Jasmina Blecic, Joseph Harrington, Nikku Madhusudhan, Kevin B. Stevenson, Ryan A. Hardy, Patricio E. Cubillos, Matthew Hardin, Sarah Nymeyer, David R. Anderson, Coel Hellier, Alexis M. S. Smith, Andrew Collier Cameron
WASP-43b (Hellier et al.; Gillon et al.) is one of the closest-orbiting hot Jupiters, with a semimajor axis a = 0.01526 +/- 0.00018 AU and a period of only 0.81 days. However, it orbits one of the coolest stars with a hot Jupiter (K7V, Tstar = 4520 +/- 120 K), giving the planet a modest equilibrium temperature of Teq = 1440 +/- 40 K, assuming zero Bond albedo and uniform planetary energy redistribution. This has resulted in strong signal-to-noise-ratio (S/N) observations and deep eclipses in both Warm Spitzer channels (3.6 and 4.5 microns). The eclipse depths and brightness temperatures from our jointly fit model are 0.346 +/- 0.013% and 1684 +/- 24 K at 3.6 microns and 0.382 +/- 0.015% and 1485 +/- 24 K at 4.5 microns. The eclipse timings improved the estimate of the orbital period, P, by a factor of three (P = 0.81347459 +/- 2.1x10-7 days) compared to Gillon et al. and put an upper limit on the eccentricity (e = 0.007+0.013-0.004). We use our Spitzer eclipse depths with two previously reported ground-based data points in the J and K bands to constrain the atmospheric properties of WASP-43b. The data rule out a strong thermal inversion in the dayside atmosphere of WASP-43b. Model atmospheres with no thermal inversions and fiducial oxygen-rich compositions are able to explain all the available data. These data, however, are insufficient to place stringent constraints on the molecular mixing ratios. The data suggest low day-night energy redistribution in the planet, consistent with previous studies, with a nominal upper limit of about 35% for the fraction of energy incident on the dayside, but redistributed to the nightside.
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http://arxiv.org/abs/1302.7003
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