2,600 research outputs found
Abundance ratios of volatile vs. refractory elements in planet-harbouring stars: hints of pollution?
We present the [X/H] trends as function of the elemental condensation
temperature Tc in 88 planet host stars and in a volume-limited comparison
sample of 33 dwarfs without detected planetary companions. We gathered
homogeneous abundance results for many volatile and refractory elements
spanning a wide range of Tc, from a few dozens to several hundreds kelvin. We
investigate possible anomalous trends of planet hosts with respect to
comparison sample stars in order to detect evidence of possible pollution
events. No significant differences are found in the behaviour of stars with and
without planets. This result is in agreement with a ``primordial'' origin of
the metal excess in planet host stars. However, a subgroup of 5 planet host and
1 comparison sample stars stands out for having particularly high [X/H] vs. Tc
slopes.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in A&A. Figures with
higher resolution are available at www.iac.es/proyect/abuntes
On the functional form of the metallicity-giant planet correlation
It is generally accepted that the presence of a giant planet is strongly
dependent on the stellar metallicity. A stellar mass dependence has also been
investigated, but this dependence does not seem as strong as the metallicity
dependence. Even for metallicity, however, the exact form of the correlation
has not been established. In this paper, we test several scenarios for
describing the frequency of giant planets as a function of its host parameters.
We perform this test on two volume-limited samples (from CORALIE and HARPS). By
using a Bayesian analysis, we quantitatively compared the different scenarios.
We confirm that giant planet frequency is indeed a function of metallicity.
However, there is no statistical difference between a constant or an
exponential function for stars with subsolar metallicities contrary to what has
been previously stated in the literature. The dependence on stellar mass could
neither be confirmed nor be discarded.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, accepted in A&
Comparing HARPS and Kepler surveys: The alignment of multiple-planet systems
Aims. We study a subset of the planetary population characterized both by
HARPS and Kepler surveys. We compare the statistical properties of planets in
systems with m.sin i >5-10 M_Earth and R>2 R_Earth. If we assume that the
underlying population has the same characteristics, the different detection
sensitivity to the orbital inclination relative to the line of sight allows us
to probe the planets' mutual inclination.
Methods. We considered the frequency of systems with one, two and three
planets as dictated by HARPS data. We used Kepler's planetary period and host
mass and radii distributions (corrected from detection bias) to model planetary
systems in a simple yet physically plausible way. We then varied the mutual
inclination between planets in a system according to different prescriptions
(completely aligned, Rayleigh distributions and isotropic) and compared the
transit frequencies with one, two or three planets with those measured by
Kepler.
Results. The results show that the two datasets are compatible, a remarkable
result especially because there are no tunable knobs other than the assumed
inclination distribution. For m.sin i cutoffs of 7-10 M_Earth, which are those
expected to correspond to the radius cutoff of 2 R_Earth, we conclude that the
results are better described by a Rayleigh distribution with mode of 1 deg or
smaller. We show that the best-fit scenario only becomes a Rayleigh
distribution with mode of 5 deg if we assume a rather extreme mass-radius
relationship for the planetary population.
Conclusions. These results have important consequences for our understanding
of the role of several proposed formation and evolution mechanisms. They
confirm that planets are likely to have been formed in a disk and show that
most planetary systems evolve quietly without strong angular momentum exchanges
(abridged).Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures, 4 tables, accepted for publication in Astronomy
& Astrophysic
Radial Velocities with CRIRES: Pushing precision down to 5-10 m/s
With the advent of high-resolution infrared spectrographs, Radial Velocity
(RV) searches enter into a new domain. As of today, the most important
technical question to address is which wavelength reference is the most
suitable for high-precision RV measurements.
In this work we explore the usage of atmospheric absorption features. We make
use of CRIRES data on two programs and three different targets. We re-analyze
the data of the TW Hya campaign, reaching a dispersion of about 6 m/s on the RV
standard in a time scale of roughly 1 week. We confirm the presence of a
low-amplitude RV signal on TW Hya itself, roughly 3 times smaller than the one
reported at visible wavelengths. We present RV measurements of Gl 86 as well,
showing that our approach is capable of detecting the signal induced by a
planet and correctly quantifying it.
Our data show that CRIRES is capable of reaching a RV precision of less than
10 m/s in a time-scale of one week. The limitations of this particular approach
are discussed, and the limiting factors on RV precision in the IR in a general
way. The implications of this work on the design of future dedicated IR
spectrographs are addressed as well.Comment: 9 pages, accepted for publication in A&
The HARPS search for Earth-like planets in the habitable zone: I -- Very low-mass planets around HD20794, HD85512 and HD192310
In 2009 we started an intense radial-velocity monitoring of a few nearby,
slowly-rotating and quiet solar-type stars within the dedicated HARPS-Upgrade
GTO program. The goal of this campaign is to gather very-precise
radial-velocity data with high cadence and continuity to detect tiny signatures
of very-low-mass stars that are potentially present in the habitable zone of
their parent stars. Ten stars were selected among the most stable stars of the
original HARPS high-precision program that are uniformly spread in hour angle,
such that three to four of them are observable at any time of the year. For
each star we recorded 50 data points spread over the observing season. The data
points consist of three nightly observations with a total integration time of
10 minutes each and are separated by two hours. This is an observational
strategy adopted to minimize stellar pulsation and granulation noise. We
present the first results of this ambitious program. The radial-velocity data
and the orbital parameters of five new and one confirmed low-mass planets
around the stars HD20794, HD85512, and HD192310 are reported and discussed,
among which is a system of three super-Earths and one that harbors a 3.6
Earth-mass planet at the inner edge of the habitable zone. This result already
confirms previous indications that low-mass planets seem to be very frequent
around solar-type stars and that this may occur with a frequency higher than
30%Comment: 18 pages, 22 figures, accepted by A&A on 15/08/2011 with reference
AA/2011/17055. Radial velocity data will be available through CD
Myosin II filament dynamics in actin networks revealed with interferometric scattering microscopy
The plasma membrane and the underlying cytoskeletal cortex constitute active platforms for a variety of cellular processes. Recent work has shown that the remodeling acto-myosin network modifies local membrane organization, but the molecular details are only partly understood due to difficulties with experimentally accessing the relevant time and length scales. Here, we use interferometric scattering (iSCAT) microscopy to investigate a minimal acto-myosin network linked to a supported lipid bilayer membrane. Using the magnitude of the interferometric contrast, which is proportional to molecular mass, and fast acquisition rates, we detect, and image individual membrane attached actin filaments diffusing within the acto-myosin network and follow individual myosin II filament dynamics. We quantify myosin II filament dwell times and processivity as functions of ATP concentration, providing experimental evidence for the predicted ensemble behavior of myosin head domains. Our results show how decreasing ATP concentrations lead to both increasing dwell times of individual myosin II filaments and a global change from a remodeling to a contractile state of the acto-myosin network
A pair of planets around HD 202206 or a circumbinary planet?
Long-term precise Doppler measurements with the CORALIE spectrograph reveal
the presence of a second planet orbiting the solar-type star HD202206. The
radial-velocity combined fit yields companion masses of m_2\sini = 17.4 M_Jup
and 2.44 M_Jup, semi-major axes of a = 0.83 AU and 2.55 AU, and eccentricities
of e = 0.43 and 0.27, respectively. A dynamical analysis of the system further
shows a 5/1 mean motion resonance between the two planets. This system is of
particular interest since the inner planet is within the brown-dwarf limits
while the outer one is much less massive. Therefore, either the inner planet
formed simultaneously in the protoplanetary disk as a superplanet, or the outer
Jupiter-like planet formed in a circumbinary disk. We believe this singular
planetary system will provide important constraints on planetary formation and
migration scenarios.Comment: 9 pages, 14 figures, accepted in A&A, 12-May-200
The Broadband Infrared Emission Spectrum of the Exoplanet HD 189733b
We present Spitzer Space Telescope time series photometry of the exoplanet
system HD 189733 spanning two times of secondary eclipse, when the planet
passes out of view behind the parent star. We estimate the relative eclipse
depth in 5 distinct bands and find the planet-to-star flux ratio to be 0.256
+/- 0.014% (3.6 microns), 0.214 +/- 0.020% (4.5 microns), 0.310 +/- 0.034% (5.8
microns), 0.391 +/- 0.022% (8.0 microns), and 0.598 +/- 0.038% (24 microns).
For consistency, we re-analyze a previously published time series to deduce a
contrast ratio in an additional band, 0.519 +/- 0.020% (16 microns). Our data
are strongly inconsistent with a Planck spectrum, and we clearly detect
emission near 4 microns as predicted by published theoretical models in which
this feature arises from a corresponding opacity window. Unlike recent results
for the exoplanet HD 209458b, we find that the emergent spectrum from HD
189733b is best matched by models that do not include an atmospheric
temperature inversion. Taken together, these two studies provide initial
observational support for the idea that hot Jupiter atmospheres diverge into
two classes, in which a thermal inversion layer is present for the more
strongly irradiated objects.Comment: 20 pages, 3 figures, accepted to the Astrophysical Journal, minor
revision
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