Discovery and spectroscopy of the young jovian planet 51 Eri b with the Gemini Planet Imager

October 2015 • 2015Sci...350...64M

Authors • Macintosh, B. • Graham, J. R. • Barman, T. • De Rosa, R. J. • Konopacky, Q. • Marley, M. S. • Marois, C. • Nielsen, E. L. • Pueyo, L. • Rajan, A. • Rameau, J. • Saumon, D. • Wang, J. J. • Patience, J. • Ammons, M. • Arriaga, P. • Artigau, E. • Beckwith, S. • Brewster, J. • Bruzzone, S. • Bulger, J. • Burningham, B. • Burrows, A. S. • Chen, C. • Chiang, E. • Chilcote, J. K. • Dawson, R. I. • Dong, R. • Doyon, R. • Draper, Z. H. • Duchêne, G. • Esposito, T. M. • Fabrycky, D. • Fitzgerald, M. P. • Follette, K. B. • Fortney, J. J. • Gerard, B. • Goodsell, S. • Greenbaum, A. Z. • Hibon, P. • Hinkley, S. • Cotten, T. H. • Hung, L. -W. • Ingraham, P. • Johnson-Groh, M. • Kalas, P. • Lafreniere, D. • Larkin, J. E. • Lee, J. • Line, M. • Long, D. • Maire, J. • Marchis, F. • Matthews, B. C. • Max, C. E. • Metchev, S. • Millar-Blanchaer, M. A. • Mittal, T. • Morley, C. V. • Morzinski, K. M. • Murray-Clay, R. • Oppenheimer, R. • Palmer, D. W. • Patel, R. • Perrin, M. D. • Poyneer, L. A. • Rafikov, R. R. • Rantakyrö, F. T. • Rice, E. L. • Rojo, P. • Rudy, A. R. • Ruffio, J. -B. • Ruiz, M. T. • Sadakuni, N. • Saddlemyer, L. • Salama, M. • Savransky, D. • Schneider, A. C. • Sivaramakrishnan, A. • Song, I. • Soummer, R. • Thomas, S. • Vasisht, G. • Wallace, J. K. • Ward-Duong, K. • Wiktorowicz, S. J. • Wolff, S. G. • Zuckerman, B.

Abstract • Directly detecting thermal emission from young extrasolar planets allows measurement of their atmospheric compositions and luminosities, which are influenced by their formation mechanisms. Using the Gemini Planet Imager, we discovered a planet orbiting the ~20-million-year-old star 51 Eridani at a projected separation of 13 astronomical units. Near-infrared observations show a spectrum with strong methane and water-vapor absorption. Modeling of the spectra and photometry yields a luminosity (normalized by the luminosity of the Sun) of 1.6 to 4.0 × 10^-6 and an effective temperature of 600 to 750 kelvin. For this age and luminosity, “hot-start” formation models indicate a mass twice that of Jupiter. This planet also has a sufficiently low luminosity to be consistent with the “cold-start” core-accretion process that may have formed Jupiter.

Links

• PREPRINT http://arxiv.org/abs/1508.03084
• ELECTR https://doi.org/10.1126%2Fscience.aac5891
• SIMBAD http://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/simbo.pl?bibcode=2015Sci...350...64M
• PDF https://www.science.org/doi/epdf/10.1126/science.aac5891
• DATA http://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/cat/J/other/Sci/350.64
• DATA http://exoplanetarchive.ipac.caltech.edu/cgi-bin/DisplayOverview/nph-DisplayOverview?type=REFERENCE&bibcode=2015Sci...350...64M
• DATA https://archive.gemini.edu/searchform/publication=2015Sci...350...64M
• DATA https://irsa.ipac.caltech.edu/bibdata/2015/M/2015Sci...350...64M.html