The shocking transit of WASP-12b : modelling the observed early ingress in the near ultraviolet
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Date
09/2011Author
Grant ID
ST G001987 1
PP/F000065/1
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Show full item recordAbstract
Near ultraviolet observations of WASP-12b have revealed an early ingress compared to the optical transit lightcurve. This has been interpreted as due to the presence of a magnetospheric bow shock which forms when the relative velocity of the planetary and stellar material is supersonic. We aim to reproduce this observed early ingress by modelling the stellar wind (or coronal plasma) in order to derive the speed and density of the material at the planetary orbital radius. From this we determine the orientation of the shock and the density of compressed plasma behind it. With this model for the density structure surrounding the planet we perform Monte Carlo radiation transfer simulations of the near UV transits of WASP-12b with and without a bow shock. We find that we can reproduce the transit lightcurves with a wide range of plasma temperatures, shock geometries and optical depths. Our results support the hypothesis that a bow shock could explain the observed early ingress.
Citation
Llama , J , Wood , K , Jardine , M M , Vidotto , A , Helling , C , Fossati , L & Haswell , C A 2011 , ' The shocking transit of WASP-12b : modelling the observed early ingress in the near ultraviolet ' , Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters , vol. 416 , no. 1 , pp. 41-44 . https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-3933.2011.01093.x
Publication
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters
Status
Peer reviewed
ISSN
1745-3925Type
Journal article
Rights
This is an author version of this article © 2011 The Authors. Published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society © 2011 RAS. The definitive version is available at www.blackwell-synergy.com
Description
4 pages, 2 figuresCollections
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