10,191 research outputs found
Statistical properties of exoplanets II. Metallicity, orbital parameters, and space velocities
In this article we present a detailed spectroscopic analysis of more than 50
extra-solar planet host stars. Stellar atmospheric parameters and metallicities
are derived using high resolution and high S/N spectra. The spectroscopy
results, added to the previous studies, imply that we have access to a large
and uniform sample of metallicities for about 80 planet hosts stars. We make
use of this sample to confirm the metal-rich nature of stars with planets, and
to show that the planetary frequency is rising as a function of the [Fe/H].
Furthermore, the source of this high metallicity is shown to have most probably
an ``primordial'' source, confirming previous results. The comparison of the
orbital properties (period and eccentricity) and minimum masses of the planets
with the stellar properties also reveal some emerging but still not significant
trends. These are discussed and some explanations are proposed. Finally, we
show that the planet host stars included in the CORALIE survey have similar
kinematical properties as the whole CORALIE volume-limited planet search
sample. Planet hosts simply seem to occupy the metal-rich envelope of this
latter population.Comment: 15 pages, 10 (eps) figures, Astronomy & Astrophysics, in pres
Are beryllium abundances anomalous in stars with giant planets?
In this paper we present beryllium (Be) abundances in a large sample of 41
extra-solar planet host stars, and for 29 stars without any known
planetary-mass companion, spanning a large range of effective temperatures. The
Be abundances were derived through spectral synthesis done in standard Local
Thermodynamic Equilibrium, using spectra obtained with various instruments. The
results seem to confirm that overall, planet-host stars have ``normal'' Be
abundances, although a small, but not significant, difference might be present.
This result is discussed, and we show that this difference is probably not due
to any stellar ``pollution'' events. In other words, our results support the
idea that the high-metal content of planet-host stars has, overall, a
``primordial'' origin. However, we also find a small subset of planet-host
late-F and early-G dwarfs that might have higher than average Be abundances.
The reason for the offset is not clear, and might be related either to the
engulfment of planetary material, to galactic chemical evolution effects, or to
stellar-mass differences for stars of similar temperature.Comment: 15 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy &
Astrophysic
Elodie metallicity-biased search for transiting Hot Jupiters I. Two Hot Jupiters orbiting the slightly evolved stars HD118203 and HD149143
We report the discovery of a new planet candidate orbiting the subgiant star
HD118203 with a period of P=6.1335 days. The best Keplerian solution yields an
eccentricity e=0.31 and a minimum mass m2sin(i)=2.1MJup for the planet. This
star has been observed with the ELODIE fiber-fed spectrograph as one of the
targets in our planet-search programme biased toward high-metallicity stars,
on-going since March 2004 at the Haute-Provence Observatory. An analysis of the
spectroscopic line profiles using line bisectors revealed no correlation
between the radial velocities and the line-bisector orientations, indicating
that the periodic radial-velocity signal is best explained by the presence of a
planet-mass companion. A linear trend is observed in the residuals around the
orbital solution that could be explained by the presence of a second companion
in a longer-period orbit. We also present here our orbital solution for another
slightly evolved star in our metal-rich sample, HD149143, recently proposed to
host a 4-d period Hot Jupiter by the N2K consortium. Our solution yields a
period P=4.09 days, a marginally significant eccentricity e=0.08 and a
planetary minimum mass of 1.36MJup. We checked that the shape of the spectral
lines does not vary for this star as well.Comment: Accepted in A&A (6 pages, 6 figures
Nitrogen abundances in Planet-harbouring stars
We present a detailed spectroscopic analysis of nitrogen abundances in 91
solar-type stars, 66 with and 25 without known planetary mass companions. All
comparison sample stars and 28 planet hosts were analysed by spectral synthesis
of the near-UV NH band at 3360 \AA observed at high resolution with the
VLT/UVES,while the near-IR NI 7468 \AA was measured in 31 objects. These two
abundance indicators are in good agreement. We found that nitrogen abundance
scales with that of iron in the metallicity range -0.6 <[Fe/H]< +0.4 with the
slope 1.08 \pm 0.05. Our results show that the bulk of nitrogen production at
high metallicities was coupled with iron. We found that the nitrogen abundance
distribution in stars with exoplanets is the high [Fe/H] extension of the curve
traced by the comparison sample of stars with no known planets. A comparison of
our nitrogen abundances with those available in the literature shows a good
agreement.Comment: 15 pages, 7 figures, Accepted for publication in A&
Beryllium anomalies in solar-type field stars
We present a study of beryllium (Be) abundances in a large sample of field
solar-type dwarfs and sub-giants spanning a large range of effective
temperatures. The analysis shows that Be is severely depleted for F stars, as
expected by the light-element depletion models. However, we also show that
Beryllium abundances decrease with decreasing temperature for stars cooler than
6000 K, a result that cannot be explained by current theoretical models
including rotational mixing, but that is, at least in part, expected from the
models that take into account internal wave physics. In particular, the light
element abundances of the coolest and youngest stars in our sample suggest that
Be, as well as lithium (Li), has already been burned early during their
evolution. Furthermore, we find strong evidence for the existence of a Be-gap
for solar-temperature stars. The analysis of Li and Be abundances in the
sub-giants of our sample also shows the presence of one case that has still
detectable amounts of Li, while Be is severely depleted. Finally, we compare
the derived Be abundances with Li abundances derived using the same set of
stellar parameters. This gives us the possibility to explore the temperatures
for which the onset of Li and Be depletion occurs.Comment: 16 pages, 13 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy &
Astrophysic
Light elements in stars with exoplanets
It is well known that stars orbited by giant planets have higher abundances
of heavy elements when compared with average field dwarfs. A number of studies
have also addressed the possibility that light element abundances are different
in these stars. In this paper we will review the present status of these
studies. The most significant trends will be discussed.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures. Submitted to the proceedings of IAU symposium
268: Light elements in the universe
Beryllium abundances in stars hosting giant planets
We have derived beryllium abundances in a wide sample of stars hosting
planets, with spectral types in the range F7V-K0V, aimed at studying in detail
the effects of the presence of planets on the structure and evolution of the
associated stars. Predictions from current models are compared with the derived
abundances and suggestions are provided to explain the observed
inconsistencies. We show that while still not clear, the results suggest that
theoretical models may have to be revised for stars with Teff<5500K. On the
other hand, a comparison between planet host and non-planet host stars shows no
clear difference between both populations. Although preliminary, this result
favors a ``primordial'' origin for the metallicity ``excess'' observed for the
planetary host stars. Under this assumption, i.e. that there would be no
differences between stars with and without giant planets, the light element
depletion pattern of our sample of stars may also be used to further
investigate and constraint Li and Be depletion mechanisms.Comment: A&A in press -- accepted on the 22/02/2002 (11 pages, 6 figures
included
Elodie metallicity-biased search for transiting Hot Jupiters IV. Intermediate period planets orbiting the stars HD43691 and HD132406
We report here the discovery of two planet candidates as a result of our
planet-search programme biased in favour of high-metallicity stars, using the
ELODIE spectrograph at the Observatoire de Haute Provence. One of them has a
minimum mass m_2\sin{i} = 2.5 M_Jup and is orbiting the metal-rich star HD43691
with period P = 40 days and eccentricity e = 0.14. The other planet has a
minimum mass m_2\sin{i} = 5.6 M_Jup and orbits the slightly metal-rich star
HD132406 with period P = 974 days and eccentricity e = 0.34. Both stars were
followed up with additional observations using the new SOPHIE spectrograph that
replaces the ELODIE instrument, allowing an improved orbital solution for the
systems.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, to be published in A&
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