Dr. Rabus, Markus

The Vera C. Rubin Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) holds the potential to revolutionize time domain astrophysics, reaching completely unexplored areas of the Universe and mapping variability time scales from minutes to a decade. To prepare to maximize the potential of the Rubin LSST data for the exploration of the transient and variable Universe, one of the four pillars of Rubin LSST science, the Transient and Variable Stars Science Collaboration, one of the eight Rubin LSST Science Collaborations, has identified research areas of interest and requirements, and paths to enable them. While our roadmap is ever-evolving, this document represents a snapshot of our plans and preparatory work in the final years and months leading up to the survey’s first light.

We present the discovery of a highly irradiated and moderately inflated ultrahot Jupiter, TOI-1431b/MASCARA5 b (HD 201033b), first detected by NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite mission (TESS) and the Multisite All-Sky Camera (MASCARA). The signal was established to be of planetary origin through radial velocity measurements obtained using SONG, SOPHIE, FIES, NRES, and EXPRES, which show a reflex motion of K = 294.1 ± 1.1 m s−1. A joint analysis of the TESS and ground-based photometry and radial velocity measurements reveals that TOI-1431b has a mass of Mp = 3.12 ± 0.18 MJ (990 ± 60 M⊕), an inflated radius of Rp = 1.49 ± 0.05 RJ (16.7 ± 0.6 R⊕), and an orbital period of P = 2.650237 ± 0.000003 days. Analysis of the spectral energy distribution of the host star reveals that the planet orbits a bright (V = 8.049 mag) and young ( -+ 0.29 0.19 0.32 Gyr) Am type star with = -+ Teff 7690 250 400 K, resulting in a highly irradiated planet with an incident flux of á ñ= ´ - + F 7.24 0.64 0.68 109 erg s−1 cm−2 ( - + 5300 470 SÅ 500 ) and an equilibrium temperature of Teq = 2370 ± 70 K. TESS photometry also reveals a secondary eclipse with a depth of - + 127 5 4 ppm as well as the full phase curve of the planet’s thermal emission in the red-optical. This has allowed us to measure the dayside and nightside temperature of its atmosphere as Tday = 3004 ± 64 K and Tnight = 2583 ± 63 K, the second hottest measured nightside temperature. The planet’s low day/night temperature contrast (∼420 K) suggests very efficient heat transport between the dayside and nightside hemispheres. Given the host star brightness and estimated secondary eclipse depth of ∼1000 ppm in the K band, the secondary eclipse is potentially detectable at near-IR wavelengths with ground-based facilities, and the planet is ideal for intensive atmospheric characterization through transmission and emission spectroscopy from space missions such as the James Webb Space Telescope and the Atmospheric Remote-sensing Infrared Exoplanet Large-survey.