Redshifted Sodium Transient near Exoplanet Transit
Apurva V. Oza, Julia V. Seidel, H. Jens Hoeijmakers, Athira Unni,, Aurora Y. Kesseli, Carl A. Schmidt, Sivarani Thirupathi, Aaron Bello-Arufe,, Andrea Gebek, Moritz Meyer zu Westram, S\'ergio G. Sousa, Rosaly M.C. Lopes,, Renyu Hu, Katherine de Kleer, Chloe Fisher

TL;DR
This study analyzes sodium absorption signals in the atmosphere of exoplanet WASP-49 A b, revealing transient features and a significant redshift that suggest the possible presence of a natural satellite or other dynamic atmospheric phenomena.
Contribution
It provides new observational constraints on sodium absorption variability and reports a transient sodium event with a notable redshift, indicating complex atmospheric or satellite interactions.
Findings
Detected night-to-night sodium flux variability exceeding an order of magnitude.
Observed a Doppler redshift of +9.7 km/s in sodium absorption.
Identified a transient sodium absorption event lasting over 40 minutes.
Abstract
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 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 +9.7 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 1-4 % in NaD rarely coinciding with exoplanet transit, not readily…
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Taxonomy
TopicsStellar, planetary, and galactic studies · Astronomy and Astrophysical Research · Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies
