TESS Reveals a Short-period Sub-Neptune Sibling (HD 86226c) to a Known Long-period Giant Planet

The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite mission was designed to find transiting planets around bright, nearby stars. Here, we present the detection and mass measurement of a small, short-period (≈4 days) transiting planet around the bright (V = 7.9), solar-type star HD 86226 (TOI-652, TIC 22221375), previously known to host a long-period (~1600 days) giant planet. HD 86226c (TOI-652.01) has a radius of 2.16 ± 0.08 R⊕ and a mass of ${7.25}_{-1.12}^{+1.19}$ M⊕, based on archival and new radial velocity data. We also update the parameters of the longer-period, not-known-to-transit planet, and find it to be less eccentric and less massive than previously reported. The density of the transiting planet is 3.97 g cm−3, which is low enough to suggest that the planet has at least a small volatile envelope, but the mass fractions of rock, iron, and water are not well-constrained. Given the host star brightness, planet period, and location of the planet near both the "radius gap" and the "hot Neptune desert," HD 86226c is an interesting candidate for transmission spectroscopy to further refine its composition

The planetary system around HD 190622 (TOI-1054): Measuring the gas content of low-mass planets orbiting F-stars

Context. Giant planets are known to dominate the long-term stability of planetary systems due to their prevailing gravitational interactions, but they are also thought to play an important role in planet formation. Observational constraints improve our understanding of planetary formation processes such as the delivery of volatile-rich planetesimals from beyond the ice line into the inner planetary system. Additional constraints may come from studies of the atmosphere, but almost all such studies of the atmosphere investigate the detection of certain species, and abundances are not routinely quantitatively measured. Aims. Accurate measurements of planetary bulk parameters-that is, mass and density-provide constraints on the inner structure and chemical composition of transiting planets. This information provides insight into properties such as the amounts of volatile species, which in turn can be related to formation and evolution processes. Methods. The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) reported a planetary candidate around HD 190622 (TOI-1054), which was subsequently validated and found to merit further characterization with photometric and spectroscopic facilities. The KESPRINT collaboration used data from the High Accuracy Radial Velocity Planet Searcher (HARPS) to independently confirm the planetary candidate, securing its mass, and revealing the presence of an outer giant planet in the system. The CHEOPS consortium invested telescope time in the transiting target in order to reduce the uncertainty on the radius, improving the characterization of the planet. Results. We present the discovery and characterization of the planetary system around HD 190622 (TOI-1054). This system hosts one transiting planet, which is smaller than Neptune (3.087-0.053+0.058REarth, 7.7 ± 1.0 MEarth) but has a similar bulk density (1.43 ± 0.21 g cm-3) and an orbital period of 16 days; and a giant planet, not known to be transiting, with a minimum mass of 227.0 ± 6.7 MEarth in an orbit with a period of 315 days. Conclusions. Our measurements constrain the structure and composition of the transiting planet. HD 190622b has singular properties among the known population of transiting planets, which we discuss in detail. Among the sub-Neptune-sized planets known today, this planet stands out because of its large gas content

TESS Hunt for Young and Maturing Exoplanets (THYME): A Planet in the 45 Myr Tucana–Horologium Association

Young exoplanets are snapshots of the planetary evolution process. Planets that orbit stars in young associations are particularly important because the age of the planetary system is well constrained. We present the discovery of a transiting planet larger than Neptune but smaller than Saturn in the 45 Myr Tucana–Horologium young moving group. The host star is a visual binary, and our follow-up observations demonstrate that the planet orbits the G6V primary component, DS Tuc A (HD 222259A, TIC 410214986). We first identified transits using photometry from the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS; alerted as TOI 200.01). We validated the planet and improved the stellar parameters using a suite of new and archival data, including spectra from Southern Astrophysical Research/Goodman, South African Extremely Large Telescope/High Resolution Spectrograph and Las Cumbres Observatories/Network of Robotic Echelle Spectrographs; transit photometry from Spitzer; and deep adaptive optics imaging from Gemini/Gemini Planet Imager. No additional stellar or planetary signals are seen in the data. We measured the planetary parameters by simultaneously modeling the photometry with a transit model and a Gaussian process to account for stellar variability. We determined that the planetary radius is 5.70 ± 0.17 R ⊕ and that the orbital period is 8.1 days. The inclination angles of the host star’s spin axis, the planet’s orbital axis, and the visual binary’s orbital axis are aligned within 15° to within the uncertainties of the relevant data. DS Tuc Ab is bright enough (V = 8.5) for detailed characterization using radial velocities and transmission spectroscopy

Multi-messenger observations of a binary neutron star merger

On 2017 August 17 a binary neutron star coalescence candidate (later designated GW170817) with merger time 12:41:04 UTC was observed through gravitational waves by the Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo detectors. The Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor independently detected a gamma-ray burst (GRB 170817A) with a time delay of ~1.7 s with respect to the merger time. From the gravitational-wave signal, the source was initially localized to a sky region of 31 deg2 at a luminosity distance of 40+8-8 Mpc and with component masses consistent with neutron stars. The component masses were later measured to be in the range 0.86 to 2.26 Mo. An extensive observing campaign was launched across the electromagnetic spectrum leading to the discovery of a bright optical transient (SSS17a, now with the IAU identification of AT 2017gfo) in NGC 4993 (at ~40 Mpc) less than 11 hours after the merger by the One- Meter, Two Hemisphere (1M2H) team using the 1 m Swope Telescope. The optical transient was independently detected by multiple teams within an hour. Subsequent observations targeted the object and its environment. Early ultraviolet observations revealed a blue transient that faded within 48 hours. Optical and infrared observations showed a redward evolution over ~10 days. Following early non-detections, X-ray and radio emission were discovered at the transient’s position ~9 and ~16 days, respectively, after the merger. Both the X-ray and radio emission likely arise from a physical process that is distinct from the one that generates the UV/optical/near-infrared emission. No ultra-high-energy gamma-rays and no neutrino candidates consistent with the source were found in follow-up searches. These observations support the hypothesis that GW170817 was produced by the merger of two neutron stars in NGC4993 followed by a short gamma-ray burst (GRB 170817A) and a kilonova/macronova powered by the radioactive decay of r-process nuclei synthesized in the ejecta

Search for gravitational waves from Scorpius X-1 in the second Advanced LIGO observing run with an improved hidden Markov model

We present results from a semicoherent search for continuous gravitational waves from the low-mass x-ray binary Scorpius X-1, using a hidden Markov model (HMM) to track spin wandering. This search improves on previous HMM-based searches of LIGO data by using an improved frequency domain matched filter, the J-statistic, and by analyzing data from Advanced LIGO's second observing run. In the frequency range searched, from 60 to 650 Hz, we find no evidence of gravitational radiation. At 194.6 Hz, the most sensitive search frequency, we report an upper limit on gravitational wave strain (at 95% confidence) of h095%=3.47×10-25 when marginalizing over source inclination angle. This is the most sensitive search for Scorpius X-1, to date, that is specifically designed to be robust in the presence of spin wandering. © 2019 American Physical Society

Search for gravitational waves from Scorpius X-1 in the second Advanced LIGO observing run with an improved hidden Markov model

We present results from a semicoherent search for continuous gravitational waves from the low-mass x-ray binary Scorpius X-1, using a hidden Markov model (HMM) to track spin wandering. This search improves on previous HMM-based searches of LIGO data by using an improved frequency domain matched filter, the J-statistic, and by analyzing data from Advanced LIGO’s second observing run. In the frequency range searched, from 60 to 650 Hz, we find no evidence of gravitational radiation. At 194.6 Hz, the most sensitive search frequency, we report an upper limit on gravitational wave strain (at 95% confidence) of h95%0=3.47×10−25 when marginalizing over source inclination angle. This is the most sensitive search for Scorpius X-1, to date, that is specifically designed to be robust in the presence of spin wandering

Gravitational Waves and Gamma-Rays from a Binary Neutron Star Merger: GW170817 and GRB 170817A

On 2017 August 17, the gravitational-wave event GW170817 was observed by the Advanced LIGO and Virgo detectors, and the gamma-ray burst (GRB) GRB 170817A was observed independently by the Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor, and the Anti-Coincidence Shield for the Spectrometer for the International Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory. The probability of the near-simultaneous temporal and spatial observation of GRB 170817A and GW170817 occurring by chance is $5.0\times {10}^{-8}$. We therefore confirm binary neutron star mergers as a progenitor of short GRBs. The association of GW170817 and GRB 170817A provides new insight into fundamental physics and the origin of short GRBs. We use the observed time delay of $(+1.74\pm 0.05)\,{\rm{s}}$ between GRB 170817A and GW170817 to: (i) constrain the difference between the speed of gravity and the speed of light to be between $-3\times {10}^{-15}$ and $+7\times {10}^{-16}$ times the speed of light, (ii) place new bounds on the violation of Lorentz invariance, (iii) present a new test of the equivalence principle by constraining the Shapiro delay between gravitational and electromagnetic radiation. We also use the time delay to constrain the size and bulk Lorentz factor of the region emitting the gamma-rays. GRB 170817A is the closest short GRB with a known distance, but is between 2 and 6 orders of magnitude less energetic than other bursts with measured redshift. A new generation of gamma-ray detectors, and subthreshold searches in existing detectors, will be essential to detect similar short bursts at greater distances. Finally, we predict a joint detection rate for the Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor and the Advanced LIGO and Virgo detectors of 0.1-1.4 per year during the 2018-2019 observing run and 0.3-1.7 per year at design sensitivity

TESS Delivers Five New Hot Giant Planets Orbiting Bright Stars from the Full-frame Images

We present the discovery and characterization of five hot and warm Jupiters—TOI-628 b (TIC 281408474; HD 288842), TOI-640 b (TIC 147977348), TOI-1333 b (TIC 395171208, BD+47 3521A), TOI-1478 b (TIC 409794137), and TOI-1601 b (TIC 139375960)—based on data from NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). The five planets were identified from the full-frame images and were confirmed through a series of photometric and spectroscopic follow-up observations by the TESS Follow-up Observing Program Working Group. The planets are all Jovian size (RP = 1.01–1.77 RJ) and have masses that range from 0.85 to 6.33 MJ. The host stars of these systems have F and G spectral types (5595 ≤ Teff ≤ 6460 K) and are all relatively bright (9.5 1.7 RJ, possibly a result of its host star's evolution) and resides on an orbit with a period longer than 5 days. TOI-628 b is the most massive, hot Jupiter discovered to date by TESS with a measured mass of ${6.31}_{-0.30}^{+0.28}$ MJ and a statistically significant, nonzero orbital eccentricity of e = ${0.074}_{-0.022}^{+0.021}$. This planet would not have had enough time to circularize through tidal forces from our analysis, suggesting that it might be remnant eccentricity from its migration. The longest-period planet in this sample, TOI-1478 b (P = 10.18 days), is a warm Jupiter in a circular orbit around a near-solar analog. NASA's TESS mission is continuing to increase the sample of well-characterized hot and warm Jupiters, complementing its primary mission goals