127 research outputs found
Kepler-1656b: a Dense Sub-Saturn With an Extreme Eccentricity
Kepler-1656b is a 5 planet with an orbital period of 32 days initially
detected by the prime Kepler mission. We obtained precision radial velocities
of Kepler-1656 with Keck/HIRES in order to confirm the planet and to
characterize its mass and orbital eccentricity. With a mass of ,
Kepler-1656b is more massive than most planets of comparable size. Its high
mass implies that a significant fraction, roughly 80%, of the planet's total
mass is in high density material such as rock/iron, with the remaining mass in
a low density H/He envelope. The planet also has a high eccentricity of , the largest measured eccentricity for any planet less than 100
. The planet's high density and high eccentricity may be the result of one
or more scattering and merger events during or after the dispersal of the
protoplanetary disk.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures, published in The Astronomical Journa
Three Super-Earths Orbiting HD 7924
We report the discovery of two super-Earth mass planets orbiting the nearby
K0.5 dwarf HD 7924 which was previously known to host one small planet. The new
companions have masses of 7.9 and 6.4 M, and orbital periods of 15.3
and 24.5 days. We perform a joint analysis of high-precision radial velocity
data from Keck/HIRES and the new Automated Planet Finder Telescope (APF) to
robustly detect three total planets in the system. We refine the ephemeris of
the previously known planet using five years of new Keck data and high-cadence
observations over the last 1.3 years with the APF. With this new ephemeris, we
show that a previous transit search for the inner-most planet would have
covered 70% of the predicted ingress or egress times. Photometric data
collected over the last eight years using the Automated Photometric Telescope
shows no evidence for transits of any of the planets, which would be detectable
if the planets transit and their compositions are hydrogen-dominated. We detect
a long-period signal that we interpret as the stellar magnetic activity cycle
since it is strongly correlated with the Ca II H and K activity index. We also
detect two additional short-period signals that we attribute to
rotationally-modulated starspots and a one month alias. The high-cadence APF
data help to distinguish between the true orbital periods and aliases caused by
the window function of the Keck data. The planets orbiting HD 7924 are a local
example of the compact, multi-planet systems that the Kepler Mission found in
great abundance.Comment: Accepted to ApJ on 4/7/201
The California-Kepler Survey. IV. Metal-rich Stars Host a Greater Diversity of Planets
Probing the connection between a star's metallicity and the presence and
properties of any associated planets offers an observational link between
conditions during the epoch of planet formation and mature planetary systems.
We explore this connection by analyzing the metallicities of Kepler target
stars and the subset of stars found to host transiting planets. After
correcting for survey incompleteness, we measure planet occurrence: the number
of planets per 100 stars with a given metallicity . Planet occurrence
correlates with metallicity for some, but not all, planet sizes and orbital
periods. For warm super-Earths having days and , planet occurrence is nearly constant over metallicities spanning
0.4 dex to +0.4 dex. We find 20 warm super-Earths per 100 stars, regardless
of metallicity. In contrast, the occurrence of warm sub-Neptunes () doubles over that same metallicity interval, from 20 to 40
planets per 100 stars. We model the distribution of planets as , where characterizes the strength of any metallicity
correlation. This correlation steepens with decreasing orbital period and
increasing planet size. For warm super-Earths ,
while for hot Jupiters . High metallicities in
protoplanetary disks may increase the mass of the largest rocky cores or the
speed at which they are assembled, enhancing the production of planets larger
than 1.7 . The association between high metallicity and short-period
planets may reflect disk density profiles that facilitate the inward migration
of solids or higher rates of planet-planet scattering.Comment: 32 pages, 15 figures, 9 tables, accepted for publication in The
Astronomical Journa
A low stellar obliquity for WASP-47, a compact multiplanet system with a hot Jupiter and an ultra-short period planet
We have detected the Rossiter-Mclaughlin effect during a transit of WASP-47b,
the only known hot Jupiter with close planetary companions. By combining our
spectroscopic observations with Kepler photometry, we show that the projected
stellar obliquity is . We can firmly exclude a
retrograde orbit for WASP-47b, and rule out strongly misaligned prograde
orbits. Low obliquities have also been found for most of the other compact
multiplanet systems that have been investigated. The Kepler-56 system, with two
close-in gas giants transiting their subgiant host star with an obliquity of at
least 45, remains the only clear counterexample.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, Accepted for publication on ApJL, comments
welcom
Developing a Drift Rate Distribution for Technosignature Searches of Exoplanets
A stable-frequency transmitter with relative radial acceleration to a
receiver will show a change in received frequency over time, known as a "drift
rate''. For a transmission from an exoplanet, we must account for multiple
components of drift rate: the exoplanet's orbit and rotation, the Earth's orbit
and rotation, and other contributions. Understanding the drift rate
distribution produced by exoplanets relative to Earth, can a) help us constrain
the range of drift rates to check in a Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence
(SETI) project to detect radio technosignatures and b) help us decide validity
of signals-of-interest, as we can compare drifting signals with expected drift
rates from the target star. In this paper, we modeled the drift rate
distribution for 5300 confirmed exoplanets, using parameters from the
NASA Exoplanet Archive (NEA). We find that confirmed exoplanets have drift
rates such that 99\% of them fall within the 53 nHz range. This implies a
distribution-informed maximum drift rate 4 times lower than previous
work. To mitigate the observational biases inherent in the NEA, we also
simulated an exoplanet population built to reduce these biases. The results
suggest that, for a Kepler-like target star without known exoplanets, 0.44
nHz would be sufficient to account for 99\% of signals. This reduction in
recommended maximum drift rate is partially due to inclination effects and bias
towards short orbital periods in the NEA. These narrowed drift rate maxima will
increase the efficiency of searches and save significant computational effort
in future radio technosignature searches.Comment: 15 pages, 8 figure
Discovery of a White Dwarf Companion to HD 159062
We report on the discovery of a white dwarf companion to the nearby late G
dwarf star, HD 159062. The companion is detected in 14 years of precise radial
velocity (RV) data, and in high-resolution imaging observations. RVs of HD
159062 from 2003-2018 reveal an acceleration of ,
indicating that it hosts a companion with a long-period orbit. Subsequent
imaging observations with the ShaneAO system on the Lick Observatory 3-meter
Shane telescope, the PHARO AO system on the Palomar Observatory 5-meter
telescope, and the NIRC2 AO system at the Keck II 10-meter telescope reveal a
faint companion 2.7'' from the primary star. We performed relative photometry,
finding magnitudes,
magnitudes, and magnitudes for the companion from
these observations. Analysis of the radial velocities, astrometry, and
photometry reveals that the combined data set can only be reconciled for the
scenario where HD 159062 B is a white dwarf. A full Bayesian analysis of the RV
and imaging data to obtain the cooling age, mass, and orbital parameters of the
white dwarf indicates that the companion is an old white dwarf with an orbital period of years, and a cooling age of Gyr.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figure
The California-Kepler Survey. III. A Gap in the Radius Distribution of Small Planets
The size of a planet is an observable property directly connected to the
physics of its formation and evolution. We used precise radius measurements
from the California-Kepler Survey (CKS) to study the size distribution of 2025
planets in fine detail. We detect a factor of 2 deficit
in the occurrence rate distribution at 1.5-2.0 R. This gap splits
the population of close-in ( < 100 d) small planets into two size regimes:
R < 1.5 R and R = 2.0-3.0 R, with few planets in
between. Planets in these two regimes have nearly the same intrinsic frequency
based on occurrence measurements that account for planet detection
efficiencies. The paucity of planets between 1.5 and 2.0 R supports
the emerging picture that close-in planets smaller than Neptune are composed of
rocky cores measuring 1.5 R or smaller with varying amounts of
low-density gas that determine their total sizes.Comment: Paper III in the California-Kepler Survey series, accepted to the
Astronomical Journa
Planet Candidates from K2 Campaigns 5-8 and Follow-Up Optical Spectroscopy
We present 151 planet candidates orbiting 141 stars from K2 campaigns 5-8
(C5-C8), identified through a systematic search of K2 photometry. In addition,
we identify 16 targets as likely eclipsing binaries, based on their light curve
morphology. We obtained follow-up optical spectra of 105/141 candidate host
stars and 8/16 eclipsing binaries to improve stellar properties and to identify
spectroscopic binaries. Importantly, spectroscopy enables measurements of host
star radii with 10% precision, compared to 40% precision when
only broadband photometry is available. The improved stellar radii enable
improved planet radii. Our curated catalog of planet candidates provides a
starting point for future efforts to confirm and characterize K2 discoveries.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astronomical Journal; 17 pages, 8
figures, 2 tables, download source for full table
HAT-P-11: Discovery of a Second Planet and a Clue to Understanding Exoplanet Obliquities
HAT-P-11 is a mid-K dwarf that hosts one of the first Neptune-sized planets
found outside the solar system. The orbit of HAT-P-11b is misaligned with the
star's spin --- one of the few known cases of a misaligned planet orbiting a
star less massive than the Sun. We find an additional planet in the system
based on a decade of precision radial velocity (RV) measurements from
Keck/HIRES. HAT-P-11c is similar to Jupiter in its mass ( ) and orbital period ( year), but has a
much more eccentric orbit (). In our joint modeling of RV and
stellar activity, we found an activity-induced RV signal of 7 m s,
consistent with other active K dwarfs, but significantly smaller than the 31 m
s reflex motion due to HAT-P-11c. We investigated the dynamical coupling
between HAT-P-11b and c as a possible explanation for HAT-P-11b's misaligned
orbit, finding that planet-planet Kozai interactions cannot tilt planet b's
orbit due to general relativistic precession; however, nodal precession
operating on million year timescales is a viable mechanism to explain
HAT-P-11b's high obliquity. This leaves open the question of why HAT-P-11c may
have such a tilted orbit. At a distance of 38 pc, the HAT-P-11 system offers
rich opportunities for further exoplanet characterization through astrometry
and direct imaging.Comment: 16 pages, 11 figures, 4 tables. Accepted to A
The California-Kepler Survey V. Peas in a Pod: Planets in a Kepler Multi-planet System are Similar in Size and Regularly Spaced
We have established precise planet radii, semimajor axes, incident stellar
fluxes, and stellar masses for 909 planets in 355 multi-planet systems
discovered by Kepler. In this sample, we find that planets within a single
multi-planet system have correlated sizes: each planet is more likely to be the
size of its neighbor than a size drawn at random from the distribution of
observed planet sizes. In systems with three or more planets, the planets tend
to have a regular spacing: the orbital period ratios of adjacent pairs of
planets are correlated. Furthermore, the orbital period ratios are smaller in
systems with smaller planets, suggesting that the patterns in planet sizes and
spacing are linked through formation and/or subsequent orbital dynamics. Yet,
we find that essentially no planets have orbital period ratios smaller than
, regardless of planet size. Using empirical mass-radius relationships, we
estimate the mutual Hill separations of planet pairs. We find that of
the planet pairs are at least 10 mutual Hill radii apart, and that a spacing of
mutual Hill radii is most common. We also find that when comparing
planet sizes, the outer planet is larger in of cases, and the
typical ratio of the outer to inner planet size is positively correlated with
the temperature difference between the planets. This could be the result of
photo-evaporation.Comment: Published in The Astronomical Journal. 15 pages, 17 figure
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