D. Mounzer, C. Lovis, J. V. Seidel, O. Attia, R. Allart, V. Bourrier, D. Ehrenreich, A. Wyttenbach, N. Astudillo-Defru, T. G. Beatty, H. M. Cegla, K. Heng, B. Lavie, M. Lendl, C. Melo, F. Pepe, J. Pepper, J. E. Rodriguez, D. Ségransan, S. Udry, E. Linder, S. G. Sousa
Abstract
Context. High-resolution transmission spectroscopy has allowed for in-depth information on the composition and structure of exoplanetary atmospheres to be garnered in the last few years, especially in the visible and in the near-infrared. Many atomic and molecular species have been detected thanks to data gathered from state-of-the-art spectrographs installed on large ground-based telescopes. Nevertheless, the Earth daily cycle has been limiting observations to exoplanets with the shortest transits.
Aims. The inflated sub-Saturn KELT-11 b has a hot atmosphere and orbits a bright evolved subgiant star, making it a prime choice for atmospheric characterization. The challenge lies in its transit duration – of more than 7 h – which can only be covered partially or without enough out-of-transit baselines when observed from the ground.
Methods. To overcome this constraint, we observed KELT-11 b with the HARPS spectrograph in series of three consecutive nights, each focusing on a different phase of the planetary orbit: before, during, and after the transit. This allowed us to gather plenty of out-of-transit baseline spectra, which was critical to build a spectrum of the unocculted star with sufficient precision. Telluric absorption lines were corrected using the atmospheric transmission code MOLECFIT. Individual high-resolution transmission spectra were merged to obtain a high signal-to-noise transmission spectrum to search for sodium in KELT-11 b’s atmosphere through the ~5900 Å doublet.
Results. Our results highlight the potential for independent observations of a long-transiting planet over consecutive nights. Our study reveals a sodium excess absorption of 0.28 ± 0.05% and 0.50 ± 0.06% in the Na D1 and D2 lines, respectively. This corresponds to 1.44 and 1.69 times the white-light planet radius in the line cores. Wind pattern modeling tends to prefer day-to-night side winds with no vertical winds, which is surprising considering the planet bloatedness. The modeling of the Rossiter-Mclaughlin effect yields a significantly misaligned orbit, with a projected spin-orbit angle of λ = −77.86−2.26+2.36∘.
Conclusions. Belonging to the under-studied group of inflated sub-Saturns, the characteristics of KELT-11 b – notably its extreme scale height and long transit – make it an ideal and unique target for next-generation telescopes. Our results as well as recent findings from HST, TESS, and CHEOPS observations could make KELT-11 b a benchmark exoplanet in atmospheric characterization.
Keywords
planets and satellites: atmospheres / instrumentation: spectrographs / techniques: spectroscopic / methods: observational / planets and satellites: individual: KELT-11 b
Notes
Based on observations made at ESO 3.6 m telescope at the La Silla Observatory under ESO programme 098.C-0304 (PI: Ehrenreich).
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Volume 668, Article Number A1, Number of pages 18
2022 December
