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Originally published in Science Express on 12 October 2006
Science 27 October 2006:
Vol. 314. no. 5799, pp. 623 - 626
DOI: 10.1126/science.1133904
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Reports

The Phase-Dependent Infrared Brightness of the Extrasolar Planet {upsilon} Andromedae b

Joseph Harrington,1,2 Brad M. Hansen,3* Statia H. Luszcz,2,4 Sara Seager,5 Drake Deming,6 Kristen Menou,7 James Y.-K. Cho,8 L. Jeremy Richardson9

The star {upsilon} Andromedae is orbited by three known planets, the innermost of which has an orbital period of 4.617 days and a mass at least 0.69 that of Jupiter. This planet is close enough to its host star that the radiation it absorbs overwhelms its internal heat losses. Here, we present the 24-micrometer light curve of this system, obtained with the Spitzer Space Telescope. It shows a variation in phase with the orbital motion of the innermost planet, demonstrating that such planets possess distinct hot substellar (day) and cold antistellar (night) faces.

1 Department of Physics, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL 32816, USA.
2 Center for Radiophysics and Space Research, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA.
3 Department of Physics and Astronomy and Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
4 Department of Astronomy, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
5 Department of Terrestrial Magnetism, Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, DC 20015, USA.
6 Planetary Systems Laboratory and Goddard Center for Astrobiology, Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA.
7 Department of Astronomy, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA.
8 Astronomy Unit, School of Mathematical Sciences, Queen Mary, University of London, London E1 4NS, UK.
9 Exoplanets and Stellar Astrophysics Laboratory, Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: hansen{at}astro.ucla.edu

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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)