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Project Progress

In this reporting period, we have focused on analyzing WASP-33b, one of the hottest exoplanets known, during secondary eclipse. This massive hot planet provides the best opportunity to determine whether stratospheric temperature inversions exist in Jupiter-mass planets – a key factor in interpreting their spectra and determining their composition. We analyzed data for two secondary occultations with an updated methodology that allows us to correct for channel– or wavelength–dependent instrumental effects by utilizing the band-integrated time series and measurements of the drift of the spectra on the detector over time. We have developed a data reduction pipeline and analysis methodology that produces spectra with precision close to the theoretical noise floor for individual spectral bins. The final results strongly suggest the presence of water emission at 1.4 µm due to a thermal inversion, making WASP-33b the first planet with a spectroscopically confirmed inversion (Figure 1). A paper detailing our efforts and results has been submitted to the Astrophysical Journal (Haynes et al. 2015)

Additionally, in collaboration with Klaus Pontoppidan at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI), we are developing a set of simulation algorithms to leverage the current progress on the official JWST Exposure Time Calculator. The simulator will incorporate up-to-date information on each instrument, and will eventually be made public online.

We are also in the design, planning and proposal stages for a balloon-borne telescope to observe transiting exoplanets above the Earth’s atmosphere, called the Transiting Exoplanet Explorer Balloon (TEEBall). The platform will provide an excellent opportunity to conduct a large-scale survey of hot exoplanets during a long-duration balloon flight in the Southern Hemisphere. In collaboration with Terry Hurford at GSFC, we have designed and flown a proof-of-concept telescope called the Observatory for Planetary Investigations from the Stratosphere (OPIS), which launched from Fort Sumner New Mexico in October 2014. The observatory utilized a 21” primary mirror and optical camera to measure the pointing stability and image quality at float altitudes of approximately 105,000 ft, above 99.5% of the Earth’s atmosphere. TEEBall will be planned for a first launch in 2018.