Radio Observations of HD 80606 Near Planetary Periastron
Abstract
This paper reports Very Large Array observations at 325 and 1425 MHz (lambda 90 cm and lambda 20 cm) during and near the periastron passage of HD 80606b on HJD 2454424.86 (2007 November 20). We obtain flux density limits (3 sigma) of 1.7mJy and micro-Jy at 325 and 1425 MHz, respectively, equivalent to planetary luminosity limits of 2.3 x 10(exp 24) erg/s and 2.7 x 10(exp 23) erg/s. Unfortunately, these are several orders of magnitude above the nominal Jovian value (at 40 MHz) of 2 x 10(exp 18) erg/s. The motivation for these observations was that the planetary magnetospheric emission is driven by a stellar-wind-planetary-magnetosphere interaction so that the planetary luminosity would be elevated near periastron. We estimate that, near periastron, HD80606b might be as much as 3000 times more luminous than Jupiter. Recent transit observations of HD 80606b provide reasonably stringent constraints on the planetary mass and radius, and, because of the planet's highly eccentric orbit, its rotation period is likely to be "pseudo-synchronized" to its orbital period, allowing a robust estimate of the former. Consequently,we are able to make relatively robust estimates of the emission frequency of the planetary magnetospheric emission and find it to be around 60-90 MHz. While this is too low for our reported observations, we compare HD 80606b to other high-eccentricity systems and assess the detection possibilities for both near-term and more distant future systems.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 01, 2010
- Accession Number
- ADA535103
Entities
People
- D. L. Blank
- P. D. Shankland
- T. J. Lazio
- W. M. Farrell
Organizations
- United States Naval Observatory Flagstaff Station