transiting exoplanets, as its highly-inflated radius and its 1.1 day orbit around a G0-type star make it an excellent target for atmospheric categorisation through observation during its secondary eclipse. We present two new secondary eclipse observations of WASP-12b, acquired a year apart with the Wide Field Camera on the Isaac Newton Telescope (INT) and the IO:O instrument on the Liverpool Telescope (LT). These observations were conducted in the $i^\prime$-band, a window expected to be dominated by TiO features if present in appreciable quantities in the upper atmosphere. We measured eclipse depths that disagree with each other by $\sim$3$\sigma$ (0.97 $\pm$ 0.14 mmag on the INT and 0.44 $\pm$ 0.21 mmag on the LT), a result that is mirrored in previous $z^\prime$-band secondary eclipse measurements for WASP-12b. We explore explanations for these disagreements, including systematic errors and variable thermal emission in the dayside atmosphere of WASP-12b caused by temperature changes of a few hundred Kelvin: a possibility we cannot rule out from our analysis. Full-phase curves observed with TESS and CHEOPS have the potential to detect similar atmospheric variability for WASP-12b and other optimal targets, and a strategic, multi-telescope approach to future ground-based secondary eclipse observations is required to discriminate between explanations involving storms and systematics.

Starspots on WASP-107 and pulsations of WASP-118

By analysing the K2 short-cadence photometry we detect starspot occultation events in the lightcurve of WASP-107, the host star of a warm-Saturn exoplanet. WASP-107 also shows a rotational modulation with a period of 17.5 +/- 1.4 d. Given that the rotational period is nearly three times the planet's orbital period, one would expect in an aligned system to see starspot occultation events to recur every three transits. The absence of such occultation recurrences suggests a misaligned orbit unless the starspots' lifetimes are shorter than the star's rotational period. We also find stellar variability resembling gamma Doradus pulsations in the lightcurve of WASP-118, which hosts an inflated hot Jupiter. The variability is multi-periodic with a variable semi-amplitude of about 200 ppm. In addition to these findings we use the K2 data to refine the parameters of both systems, and report non-detections of transit-timing variations, secondary eclipses and any additional transiting planets. We used the upper limits on the secondary-eclipse depths to estimate upper limits on the planetary geometric albedos of 0.7 for WASP-107b and 0.2 for WASP-118b.

Discovery of the secondary eclipse of HAT-P-11 b

We report the detection of the secondary eclipse of HAT-P-11 b, a Neptune-sized planet orbiting an active K4 dwarf. Using all available short-cadence data of the Kepler mission, we derive refined planetary ephemeris increasing their precision by more than an order of magnitude. Our simultaneous primary and secondary transit modeling results in improved transit and orbital parameters. In particular, the precise timing of the secondary eclipse allows to pin down the orbital eccentricity to $0.26459_{-0.00048}^{+0.00069}$. The secondary eclipse depth of $6.09_{-1.11}^{+1.12}$ ppm corresponds to a $5.5\sigma$ detection and results in a geometric albedo of $0.39\pm0.07$ for HAT-P-11 b, close to Neptune's value, which may indicate further resemblances between these two bodies. Due to the substantial orbital eccentricity, the planetary equilibrium temperature is expected to change significantly with orbital position and ought to vary between $630^\circ$ K and $950^\circ$ K, depending on the details of heat redistribution in the atmosphere of HAT-P-11 b.

Detection of the secondary eclipse of Qatar-1b in theKs band

Qatar-1b is a close-orbiting hot Jupiter ($R_p\simeq 1.18$ $R_J$, $M_p\simeq 1.33$ $M_J$) around a metal-rich K-dwarf, with orbital separation and period of 0.023 AU and 1.42 days. We have observed the secondary eclipse of this exoplanet in the Ks band with the objective of deriving a brightness temperature for the planet and providing further constraints to the orbital configuration of the system. We obtained near-infrared photometric data from the ground by using the OMEGA2000 instrument at the 3.5 m telescope at Calar Alto (Spain) in staring mode, with the telescope defocused. We have used principal component analysis (PCA) to identify correlated systematic trends in the data. A Markov chain Monte Carlo analysis was performed to model the correlated systematics and fit for the secondary eclipse of Qatar-1b using a previously developed occultation model. We adopted the prayer bead method to assess the effect of red noise on the derived parameters. We measured a secondary eclipse depth of $0.196\%^{+0.071\%}_{-0.051\%}$, which indicates a brightness temperature in the Ks band for the planet of $1885^{+212}_{-168}$ K. We also measured a small deviation in the central phase of the secondary eclipse of $-0.0079^{+0.0162}_{-0.0043}$, which leads to a value for $e\cos{\omega}$ of $-0.0123^{+0.0252}_{-0.0067}$. However, this last result needs to be confirmed with more data.

3.6 AND 4.5 μm SPITZER PHASE CURVES OF THE HIGHLY IRRADIATED HOT JUPITERS WASP-19b AND HAT-P-7b

ABSTRACT We analyze full-orbit phase curve observations of the transiting hot Jupiters WASP-19b and HAT-P-7b at 3.6 and 4.5 μm, obtained using the Spitzer Space Telescope. For WASP-19b, we measure secondary eclipse depths of and at 3.6 and 4.5 μm, which are consistent with a single blackbody with effective temperature 2372 ± 60 K. The measured 3.6 and 4.5 μm secondary eclipse depths for HAT-P-7b are and , which are well described by a single blackbody with effective temperature 2667 ± 57 K. Comparing the phase curves to the predictions of one-dimensional and three-dimensional atmospheric models, we find that WASP-19b’s dayside emission is consistent with a model atmosphere with no dayside thermal inversion and moderately efficient day–night circulation. We also detect an eastward-shifted hotspot, which suggests the presence of a superrotating equatorial jet. In contrast, HAT-P-7b’s dayside emission suggests a dayside thermal inversion and relatively inefficient day–night circulation; no hotspot shift is detected. For both planets, these same models do not agree with the measured nightside emission. The discrepancies in the model-data comparisons for WASP-19b might be explained by high-altitude silicate clouds on the nightside and/or high atmospheric metallicity, while the very low 3.6 μm nightside planetary brightness for HAT-P-7b may be indicative of an enhanced global C/O ratio. We compute Bond albedos of 0.38 ± 0.06 and 0 ( at ) for WASP-19b and HAT-P-7b, respectively. In the context of other planets with thermal phase curve measurements, we show that WASP-19b and HAT-P-7b fit the general trend of decreasing day–night heat recirculation with increasing irradiation.

DYNAMICAL CONSTRAINTS ON THE CORE MASS OF HOT JUPITER HAT-P-13B

ABSTRACT HAT-P-13b is a Jupiter-mass transiting exoplanet that has settled onto a stable, short-period, and mildly eccentric orbit as a consequence of the action of tidal dissipation and perturbations from a second, highly eccentric, outer companion. Owing to the special orbital configuration of the HAT-P-13 system, the magnitude of HAT-P-13b's eccentricity (e b ) is in part dictated by its Love number ( k 2 b ), which is in turn a proxy for the degree of central mass concentration in its interior. Thus, the measurement of e b constrains k 2 b and allows us to place otherwise elusive constraints on the mass of HAT-P-13b's core (M core,b). In this study we derive new constraints on the value of e b by observing two secondary eclipses of HAT-P-13b with the Infrared Array Camera on board the Spitzer Space Telescope. We fit the measured secondary eclipse times simultaneously with radial velocity measurements and find that e b = 0.00700 ± 0.00100. We then use octupole-order secular perturbation theory to find the corresponding k 2 b = 0.31 − 0.05 + 0.08 . Applying structural evolution models, we then find, with 68% confidence, that M core,b is less than 25 Earth masses (M ⊕). The most likely value is M core,b = 11 M ⊕, which is similar to the core mass theoretically required for runaway gas accretion. This is the tightest constraint to date on the core mass of a hot Jupiter. Additionally, we find that the measured secondary eclipse depths, which are in the 3.6 and 4.5 μm bands, best match atmospheric model predictions with a dayside temperature inversion and relatively efficient day–night circulation.

3.6 AND 4.5μm PHASE CURVES OF THE HIGHLY IRRADIATED ECCENTRIC HOT JUPITER WASP-14b

We present full-orbit phase curve observations of the eccentric ($e\sim 0.08$) transiting hot Jupiter WASP-14b obtained in the 3.6 and 4.5 $\mu$m bands using the \textit{Spitzer Space Telescope}. We use two different methods for removing the intrapixel sensitivity effect and compare their efficacy in decoupling the instrumental noise. Our measured secondary eclipse depths of $0.1882\%\pm 0.0048\%$ and $0.2247\%\pm 0.0086\%$ at 3.6 and 4.5 $\mu$m, respectively, are both consistent with a blackbody temperature of $2402\pm 35$ K. We place a $2\sigma$ upper limit on the nightside flux at 3.6 $\mu$m and find it to be $9\%\pm 1\%$ of the dayside flux, corresponding to a brightness temperature of 1079 K. At 4.5 $\mu$m, the minimum planet flux is $30\%\pm 5\%$ of the maximum flux, corresponding to a brightness temperature of $1380\pm 65$ K. We compare our measured phase curves to the predictions of one-dimensional radiative transfer and three-dimensional general circulation models. We find that WASP-14b's measured dayside emission is consistent with a model atmosphere with equilibrium chemistry and a moderate temperature inversion. These same models tend to over-predict the nightside emission at 3.6 $\mu$m, while under-predicting the nightside emission at 4.5 $\mu$m. We propose that this discrepancy might be explained by an enhanced global C/O ratio. In addition, we find that the phase curves of WASP-14b ($7.8 M_{\mathrm{Jup}}$) are consistent with a much lower albedo than those of other Jovian mass planets with thermal phase curve measurements, suggesting that it may be emitting detectable heat from the deep atmosphere or interior processes.

NEAR-INFRARED THERMAL EMISSION DETECTIONS OF A NUMBER OF HOT JUPITERS AND THE SYSTEMATICS OF GROUND-BASED NEAR-INFRARED PHOTOMETRY

We present detections of the near-infrared thermal emission of three hot Jupiters and one brown dwarf using the Wide-field Infrared Camera (WIRCam) on the Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope (CFHT). These include Ks-band secondary eclipse detections of the hot Jupiters WASP-3b and Qatar-1b and the brown dwarf KELT-1b. We also report Y-band, KCONT-band, and two new and one reanalyzed Ks-band detections of the thermal emission of the hot Jupiter WASP-12b. We present a new reduction pipeline for CFHT/WIRCam data, which is optimized for high precision photometry. We also describe novel techniques for constraining systematic errors in ground-based near-infrared photometry, so as to return reliable secondary eclipse depths and uncertainties. We discuss the noise properties of our ground-based photometry for wavelengths spanning the near-infrared (the YJHK bands), for faint and bright stars, and for the same object on several occasions. For the hot Jupiters WASP-3b and WASP-12b we demonstrate the repeatability of our eclipse depth measurements in the Ks band; we therefore place stringent limits on the systematics of ground-based, near-infrared photometry, and also rule out violent weather changes in the deep, high pressure atmospheres of these two hot Jupiters at the epochs of our observations.

CHARACTERIZATION OF THE ATMOSPHERE OF THE HOT JUPITER HAT-P-32Ab AND THE M-DWARF COMPANION HAT-P-32B

We report secondary eclipse photometry of the hot Jupiter HAT-P-32Ab, taken with Hale/WIRC in H and Ks bands and with Spitzer/IRAC at 3.6 and 4.5 micron. We carried out adaptive optics imaging of the planet host star HAT-P-32A and its companion HAT-P-32B in the near-IR and the visible. We clearly resolve the two stars from each other and find a separation of 2.923" +/- 0. 004" and a position angle 110.64 deg +/- 0.12 deg. We measure the flux ratios of the binary in g' r' i' z' and H & Ks bands, and determine Teff = 3565 +/- 82 K for the companion star, corresponding to an M1.5 dwarf. We use PHOENIX stellar atmosphere models to correct the dilution of the secondary eclipse depths of the hot Jupiter due to the presence of the M1.5 companion. We also improve the secondary eclipse photometry by accounting for the non-classical, flux-dependent nonlinearity of the WIRC IR detector in the H band. We measure planet-to-star flux ratios of 0.090 +/- 0.033%, 0.178 +/- 0.057%, 0.364 +/- 0.016%, and 0.438 +/- 0.020% in the H, Ks, 3.6 and 4.5 micron bands, respectively. We compare these with planetary atmospheric models, and find they prefer an atmosphere with a temperature inversion and inefficient heat redistribution. However, we also find that the data are equally well-described by a blackbody model for the planet with Tp = 2042 +/- 50 K. Finally, we measure a secondary eclipse timing offset of 0.3 +/- 1.3 min from the predicted mid-eclipse time, which constrains e = 0.0072 +0.0700/-0.0064 when combined with RV data and is more consistent with a circular orbit.

UPDATEDSPITZEREMISSION SPECTROSCOPY OF BRIGHT TRANSITING HOT JUPITER HD 189733b

We analyze all existing secondary eclipse time series spectroscopy of hot Jupiter HD189733b acquired with the now defunct Spitzer/IRS instrument. We describe the novel approaches we develop to remove the systematic effects and extract accurate secondary eclipse depths as a function of wavelength in order to construct the emission spectrum of the exoplanet. We compare our results to a previous study by Grillmair et al. that did not examine all data sets available to us. We are able to confirm the detection of a water feature near 6{\mu}m claimed by Grillmair et al. We compare the planetary emission spectrum to three model families -- based on isothermal atmosphere, gray atmosphere, and two realizations of the complex radiative transfer model by Burrows et al., adopted in Grillmair et al.'s study. While we are able to reject the simple isothermal and gray models based on the data at the 97% level just from the IRS data, these rejections hinge on eclipses measured within relatively narrow wavelength range, between 5.5 and 7{\mu}m. This underscores the need for observational studies with broad wavelength coverage and high spectral resolution, in order to obtain robust information on exoplanet atmospheres.