Radial velocity eclipse mapping of exoplanets

TL;DR

This paper explores the theoretical and observational potential of using the Rossiter-McLauglin effect during secondary eclipse to measure exoplanet rotation rates, obliquities, and atmospheric dynamics through high-dispersion spectroscopy.

Contribution

It introduces a novel method to determine exoplanet spins and atmospheric properties by analyzing radial velocity anomalies during secondary eclipse ingress and egress.

Findings

Radial velocity anomalies depend on planetary rotation and obliquity.

Line asymmetries reveal atmospheric wind patterns.

Synthetic data demonstrate the method's feasibility at near-infrared wavelengths.

Abstract

Planetary rotation rates and obliquities provide information regarding the history of planet formation, but have not yet been measured for evolved extrasolar planets. Here we investigate the theoretical and observational perspective of the Rossiter-McLauglin effect during secondary eclipse (RMse) ingress and egress for transiting exoplanets. Near secondary eclipse, when the planet passes behind the parent star, the star sequentially obscures light from the approaching and receding parts of the rotating planetary surface. The temporal block of light emerging from the approaching (blue-shifted) or receding (red-shifted) parts of the planet causes a temporal distortion in the planet's spectral line profiles resulting in an anomaly in the planet's radial velocity curve. We demonstrate that the shape and the ratio of the ingress-to-egress radial velocity amplitudes depends on the planetary rotational rate, axial tilt and impact factor (i.e. sky-projected planet spin-orbital alignment). In addition, line asymmetries originating from different layers in the atmosphere of the planet could provide information regarding zonal atmospheric winds and constraints on the hot spot shape for giant irradiated exoplanets. The effect is expected to be most-pronounced at near-infrared wavelengths, where the planet-to-star contrasts are large. We create synthetic near-infrared, high-dispersion spectroscopic data and demonstrate how the sky-projected spin axis orientation and equatorial velocity of the planet can be estimated. We conclude that the RMse effect could be a powerful method to measure exoplanet spins.