New Photometry for the Extremely Eccentric Giant HD 80606 b

Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy

Scientific paper

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Scientific paper

Due to the combination of its extreme eccentricity and its fortuitous orbital geometry, the transiting giant exoplanet HD 80606 b offers a unique opportunity to place observational constraints on exoplanetary parameters which have never before been measured. Here we report the results of a 50-hour observational campaign during the periastron passage of HD 80606 b, taken with the 4.5-micron channel of the Spitzer Space Telescope. Our observations indicate a significantly larger baseline planetary flux than expected, implying a 4.5-um brightness temperature of at least 1000 K. This indicates either that the planet is currently experiencing very strong tidal dissipation, or that the atmosphere is relatively transparent at 4.5 um, so that emission at this wavelength originates in deeper, hotter layers of the atmosphere. Additionally, we are able to impose the first observational constraints on an exoplanet's rotation rate, requiring a rotation period greater than 20 h. We predict a resurgence in flux 30-40 h after the periastron passage, as the heated hemisphere rotates back into our line of sight, with the exact timing depending on the rotation rate.

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