Characterizing mid-type M dwarfs in the Kepler field with the Discovery Channel Telescope and WIYN

Planet occurrence rates increase with decreasing stellar mass (later spectral types); therefore, M dwarf systems are our most promising targets in the search for exoplanets. The identification and characterization of stars in the original Kepler field was accomplished using photometry alone, resulting in large uncertainties for late-type stars like M dwarfs. In order to more accurately compute the planet occurrence rate around mid- type M dwarfs, we need to better constrain their stellar radii and masses, properties which strongly correlate with other stellar parameters such as temperature and metallicity. These measurements need to be performed on a statistically significant population of stars including systems with and without planets. Therefore, we have begun to spectroscopically characterize the properties of the 559 probable mid-type M dwarfs in the Kepler field using red optical spectra obtained with the DeVeny Spectrograph on the Discovery Channel Telescope (DCT) and Hydra on the WIYN telescope in order to constrain the planet occurrence rate for such stars. We will be presenting initial results from our DCT and WIYN observations, including new temperature, radius, and mass estimates which we can use in occurrence rate calculations.http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2017AAS...22912608HPublished versio

Characterization of mid-type M dwarfs in the Kepler field

The planet occurrence rate has been found to increase with decreasing stellar mass (later spectral types) in the original Kepler field, and one out of four M dwarfs are expected to host Earth-sized planets within their habitable zones. M dwarf systems are, therefore, our most promising targets in the search for exoplanets. Yet the identification and characterization of M dwarfs in the Kepler field was accomplished using photometry alone and unfortunately this method provides large uncertainties for late-type stars. Notably absent from planet occurrence calculations are single planet mid-type M dwarfs (~M2-M6). In order to make an accurate calculation of the planet occurrence rate around mid-type M dwarfs, we need to constrain stellar radii and masses which depend on other stellar parameters (e.g. temperature and metallicity). We have identified 559 probable mid-type M dwarfs using photometric color selection criteria and have started to gather spectra of these objects in order to better constrain stellar properties and refine planet occurrence rates for this population. Here we outline the methods we are using for stellar classification and characterization and present some results from our initial data.http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2016AAS...22743012HPublished versio

Scaling K2. I. Revised Parameters for 222,088 K2 Stars and a K2 Planet Radius Valley at 1.9 R_⊕

Previous measurements of stellar properties for K2 stars in the Ecliptic Plane Input Catalog largely relied on photometry and proper motion measurements, with some added information from available spectra and parallaxes. Combining Gaia DR2 distances with spectroscopic measurements of effective temperatures, surface gravities, and metallicities from the Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fibre Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST) DR5, we computed updated stellar radii and masses for 26,838 K2 stars. For 195,250 targets without a LAMOST spectrum, we derived stellar parameters using random forest regression on photometric colors trained on the LAMOST sample. In total, we measured spectral types, effective temperatures, surface gravities, metallicities, radii, and masses for 222,088 A, F, G, K, and M-type K2 stars. With these new stellar radii, we performed a simple reanalysis of 299 confirmed and 517 candidate K2 planet radii from Campaigns 1–13, elucidating a distinct planet radius valley around 1.9 R_⊕, a feature thus far only conclusively identified with Kepler planets, and tentatively identified with K2 planets. These updated stellar parameters are a crucial step in the process toward computing K2 planet occurrence rates

Kepler Planet Occurrence Rates for Mid-type M Dwarfs as a Function of Spectral Type

Previous studies of planet occurrence rates largely relied on photometric stellar characterizations. In this paper, we present planet occurrence rates for mid-type M dwarfs using spectroscopy, parallaxes, and photometry to determine stellar characteristics. Our spectroscopic observations have allowed us to constrain spectral type, temperatures, and, in some cases, metallicities for 337 out of 561 probable mid-type M dwarfs in the primary Kepler field. We use a random forest classifier to assign a spectral type to the remaining 224 stars. Combining our data with Gaia parallaxes, we compute precise (~3%) stellar radii and masses, which we use to update planet parameters and occurrence rates for Keplermid-type M dwarfs. Within the Kepler field, there are seven M3 V to M5 V stars that host 13 confirmed planets between 0.5 and 2.5 Earth radii and at orbital periods between 0.5 and 10 days. For this population, we compute a planet occurrence rate of 1.19^(+0.70)_(−0.49) planets per star. For M3 V, M4 V, and M5 V, we compute planet occurrence rates of 0.86^(+1.32)_(−0.68), 1.36^(+2.30)_(−1.02), and 3.07^(+5.49)_(−2.4) planets per star, respectively

Bioverse: The Habitable Zone Inner Edge Discontinuity as an Imprint of Runaway Greenhouse Climates on Exoplanet Demographics

Long-term magma ocean phases on rocky exoplanets orbiting closer to their star than the runaway greenhouse threshold - the inner edge of the classical habitable zone - may offer insights into the physical and chemical processes that distinguish potentially habitable worlds from others. Thermal stratification of runaway planets is expected to significantly inflate their atmospheres, potentially providing observational access to the runaway greenhouse transition in the form of a "habitable zone inner edge discontinuity" in radius-density space. Here, we use Bioverse, a statistical framework combining contextual information from the overall planet population with a survey simulator, to assess the ability of ground- and space-based telescopes to test this hypothesis. We find that the demographic imprint of the runaway greenhouse transition is likely detectable with high-precision transit photometry for sample sizes $\gtrsim 100$ planets if at least ~10 % of those orbiting closer than the habitable zone inner edge harbor runaway climates. Our survey simulations suggest that in the near future, ESA's PLATO mission will be the most promising survey to probe the habitable zone inner edge discontinuity. We determine survey strategies that maximize the diagnostic power of the obtained data and identify as key mission design drivers: 1. A follow-up campaign of planetary mass measurements and 2. The fraction of low-mass stars in the target sample. Observational constraints on the runaway greenhouse transition will provide crucial insights into the distribution of atmospheric volatiles among rocky exoplanets, which may help to identify the nearest potentially habitable worlds.Comment: Accepted for publication in The Planetary Science Journal. For a video abstract, see https://youtu.be/acgKcdTTv9c. 29 pages, 12 figures, 1 table. All source code is available at https://github.com/matiscke/hz-inner-edge-discontinuit

Laboratory Determination of the Infrared Band Strengths of Pyrene Frozen in Water Ice: Implications for the Composition of Interstellar Ices

Broad infrared emission features (e.g., at 3.3, 6.2, 7.7, 8.6, and 11.3 microns) from the gas phase interstellar medium have long been attributed to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). A significant portion (10%-20%) of the Milky Way's carbon reservoir is locked in PAH molecules, which makes their characterization integral to our understanding of astrochemistry. In molecular clouds and the dense envelopes and disks of young stellar objects (YSOs), PAHs are expected to be frozen in the icy mantles of dust grains where they should reveal themselves through infrared absorption. To facilitate the search for frozen interstellar PAHs, laboratory experiments were conducted to determine the positions and strengths of the bands of pyrene mixed with H2O and D2O ices. The D2O mixtures are used to measure pyrene bands that are masked by the strong bands of H2O, leading to the first laboratory determination of the band strength for the CH stretching mode of pyrene in water ice near 3.25 microns. Our infrared band strengths were normalized to experimentally determined ultraviolet band strengths, and we find that they are generally ~50% larger than those reported by Bouwman et al. based on theoretical strengths. These improved band strengths were used to reexamine YSO spectra published by Boogert et al. to estimate the contribution of frozen PAHs to absorption in the 5-8 micron spectral region, taking into account the strength of the 3.25 micron CH stretching mode. It is found that frozen neutral PAHs contain 5%-9% of the cosmic carbon budget, and account for 2%-9% of the unidentified absorption in the 5-8 micron region.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ on 14 Feb 201

Spitzer Light Curves of the Young, Planetary-mass TW Hya Members 2MASS J11193254–1137466AB and WISEA J114724.10–204021.3

We present Spitzer Space Telescope time-series photometry at 3.6 and 4.5 μm of 2MASS J11193254−1137466AB and WISEA J114724.10−204021.3, two planetary-mass, late-type (~L7) brown dwarf members of the ~10 Myr old TW Hya Association. These observations were taken in order to investigate whether or not a tentative trend of increasing variability amplitude with decreasing surface gravity seen for L3–L5.5 dwarfs extends to later-L spectral types and to explore the angular momentum evolution of low-mass objects. We examine each light curve for variability and find a rotation period of 19.39^(+0.33)_(−0.28) hr and semi-amplitudes of 0.798^(+0.081)_(−0.083)% at 3.6 μm and 1.108^(+0.093)_(−0.094)% at 4.5 μm for WISEA J114724.10−204021.3. For 2MASS J11193254−1137466AB, we find a single period of 3.02^(+0.04)_(−0.03) hr with semi-amplitudes of 0.230^(+0.036)_(−0.035)% at 3.6 μm and 0.453 ± 0.037% at 4.5 μm, which we find is possibly due to the rotation of one component of the binary. Combining our results with 12 other late-type L dwarfs observed with Spitzer from the literature, we find no significant differences between the 3.6 μm amplitudes of low surface gravity and field gravity late-type L brown dwarfs at Spitzer wavelengths, and find tentative evidence (75% confidence) of higher amplitude variability at 4.5 μm for young, late-type Ls. We also find a median rotation period of young brown dwarfs (10–300 Myr) of ~10 hr, more than twice the value of the median rotation period of field-age brown dwarfs (~4 hr), a clear signature of brown dwarf rotational evolution