Near-infrared thermal emission from the hot Jupiter TrES-2b: Ground-based detection of the secondary eclipse

Abstract

We present near-infrared Ks-band photometry bracketing the secondary eclipse of the hot Jupiter TrES-2b using the Wide-field Infrared Camera on the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope. We detect its thermal emission with an eclipse depth of 0.062+0.013-0.011% (5σ). Our best-fit secondary eclipse is consistent with a circular orbit (a 3σ upper limit on the eccentricity, ℓ, and argument or periastron, ω, of |ℓ cos ω| < 0.0090), in agreement with mid-infrared detections of the secondary eclipse of this planet. A secondary eclipse of this depth corresponds to a dayside Ks-band brightness temperature of TB = 1636 +79-88K. Our thermal emission measurement, when combined with the thermal emission measurements using Spitzer/IRAC from O'Donovan and collaborators, suggests that this planet exhibits relatively efficient dayside to nightside redistribution of heat and a near isothermal dayside atmospheric temperature structure, whose spectrum is well approximated by a blackbody. It is unclear if the atmosphere of TrES-2b requires a temperature inversion; if it does it is likely due to chemical species other than TiO/VO as the atmosphere of TrES-2b is too cool to allow TiO/VO to remain in gaseous form. Our secondary eclipse has the smallest depth of any detected from the ground, at around 2 μm, to date. © 2010. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.