40 research outputs found
Two Warm Super-Earths Transiting the Nearby M Dwarf TOI-2095
We report the detection and validation of two planets orbiting TOI-2095 (TIC
235678745). The host star is a 3700K M1V dwarf with a high proper motion. The
star lies at a distance of 42 pc in a sparsely populated portion of the sky and
is bright in the infrared (K=9). With data from 24 Sectors of observation
during TESS's Cycles 2 and 4, TOI-2095 exhibits two sets of transits associated
with super-Earth-sized planets. The planets have orbital periods of 17.7 days
and 28.2 days and radii of 1.30 and 1.39 Earth radii, respectively. Archival
data, preliminary follow-up observations, and vetting analyses support the
planetary interpretation of the detected transit signals. The pair of planets
have estimated equilibrium temperatures of approximately 400 K, with stellar
insolations of 3.23 and 1.73 times that of Earth, placing them in the Venus
zone. The planets also lie in a radius regime signaling the transition between
rock-dominated and volatile-rich compositions. They are thus prime targets for
follow-up mass measurements to better understand the properties of warm,
transition radius planets. The relatively long orbital periods of these two
planets provide crucial data that can help shed light on the processes that
shape the composition of small planets orbiting M dwarfs.Comment: Submitted to AAS Journal
The Magellan-TESS Survey I: Survey Description and Mid-Survey Results
One of the most significant revelations from Kepler is that roughly one-third
of Sun-like stars host planets which orbit their stars within 100 days and are
between the size of Earth and Neptune. How do these super-Earth and sub-Neptune
planets form, what are they made of, and do they represent a continuous
population or naturally divide into separate groups? Measuring their masses and
thus bulk densities can help address these questions of their origin and
composition. To that end, we began the Magellan-TESS Survey (MTS), which uses
Magellan II/PFS to obtain radial velocity (RV) masses of 30 transiting
exoplanets discovered by TESS and develops an analysis framework that connects
observed planet distributions to underlying populations. In the past, RV
measurements of small planets have been challenging to obtain due to the
faintness and low RV semi-amplitudes of most Kepler systems, and challenging to
interpret due to the potential biases in the existing ensemble of small planet
masses from non-algorithmic decisions for target selection and observation
plans. The MTS attempts to minimize these biases by focusing on bright TESS
targets and employing a quantitative selection function and multi-year
observing strategy. In this paper, we (1) describe the motivation and survey
strategy behind the MTS, (2) present our first catalog of planet mass and
density constraints for 25 TESS Objects of Interest (TOIs; 20 in our population
analysis sample, five that are members of the same systems), and (3) employ a
hierarchical Bayesian model to produce preliminary constraints on the
mass-radius (M-R) relation. We find qualitative agreement with prior
mass-radius relations but some quantitative differences (abridged). The the
results of this work can inform more detailed studies of individual systems and
offer a framework that can be applied to future RV surveys with the goal of
population inferences.Comment: 101 pages (39 of main text and references, the rest an appendix of
figures and tables). Submitted to AAS Journal
The L 98-59 System: Three Transiting, Terrestrial-size Planets Orbiting a Nearby M Dwarf
We report the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) discovery of three terrestrial-size planets transiting L 98-59 (TOI-175, TIC 307210830)—a bright M dwarf at a distance of 10.6 pc. Using the Gaia-measured distance and broadband photometry, we find that the host star is an M3 dwarf. Combined with the TESS transits from three sectors, the corresponding stellar parameters yield planet radii ranging from 0.8 R ⊕ to 1.6 R ⊕. All three planets have short orbital periods, ranging from 2.25 to 7.45 days with the outer pair just wide of a 2:1 period resonance. Diagnostic tests produced by the TESS Data Validation Report and the vetting package DAVE rule out common false-positive sources. These analyses, along with dedicated follow-up and the multiplicity of the system, lend confidence that the observed signals are caused by planets transiting L 98-59 and are not associated with other sources in the field. The L 98-59 system is interesting for a number of reasons: the host star is bright (V = 11.7 mag, K = 7.1 mag) and the planets are prime targets for further follow-up observations including precision radial-velocity mass measurements and future transit spectroscopy with the James Webb Space Telescope; the near-resonant configuration makes the system a laboratory to study planetary system dynamical evolution; and three planets of relatively similar size in the same system present an opportunity to study terrestrial planets where other variables (age, metallicity, etc.) can be held constant. L 98-59 will be observed in four more TESS sectors, which will provide a wealth of information on the three currently known planets and have the potential to reveal additional planets in the system
An ultrahot Neptune in the Neptune desert
About 1 out of 200 Sun-like stars has a planet with an orbital period shorter than one day: an ultrashort-period planet. All of the previously known ultrashort-period planets are either hot Jupiters, with sizes above 10 Earth radii (R⊕), or apparently rocky planets smaller than 2 R⊕. Such lack of planets of intermediate size (the ‘hot Neptune desert’) has been interpreted as the inability of low-mass planets to retain any hydrogen/helium (H/He) envelope in the face of strong stellar irradiation. Here we report the discovery of an ultrashort-period planet with a radius of 4.6 R⊕ and a mass of 29 M⊕, firmly in the hot Neptune desert. Data from the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite revealed transits of the bright Sun-like star LTT 9779 every 0.79 days. The planet’s mean density is similar to that of Neptune, and according to thermal evolution models, it has a H/He-rich envelope constituting 9.0^(+2.7)_(−2.9)% of the total mass. With an equilibrium temperature around 2,000 K, it is unclear how this ‘ultrahot Neptune’ managed to retain such an envelope. Follow-up observations of the planet’s atmosphere to better understand its origin and physical nature will be facilitated by the star’s brightness (V_(mag) = 9.8)
The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: A Measurement of the DR6 CMB Lensing Power Spectrum and its Implications for Structure Growth
We present new measurements of cosmic microwave background (CMB) lensing over
sq. deg. of the sky. These lensing measurements are derived from the
Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) Data Release 6 (DR6) CMB dataset, which
consists of five seasons of ACT CMB temperature and polarization observations.
We determine the amplitude of the CMB lensing power spectrum at
precision ( significance) using a novel pipeline that minimizes
sensitivity to foregrounds and to noise properties. To ensure our results are
robust, we analyze an extensive set of null tests, consistency tests, and
systematic error estimates and employ a blinded analysis framework. The
baseline spectrum is well fit by a lensing amplitude of
relative to the Planck 2018 CMB power spectra
best-fit CDM model and relative to
the best-fit model. From our lensing power
spectrum measurement, we derive constraints on the parameter combination
of
from ACT DR6 CMB lensing alone and
when combining ACT DR6 and Planck NPIPE
CMB lensing power spectra. These results are in excellent agreement with
CDM model constraints from Planck or
CMB power spectrum measurements. Our lensing measurements from redshifts
-- are thus fully consistent with CDM structure growth
predictions based on CMB anisotropies probing primarily . We find no
evidence for a suppression of the amplitude of cosmic structure at low
redshiftsComment: 45+21 pages, 50 figures. Prepared for submission to ApJ. Also see
companion papers Madhavacheril et al and MacCrann et a
The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: DR6 Gravitational Lensing Map and Cosmological Parameters
We present cosmological constraints from a gravitational lensing mass map
covering 9400 sq. deg. reconstructed from CMB measurements made by the Atacama
Cosmology Telescope (ACT) from 2017 to 2021. In combination with BAO
measurements (from SDSS and 6dF), we obtain the amplitude of matter
fluctuations at 1.8% precision,
and the Hubble
constant at
1.6% precision. A joint constraint with CMB lensing measured by the Planck
satellite yields even more precise values: ,
and . These measurements agree
well with CDM-model extrapolations from the CMB anisotropies measured
by Planck. To compare these constraints to those from the KiDS, DES, and HSC
galaxy surveys, we revisit those data sets with a uniform set of assumptions,
and find from all three surveys are lower than that from ACT+Planck
lensing by varying levels ranging from 1.7-2.1. These results motivate
further measurements and comparison, not just between the CMB anisotropies and
galaxy lensing, but also between CMB lensing probing on
mostly-linear scales and galaxy lensing at on smaller scales. We
combine our CMB lensing measurements with CMB anisotropies to constrain
extensions of CDM, limiting the sum of the neutrino masses to eV (95% c.l.), for example. Our results provide independent
confirmation that the universe is spatially flat, conforms with general
relativity, and is described remarkably well by the CDM model, while
paving a promising path for neutrino physics with gravitational lensing from
upcoming ground-based CMB surveys.Comment: 30 pages, 16 figures, prepared for submission to ApJ. Cosmological
likelihood data is here:
https://lambda.gsfc.nasa.gov/product/act/actadv_prod_table.html ; likelihood
software is here: https://github.com/ACTCollaboration/act_dr6_lenslike . Also
see companion papers Qu et al and MacCrann et al. Mass maps will be released
when papers are publishe