_version_ 1866913522759237632
author Oza, Apurva V.
Seidel, Julia V.
Hoeijmakers, H. Jens
Unni, Athira
Kesseli, Aurora Y.
Schmidt, Carl A.
Thirupathi, Sivarani
Bello-Arufe, Aaron
Gebek, Andrea
Westram, Moritz Meyer zu
Sousa, Sérgio G.
Lopes, Rosaly M. C.
Hu, Renyu
de Kleer, Katherine
Fisher, Chloe
Charnoz, Sébastien
Baker, Ashley D.
Halverson, Samuel P.
Schneider, Nicholas M.
Psaridi, Angelica
Wyttenbach, Aurélien
Torres, Santiago
Bhatnagar, Ishita
Johnson, Robert E.
author_facet Oza, Apurva V.
Seidel, Julia V.
Hoeijmakers, H. Jens
Unni, Athira
Kesseli, Aurora Y.
Schmidt, Carl A.
Thirupathi, Sivarani
Bello-Arufe, Aaron
Gebek, Andrea
Westram, Moritz Meyer zu
Sousa, Sérgio G.
Lopes, Rosaly M. C.
Hu, Renyu
de Kleer, Katherine
Fisher, Chloe
Charnoz, Sébastien
Baker, Ashley D.
Halverson, Samuel P.
Schneider, Nicholas M.
Psaridi, Angelica
Wyttenbach, Aurélien
Torres, Santiago
Bhatnagar, Ishita
Johnson, Robert E.
contents Neutral sodium (Na I) is an alkali metal with a favorable absorption cross section such that tenuous gases are easily illuminated at select transiting exoplanet systems. We examine both the time-averaged and time-series alkali spectral flux individually, over 4 nights at a hot Saturn system on a $\sim$ 2.8 day orbit about a Sun-like star WASP-49 A. Very Large Telescope/ESPRESSO observations are analyzed, providing new constraints. We recover the previously confirmed residual sodium flux uniquely when averaged, whereas night-to-night Na I varies by more than an order of magnitude. On HARPS/3.6-m Epoch II, we report a Doppler redshift at $v_{ Γ, \mathrm{NaD}} =$ +9.7 $\pm$ 1.6 km/s with respect to the planet's rest frame. Upon examining the lightcurves, we confirm night-to-night variability, on the order of $\sim$ 1-4 % in NaD rarely coinciding with exoplanet transit, not readily explained by stellar activity, starspots, tellurics, or the interstellar medium. Coincident with the $\sim$+10 km/s Doppler redshift, we detect a transient sodium absorption event dF$_{\mathrm{NaD}}$/F$_{\star}$ = 3.6 $\pm$ 1 % at a relative difference of $ΔF_{\mathrm{NaD}} (t) \sim$ 4.4 $\pm$ 1 %, enduring $Δt_{\mathrm{NaD}} \gtrsim$ 40 minutes. Since exoplanetary alkali signatures are blueshifted due to the natural vector of radiation pressure, estimated here at roughly $\sim$ -5.7 km/s, the radial velocity is rather at +15.4 km/s, far larger than any known exoplanet system. Given that the redshift magnitude v$_Γ$ is in between the Roche limit and dynamically stable satellite orbits, the transient sodium may be a putative indication of a natural satellite orbiting WASP-49 A b.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2409_19844
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Redshifted Sodium Transient near Exoplanet Transit
Oza, Apurva V.
Seidel, Julia V.
Hoeijmakers, H. Jens
Unni, Athira
Kesseli, Aurora Y.
Schmidt, Carl A.
Thirupathi, Sivarani
Bello-Arufe, Aaron
Gebek, Andrea
Westram, Moritz Meyer zu
Sousa, Sérgio G.
Lopes, Rosaly M. C.
Hu, Renyu
de Kleer, Katherine
Fisher, Chloe
Charnoz, Sébastien
Baker, Ashley D.
Halverson, Samuel P.
Schneider, Nicholas M.
Psaridi, Angelica
Wyttenbach, Aurélien
Torres, Santiago
Bhatnagar, Ishita
Johnson, Robert E.
Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
Neutral sodium (Na I) is an alkali metal with a favorable absorption cross section such that tenuous gases are easily illuminated at select transiting exoplanet systems. We examine both the time-averaged and time-series alkali spectral flux individually, over 4 nights at a hot Saturn system on a $\sim$ 2.8 day orbit about a Sun-like star WASP-49 A. Very Large Telescope/ESPRESSO observations are analyzed, providing new constraints. We recover the previously confirmed residual sodium flux uniquely when averaged, whereas night-to-night Na I varies by more than an order of magnitude. On HARPS/3.6-m Epoch II, we report a Doppler redshift at $v_{ Γ, \mathrm{NaD}} =$ +9.7 $\pm$ 1.6 km/s with respect to the planet's rest frame. Upon examining the lightcurves, we confirm night-to-night variability, on the order of $\sim$ 1-4 % in NaD rarely coinciding with exoplanet transit, not readily explained by stellar activity, starspots, tellurics, or the interstellar medium. Coincident with the $\sim$+10 km/s Doppler redshift, we detect a transient sodium absorption event dF$_{\mathrm{NaD}}$/F$_{\star}$ = 3.6 $\pm$ 1 % at a relative difference of $ΔF_{\mathrm{NaD}} (t) \sim$ 4.4 $\pm$ 1 %, enduring $Δt_{\mathrm{NaD}} \gtrsim$ 40 minutes. Since exoplanetary alkali signatures are blueshifted due to the natural vector of radiation pressure, estimated here at roughly $\sim$ -5.7 km/s, the radial velocity is rather at +15.4 km/s, far larger than any known exoplanet system. Given that the redshift magnitude v$_Γ$ is in between the Roche limit and dynamically stable satellite orbits, the transient sodium may be a putative indication of a natural satellite orbiting WASP-49 A b.
title Redshifted Sodium Transient near Exoplanet Transit
topic Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2409.19844