823 research outputs found
Planetary population synthesis
In stellar astrophysics, the technique of population synthesis has been
successfully used for several decades. For planets, it is in contrast still a
young method which only became important in recent years because of the rapid
increase of the number of known extrasolar planets, and the associated growth
of statistical observational constraints. With planetary population synthesis,
the theory of planet formation and evolution can be put to the test against
these constraints. In this review of planetary population synthesis, we first
briefly list key observational constraints. Then, the work flow in the method
and its two main components are presented, namely global end-to-end models that
predict planetary system properties directly from protoplanetary disk
properties and probability distributions for these initial conditions. An
overview of various population synthesis models in the literature is given. The
sub-models for the physical processes considered in global models are
described: the evolution of the protoplanetary disk, the planets' accretion of
solids and gas, orbital migration, and N-body interactions among concurrently
growing protoplanets. Next, typical population synthesis results are
illustrated in the form of new syntheses obtained with the latest generation of
the Bern model. Planetary formation tracks, the distribution of planets in the
mass-distance and radius-distance plane, the planetary mass function, and the
distributions of planetary radii, semimajor axes, and luminosities are shown,
linked to underlying physical processes, and compared with their observational
counterparts. We finish by highlighting the most important predictions made by
population synthesis models and discuss the lessons learned from these
predictions - both those later observationally confirmed and those rejected.Comment: 47 pages, 12 figures. Invited review accepted for publication in the
'Handbook of Exoplanets', planet formation section, section editor: Ralph
Pudritz, Springer reference works, Juan Antonio Belmonte and Hans Deeg, Ed
The LAGUNA design study- towards giant liquid based underground detectors for neutrino physics and astrophysics and proton decay searches
The feasibility of a next generation neutrino observatory in Europe is being
considered within the LAGUNA design study. To accommodate giant neutrino
detectors and shield them from cosmic rays, a new very large underground
infrastructure is required. Seven potential candidate sites in different parts
of Europe and at several distances from CERN are being studied: Boulby (UK),
Canfranc (Spain), Fr\'ejus (France/Italy), Pyh\"asalmi (Finland),
Polkowice-Sieroszowice (Poland), Slanic (Romania) and Umbria (Italy). The
design study aims at the comprehensive and coordinated technical assessment of
each site, at a coherent cost estimation, and at a prioritization of the sites
within the summer 2010.Comment: 5 pages, contribution to the Workshop "European Strategy for Future
Neutrino Physics", CERN, Oct. 200
Recent developments in planet migration theory
Planetary migration is the process by which a forming planet undergoes a
drift of its semi-major axis caused by the tidal interaction with its parent
protoplanetary disc. One of the key quantities to assess the migration of
embedded planets is the tidal torque between the disc and planet, which has two
components: the Lindblad torque and the corotation torque. We review the latest
results on both torque components for planets on circular orbits, with a
special emphasis on the various processes that give rise to additional, large
components of the corotation torque, and those contributing to the saturation
of this torque. These additional components of the corotation torque could help
address the shortcomings that have recently been exposed by models of planet
population syntheses. We also review recent results concerning the migration of
giant planets that carve gaps in the disc (type II migration) and the migration
of sub-giant planets that open partial gaps in massive discs (type III
migration).Comment: 52 pages, 18 figures. Review article to be published in "Tidal
effects in Astronomy and Astrophysics", Lecture Notes in Physic
Circumstellar disks and planets. Science cases for next-generation optical/infrared long-baseline interferometers
We present a review of the interplay between the evolution of circumstellar
disks and the formation of planets, both from the perspective of theoretical
models and dedicated observations. Based on this, we identify and discuss
fundamental questions concerning the formation and evolution of circumstellar
disks and planets which can be addressed in the near future with optical and
infrared long-baseline interferometers. Furthermore, the importance of
complementary observations with long-baseline (sub)millimeter interferometers
and high-sensitivity infrared observatories is outlined.Comment: 83 pages; Accepted for publication in "Astronomy and Astrophysics
Review"; The final publication is available at http://www.springerlink.co
Direct discovery of the inner exoplanet in the HD206893 system. Evidence for deuterium burning in a planetary-mass companion
Long term precise radial velocity (RV) monitoring of the nearby star
HD206893, as well as anomalies in the system proper motion, have suggested the
presence of an additional, inner companion in the system. Here we describe the
results of a multi-epoch search for the companion responsible for this RV drift
and proper motion anomaly using the VLTI/GRAVITY instrument. Utilizing
information from ongoing precision RV measurements with the HARPS spectrograph,
as well as Gaia host star astrometry, we report a high significance detection
of the companion HD206893c over three epochs, with clear evidence for Keplerian
orbital motion. Our astrometry with 50-100 arcsec precision afforded
by GRAVITY allows us to derive a dynamical mass of 12.7 M and an orbital separation of 3.53 au for HD206893c. Our
fits to the orbits of both companions in the system utilize both Gaia
astrometry and RVs to also provide a precise dynamical estimate of the
previously uncertain mass of the B component, and therefore derive an age of
Myr. We find that theoretical atmospheric/evolutionary models
incorporating deuterium burning for HD206893c, parameterized by cloudy
atmospheres provide a good simultaneous fit to the luminosity of both HD206893B
and c. In addition to utilizing long-term RV information, this effort is an
early example of a direct imaging discovery of a bona fide exoplanet that was
guided in part with Gaia astrometry. Utilizing Gaia astrometry is expected to
be one of the primary techniques going forward to identify and characterize
additional directly imaged planets. Lastly, this discovery is another example
of the power of optical interferometry to directly detect and characterize
extrasolar planets where they form at ice-line orbital separations of 2-4\,au.Comment: Accepted to A&
A super-Earth and a sub-Neptune orbiting the bright, quiet M3 dwarf TOI-1266
We report the discovery and characterisation of a super-Earth and a
sub-Neptune transiting the bright (), quiet, and nearby (37 pc) M3V
dwarf TOI-1266. We validate the planetary nature of TOI-1266 b and c using four
sectors of TESS photometry and data from the newly-commissioned 1-m SAINT-EX
telescope located in San Pedro M\'artir (Mexico). We also include additional
ground-based follow-up photometry as well as high-resolution spectroscopy and
high-angular imaging observations. The inner, larger planet has a radius of
R and an orbital period of 10.9 days. The
outer, smaller planet has a radius of R on
an 18.8-day orbit. The data are found to be consistent with circular, co-planar
and stable orbits that are weakly influenced by the 2:1 mean motion resonance.
Our TTV analysis of the combined dataset enables model-independent constraints
on the masses and eccentricities of the planets. We find planetary masses of
= (
at 2-) for TOI-1266 b and
( at 2-) for TOI-1266
c. We find small but non-zero orbital eccentricities of
( at 2-) for TOI-1266 b and ( at
2-) for TOI-1266 c. The equilibrium temperatures of both planets are of
K and K, respectively, assuming a null Bond albedo and
uniform heat redistribution from the day-side to the night-side hemisphere. The
host brightness and negligible activity combined with the planetary system
architecture and favourable planet-to-star radii ratios makes TOI-1266 an
exquisite system for a detailed characterisation
The LAGUNA design study- towards giant liquid based underground detectors for neutrino physics and astrophysics and proton decay searches
The feasibility of a next generation neutrino observatory in Europe is being considered within the LAGUNA design study. To accommodate giant neutrino detectors and shield them from cosmic rays, a new very large underground infrastructure is required. Seven potential candidate sites in different parts of Europe and at several distances from CERN are being studied: Boulby (UK), Canfranc (Spain), Fr\'ejus (France/Italy), Pyh\"asalmi (Finland), Polkowice-Sieroszowice (Poland), Slanic (Romania) and Umbria (Italy). The design study aims at the comprehensive and coordinated technical assessment of each site, at a coherent cost estimation, and at a prioritization of the sites within the summer 2010
A super-Earth and a sub-Neptune orbiting the bright, quiet M3 dwarf TOI-1266
We report the discovery and characterisation of a super-Earth and a sub-Neptune transiting the bright (K = 8.8), quiet, and nearby (37 pc) M3V dwarf TOI-1266. We validate the planetary nature of TOI-1266 b and c using four sectors of TESS photometry and data from the newly-commissioned 1-m SAINT-EX telescope located in San Pedro Mártir (México). We also include additional ground-based follow-up photometry as well as high-resolution spectroscopy and high-angular imaging observations. The inner, larger planet has a radius of R = 2.37_(−0.12)^(+0.16) R_⊕ and an orbital period of 10.9 days. The outer, smaller planet has a radius of R = 1.56_(−0.13)^(+0.15) R_⊕ on an 18.8-day orbit. The data are found to be consistent with circular, co-planar and stable orbits that are weakly influenced by the 2:1 mean motion resonance. Our TTV analysis of the combined dataset enables model-independent constraints on the masses and eccentricities of the planets. We find planetary masses of M_p = 13.5_(−9.0)^(+11.0) M_⊕ (<36.8 M_⊕ at 2-σ) for TOI-1266 b and 2.2_(−1.5)^(+2.0) M_⊕ (<5.7 M_⊕ at 2-σ) for TOI-1266 c. We find small but non-zero orbital eccentricities of 0.09_(−0.05)^(+0.06) (<0.21 at 2-σ) for TOI-1266 b and 0.04 ± 0.03 (< 0.10 at 2-σ) for TOI-1266 c. The equilibrium temperatures of both planets are of 413 ± 20 and 344 ± 16 K, respectively, assuming a null Bond albedo and uniform heat redistribution from the day-side to the night-side hemisphere. The host brightness and negligible activity combined with the planetary system architecture and favourable planet-to-star radii ratios makes TOI-1266 an exquisite system for a detailed characterisation
Refined parameters of the HD 22946 planetary system and the true orbital period of planet d
Multi-planet systems are important sources of information regarding the
evolution of planets. However, the long-period planets in these systems often
escape detection. HD 22946 is a bright star around which 3 transiting planets
were identified via TESS photometry, but the true orbital period of the
outermost planet d was unknown until now. We aim to use CHEOPS to uncover the
true orbital period of HD 22946d and to refine the orbital and planetary
properties of the system, especially the radii of the planets. We used the
available TESS photometry of HD 22946 and observed several transits of the
planets b, c, and d using CHEOPS. We identified 2 transits of planet d in the
TESS photometry, calculated the most probable period aliases based on these
data, and then scheduled CHEOPS observations. The photometric data were
supplemented with ESPRESSO radial velocity data. Finally, a combined model was
fitted to the entire dataset. We successfully determined the true orbital
period of the planet d to be 47.42489 0.00011 d, and derived precise
radii of the planets in the system, namely 1.362 0.040 R, 2.328
0.039 R, and 2.607 0.060 R for planets b, c, and
d, respectively. Due to the low number of radial velocities, we were only able
to determine 3 upper limits for these respective planet masses, which
are 13.71 M, 9.72 M, and 26.57 M. We estimated that
another 48 ESPRESSO radial velocities are needed to measure the predicted
masses of all planets in HD 22946. Planet c appears to be a promising target
for future atmospheric characterisation. We can also conclude that planet d, as
a warm sub-Neptune, is very interesting because there are only a few similar
confirmed exoplanets to date. Such objects are worth investigating in the near
future, for example in terms of their composition and internal structure
Spectral and atmospheric characterization of 51 Eridani b using VLT/SPHERE
51 Eridani b is an exoplanet around a young (20 Myr) nearby (29.4 pc) F0-type
star, recently discovered by direct imaging. Being only 0.5" away from its host
star it is well suited for spectroscopic analysis using integral field
spectrographs. We aim to refine the atmospheric properties of this and to
further constrain the architecture of the system by searching for additional
companions. Using the SPHERE instrument at the VLT we extend the spectral
coverage of the planet to the complete Y- to H-band range and provide
photometry in the K12-bands (2.11, 2.25 micron). The object is compared to
other cool and peculiar dwarfs. Furthermore, the posterior probability
distributions of cloudy and clear atmospheric models are explored using MCMC.
We verified our methods by determining atmospheric parameters for the two
benchmark brown dwarfs Gl 570D and HD 3651B. For probing the innermost region
for additional companions, archival VLT-NACO (L') SAM data is used. We present
the first spectrophotometric measurements in the Y- and K-bands for the planet
and revise its J-band flux to values 40% fainter than previous measurements.
Cloudy models with uniform cloud coverage provide a good match to the data. We
derive the temperature, radius, surface gravity, metallicity and cloud
sedimentation parameter f_sed. We find that the atmosphere is highly
super-solar (Fe/H~1.0) with an extended, thick cloud cover of small particles.
The model radius and surface gravity suggest planetary masses of about 9 M_jup.
The evolutionary model only provides a lower mass limit of >2 M_jup (for pure
hot-start). The cold-start model cannot explain the planet's luminosity. The
SPHERE and NACO/SAM detection limits probe the 51 Eri system at Solar System
scales and exclude brown-dwarf companions more massive than 20 M_jup beyond
separations of ~2.5 au and giant planets more massive than 2 M_jup beyond 9 au.Comment: 29 pages, 31 figures, accepted for publication in A&
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