2,719 research outputs found
An Updated Visual Orbit of the Directly Imaged Exoplanet 51 Eridani b and Prospects for a Dynamical Mass Measurement with Gaia
We present a revision to the visual orbit of the young, directly imaged exoplanet 51 Eridani b using four years of observations with the Gemini Planet Imager. The relative astrometry is consistent with an eccentric (e = 0.53^(+0.09)_(−0.13)) orbit at an intermediate inclination (i = 136^(+10)_(−11)°), although circular orbits cannot be excluded due to the complex shape of the multidimensional posterior distribution. We find a semimajor axis of 11.1^(+4.2)_(−1.3) au and a period of 28.1^(+17.2)_(−4.9) yr, assuming a mass of 1.75 M⊙ for the host star. We find consistent values with a recent analysis of VLT/SPHERE data covering a similar baseline. We investigate the potential of using the absolute astrometry of the host star to obtain a dynamical mass constraint for the planet. The astrometric acceleration of 51 Eri derived from a comparison of the Hipparcos and Gaia catalogs was found to be inconsistent at the 2σ–3σ level with the predicted reflex motion induced by the orbiting planet. Potential sources of this inconsistency include a combination of random and systematic errors between the two astrometric catalogs and the signature of an additional companion within the system interior to current detection limits. We also explored the potential of using Gaia astrometry alone for a dynamical mass measurement of the planet by simulating Gaia measurements of the motion of the photocenter of the system over the course of the extended 8 yr mission. We find that such a measurement is only possible (>98% probability) given the most optimistic predictions for the Gaia scan astrometric uncertainties for bright stars and a high mass for the planet (≳3.6 M_(Jup))
Detection of a Low-mass Stellar Companion to the Accelerating A2IV Star HR 1645
The ~500 Myr A2IV star HR 1645 has one of the most significant low-amplitude accelerations of nearby early-type stars measured from a comparison of the Hipparcos and Gaia astrometric catalogs. This signal is consistent with either a stellar companion with a moderate mass ratio (q ~ 0.5) on a short period (P < 1 yr), or a substellar companion at a separation wide enough to be resolved with ground-based high-contrast imaging instruments; long-period equal-mass ratio stellar companions that are also consistent with the measured acceleration are excluded with previous imaging observations. The small but significant amplitude of the acceleration made HR 1645 a promising candidate for targeted searches for brown dwarf and planetary-mass companions around nearby, young stars. In this paper we explore the origin of the astrometric acceleration by modeling the signal induced by a wide-orbit M8 companion discovered with the Gemini Planet Imager, as well as the effects of an inner short-period spectroscopic companion discovered a century ago but not since followed up. We present the first constraints on the orbit of the inner companion, and demonstrate that it is a plausible cause of the astrometric acceleration. This result demonstrates the importance of vetting of targets with measured astrometric acceleration for short-period stellar companions prior to conducting targeted direct imaging surveys for wide-orbit substellar companions
Ordinary and Extraordinary Hadrons
Resonances and enhancements in meson-meson scattering can be divided into two
classes distinguished by their behavior as the number of colors N_c in QCD
becomes large: The first are ordinary mesons that become stable as N_c goes to
infinity. This class includes textbook q-bar q mesons as well as glueballs and
hybrids. The second class, extraordinary mesons, are enhancements that
disappear as N_c goes to infinity; they subside into the hadronic continuum.
This class includes indistinct and controversial objects that have been
classified as q-bar q-bar q q mesons or meson-meson molecules. Pelaez's study
of the N_c dependence of unitarized chiral dynamics illustrates both classes:
the p-wave pi-pi and K-pi resonances, the rho(770) and K*(892), behave as
ordinary mesons; the s-wave pi-pi and K-pi enhancements, the sigma(600) and
kappa(800), behave like extraordinary mesons. Ordinary mesons resemble Feshbach
resonances while extraordinary mesons look more like effects due to potentials
in meson-meson scattering channels. I build and explore toy models along these
lines. Finally I discuss some related dynamical issues affecting the
interpretation of extraordinary mesons.Comment: 18 pages, 10 figures, talk presented at the 2006 Yukawa International
Seminar: New Frontiers in QCD, Kyoto University, November 2006. This talk is
dedicated to the memory of R. H. Dalit
A search for passive protoplanetary disks in the Taurus-Auriga star-forming region
We conducted a 12-month monitoring campaign of 33 T Tauri stars (TTS) in
Taurus. Our goal was to monitor objects that possess a disk but have a weak
Halpha line, a common accretion tracer for young stars, to determine whether
they host a passive circumstellar disk. We used medium-resolution optical
spectroscopy to assess the objects' accretion status and to measure the Halpha
line. We found no convincing example of passive disks; only transition disk and
debris disk systems in our sample are non-accreting. Among accretors, we find
no example of flickering accretion, leading to an upper limit of 2.2% on the
duty cycle of accretion gaps assuming that all accreting TTS experience such
events. Combining literature results with our observations, we find that the
reliability of traditional Halpha-based criteria to test for accretion is high
but imperfect, particularly for low-mass TTS. We find a significant correlation
between stellar mass and the full width at 10 per cent of the peak (W10%) of
the Halpha line that does not seem to be related to variations in free-fall
velocity. Finally, our data reveal a positive correlation between the Halpha
equivalent width and its W10%, indicative of a systematic modulation in the
line profile whereby the high-velocity wings of the line are proportionally
more enhanced than its core when the line luminosity increases. We argue that
this supports the hypothesis that the mass accretion rate on the central star
is correlated with the Halpha W10% through a common physical mechanism.Comment: accepted for publication in MNRAS; 26 pages, 9 figures, 3 table
Distribution of Complex and Core Lipids within New Hyperthermophilic Members of the Archaea Domain
Core and complex lipids of several new hyperthermophilic archaeal isolates were analyzed. The organisms belong to the Sulfolobales,Archaeoglobus, Pyrobaculum, and Methanococcus. A detailed structural investigation of complex lipids of Pyrobaculum species is reported. The different lipid structures are of help for
a rapid and simple phylogenetic classification of the new isolates. They are in agreement with the classification based on other features
A significant mutual inclination between the planets within the Mensae system
Measuring the geometry of multi-planet extrasolar systems can provide insight
into their dynamical history and the processes of planetary formation. Such
measurements are challenging for systems detected through indirect techniques
such as radial velocity and transit, having only been measured for a handful of
systems to-date. We aimed to place constraints on the orbital geometry of the
outer planet in the Mensae system, a G0V star at 18.3 pc host to a
wide-orbit super-jovian ( ) with a
5.7-year period and an inner transiting super-earth (
) with a 6.3-d period. We combined astrometric measurements from the
Hipparcos and Gaia satellites with a precisely determined spectroscopic orbit
in an attempt to constrain the inclination of the orbital plane of the outer
planet. We measured an inclination of deg for the
orbital plane of Mensae b, leading to a direct measurement of its mass of
. We found a significant mutual
inclination between the orbital planes of the two planets; a 95% credible
interval for of between and after
accounting for the unknown position angle of the orbit of Mensae c,
strongly excluding a co-planar scenario for the two planets within this system.
All orbits are stable in the present-day configuration, and secular
oscillations of planet c's eccentricity are quenched by general relativistic
precession. Planet c may have undergone high eccentricity tidal migration
triggered by Kozai-Lidov cycles, but dynamical histories involving disk
migration or in situ formation are not ruled out. Nonetheless, this system
provides the first direct evidence that giant planets with large mutual
inclinations have a role to play in the origins and evolution of some
super-Earth systems.Comment: 24 pages, 10 figures, 7 tables. Accepted for publication in Astronomy
& Astrophysic
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