A search for starlight reflected from HD 75289 b

We have used a doppler tomographic analysis to conduct a deep search for the starlight reflected from the planetary companion to HD 75289. In 4 nights on VLT2/UVES in January 2003, we obtained 684 high resolution échelle spectra with a total integration time of 26 hours. We establish an upper limit on the planet’s geometric albedo p < 0.12 (to the 99.9% significance level) at the most probable orbital inclination i ≃ 60◦, assuming a grey albedo, a Venus-like phase function and a planetary radius Rp = 1.6RJup. We are able to rule out some combinations of the predicted planetary radius and atmospheric albedo models with high, reflective cloud decks.