55 Cancri e's occultation captured with CHEOPS
Abstract
Past occultation and phase-curve observations of the ultra-short period super-Earth 55 Cnc e obtained at visible and infrared wavelengths have been challenging to reconcile with a planetary reflection and emission model. In this study, we analyse a set of 41 occultations obtained over a two-year timespan with the CHEOPS satellite. We report the detection of 55 Cnc e's occultation with an average depth of ppm. We derive a corresponding 2- upper limit on the geometric albedo of once decontaminated from the thermal emission measured by Spitzer at 4.5m. CHEOPS's photometric performance enables, for the first time, the detection of individual occultations of this super-Earth in the visible and identifies short-timescale photometric corrugations likely induced by stellar granulation. We also find a clear 47.3-day sinusoidal pattern in the time-dependent occultation depths that we are unable to relate to stellar noise, nor instrumental systematics, but whose planetary origin could be tested with upcoming JWST occultation observations of this iconic super-Earth.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2211.03582,
title = {55 Cancri e's occultation captured with CHEOPS},
author = {B. -O. Demory and S. Sulis and E. Meier Valdes and L. Delrez and A. Brandeker and N. Billot and A. Fortier and S. Hoyer and S. G. Sousa and K. Heng and M. Lendl and A. Krenn and B. M. Morris and J. A. Patel and Y. Alibert and R. Alonso and G. Anglada and T. Barczy and D. Barrado and S. C. C. Barros and W. Baumjohann and M. Beck and T. Beck and W. Benz and X. Bonfils and C. Broeg and M. Buder and J. Cabrera and S. Charnoz and A. Collier Cameron and H. Cottard and Sz. Csizmadia and M. B. Davies and M. Deleuil and O. D. S. Demangeon and D. Ehrenreich and A. Erikson and L. Fossati and M. Fridlund and D. Gandolfi and M. Gillon and M. Gudel and K. G. Isaak and L. L. Kiss and J. Laskar and A. Lecavelier des Etangs and C. Lovis and A. Luntzer and D. Magrin and L. Marafatto and P. F. L. Maxted and V. Nascimbeni and G. Olofsson and R. Ottensamer and I. Pagano and E. Palle and G. Peter and G. Piotto and D. Pollacco and D. Queloz and R. Ragazzoni and N. Rando and F. Ratti and H. Rauer and I. Ribas and N. C. Santos and G. Scandariato and D. Segransan and A. E. Simon and A. M. S. Smith and M. Steller and Gy. M. Szabo and N. Thomas and S. Udry and V. Van Grootel and N. A. Walton},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2211.03582},
year = {2023}
}
Comments
In press. Accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics on 13 October 2022. 10 pages, 7 figures and 3 tables