Archeorobotics. Applicazioni robotiche aperte e archeologia estrema

This paper presents an overview on the development and use of open hardware devices in archaeology and their operation in extreme conditions. State-of-the-art technologies are analysed, based on the working experience of the Arc-Team company, which, in 2006, started up a new branch of research, informally called Archeorobotics. The research was initially focused on open hardware radio-controlled UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle); over time different devices were developed, like ROV (Remotely Operated underwater Vehicle), USV (Unmanned Surface Vehicle), CNC (Computer Numerical Control) machine and other electronic and mechanical tools

The GAPS programme at TNG. XL. A puffy and warm Neptune-sized planet and an outer Neptune-mass candidate orbiting the solar-type star TOI-1422

Context. Neptunes represent one of the main types of exoplanets and have chemical-physical characteristics halfway between rocky and gas giant planets. Therefore, their characterization is important for understanding and constraining both the formation mechanisms and the evolution patterns of planets.Aims. We investigate the exoplanet candidate TOI-1422 b, which was discovered by the TESS space telescope around the high proper-motion G2 V star TOI-1422 (V = 10.6 mag), 155 pc away, with the primary goal of confirming its planetary nature and characterising its properties.Methods. We monitored TOI-1422 with the HARPS-N spectrograph for 1.5 yr to precisely quantify its radial velocity (RV) variation. We analyse these RV measurements jointly with TESS photometry and check for blended companions through high-spatial resolution images using the AstraLux instrument.Results. We estimate that the parent star has a radius of R star = 1.019(-0.013)( )(+0.014)R(circle dot), and a mass of M star = 0.981(-0.065)(+0.062) M-circle dot. Our analysis confirms the planetary nature of TOI-1422 b and also suggests the presence of a Neptune-mass planet on a more distant orbit, the candidate TOI-1422 c, which is not detected in TESS light curves. The inner planet, TOI-1422 b, orbits on a period of P-b = 12.9972 +/- 0.0006 days and has an equilibrium temperature of T-e(q,b) = 867 +/- 17 K. With a radius of R-b = 3.96(-0.11)(+0.1)(3) R-circle plus, a mass of M-b = 9.0(-2.0)(+2.3) M-circle plus and, consequently, a density of rho(b) = 0.795(-0.2)(35)( )(+0.290)g cm(-3), it can be considered a warm Neptune-sized planet. Compared to other exoplanets of a similar mass range, TOI-1422 b is among the most inflated, and we expect this planet to have an extensive gaseous envelope that surrounds a core with a mass fraction around 10% - 25% of the total mass of the planet. The outer non-transiting planet candidate, TOI-1422 c, has an orbital period of P-c = 29.29(-0.)(20)(+0.21) days, a minimum mass, M-c sin i, of 11.1(-2.3)(+2.6) M-circle plus, an equilibrium temperature of T-eq,T-c = 661 +/- 13 K and, therefore, if confirmed, could be considered as another warm Neptune

The GAPS programme at TNG. XLVI. Deep search for low-mass planets in late-dwarf systems hosting cold Jupiters

Context. With the growth of comparative exoplanetology, it is increasingly clear that the relationship between inner and outer planets plays a key role in unveiling the mechanisms governing formation and evolution models. For this reason, it is important to probe the inner region of systems hosting long-period giants in search of undetected lower mass planetary companions. Aims: We aim to present the results of a high-cadence and high-precision radial velocity (RV) monitoring of three late-type dwarf stars hosting long-period giants with well-measured orbits in order to search for short-period sub-Neptunes (SN, M sin i < 30 M⊕). Methods: Building on the results and expertise of our previous studies, we carried out combined fits of our HARPS-N data with literature RVs. We used Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) analyses to refine the literature orbital solutions and search for additional inner planets, applying Gaussian process regression techniques to deal with the stellar activity signals where required. We then used the results of our survey to estimate the frequency of sub-Neptunes in systems hosting cold Jupiters, f(SN|CJ), and compared it with the frequency around field M dwarfs, f(SN). Results: We identify a new short-period, low-mass planet orbiting GJ 328, GJ 328 c, with Pc = 241.8-1.7+1.3 days and Mc sin i = 21.4-3.2+3.4M⊕. We moreover identify and model the chromospheric activity signals and rotation periods of GJ 649 and GJ 849, around which no additional planet is found. Then, taking into account also planetary system around the previously analysed low-mass star BD-11 4672, we derive an estimate of the frequencies of inner planets in such systems. In particular, f(SN|CJ) = 0.25-0.07+0.58 for mini-Neptunes (10 M⊕ < M sin i < 30 M⊕, P < 150 d), marginally larger than f(SN). For lower mass planets (M sin i < 10 M⊕) instead f(SN|CJ) < 0.69, which is compatible with f(SN). Conclusions: In light of the newly detected mini-Neptune, we find tentative evidence of a positive correlation between the presence of long-period giant planets and that of inner low-mass planets, f(SN|CJ) > f(SN). This might indicate that cold Jupiters have an opposite influence in the formation of inner sub-Neptunes around late-type dwarfs as opposed to their solar-type counterparts, boosting the formation of mini-Neptunes instead of impeding it

The GAPS Programme at TNG : XLVII. A conundrum resolved: HIP 66074b/Gaia-3b characterised as a massive giant planet on a quasi-face-on and extremely elongated orbit

The nearby mid-K dwarf HIP 66074 was recently identified as host to a candidate super-Jupiter companion on a similar to 300 day, almost edge-on, orbit, based on Gaia Data Release 3 (DR3) astrometry. Initial attempts at confirming the planetary nature of the signal based on publicly available radial-velocity (RV) observations uncovered an intriguing conundrum: the inferred RV semi-amplitude appears to be a factor of 15 smaller than the one predicted based on the Gaia solution (corresponding to a 7-M-Jup companion on a close to edge-on orbit). We present the results of intensive RV monitoring of HIP 66074 with the HARPS-N spectrograph. We detected the companion at the Gaia period, but with an extremely eccentric orbit (e = 0:948 +/- 0:004), a semi-amplitude K = 93.9(-7.0)(+9.4) m s(-1), and a minimum mass mb sin i(b) = 0.79 +/- 0.05 M-Jup. We used detailed simulations of Gaia astrometry with the DR3 time-span to show that the conundrum can be fully resolved by taking into account the combination of the initially sub-optimal RV sampling and systematic biases in the Gaia astrometric solution, which include an underestimation of the eccentricity and incorrect identification of orbital inclination, which has turned out to correspond to a close to face-on configuration (i less than or similar to 13 degrees). With an estimated mass in the approximate range of 3-7 M-Jup, we find that HIP 66074b (equivalent to Gaia-3b) is the first exoplanet candidate astrometrically detected by Gaia to be successfully confirmed based on RV follow-up observations

Star-spot activity, orbital obliquity, transmission spectrum, physical properties, and TTVs of the HATS-2 planetary system

Our aim in this paper is to refine the orbital and physical parameters of the HATS-2 planetary system and study transit timing variations and atmospheric composition thanks to transit observations that span more than ten years and that were collected using different instruments and pass-band filters. We also investigate the orbital alignment of the system by studying the anomalies in the transit light curves induced by starspots on the photosphere of the parent star. We analysed new transit events from both ground-based telescopes and NASA's TESS mission. Anomalies were detected in most of the light curves and modelled as starspots occulted by the planet during transit events. We fitted the clean and symmetric light curves with the JKTEBOP code and those affected by anomalies with the PRISM+GEMC codes to simultaneously model the photometric parameters of the transits and the position, size, and contrast of each starspot. We found consistency between the values we found for the physical and orbital parameters and those from the discovery paper and ATLAS9 stellar atmospherical models. We identified different sets of consecutive starspot-crossing events that temporally occurred in less than five days. Under the hypothesis that we are dealing with the same starspots, occulted twice by the planet during two consecutive transits, we estimated the rotational period of the parent star and, in turn the projected and the true orbital obliquity of the planet. We find that the system is well aligned. We identified the possible presence of transit timing variations in the system, which can be caused by tidal orbital decay, and we derived a low-resolution transmission spectrum.Comment: 23 pages, 21 figures, Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysic

The ultra-hot-Jupiter KELT-16 b: Dynamical Evolution and Atmospheric Properties

Abstract We present broad-band photometry of 30 planetary transits of the ultra-hot Jupiter KELT-16 b, using five medium-class telescopes. The transits were monitored through standard B, V, R, I filters and four were simultaneously observed from different places, for a total of 36 new light curves. We used these new photometric data and those from the TESS space telescope to review the main physical properties of the KELT-16 planetary system. Our results agree with previous measurements but are more precise. We estimated the mid-transit times for each of these transits and combined them with others from the literature to obtain 69 epochs, with a time baseline extending over more than four years, and searched for transit time variations. We found no evidence for a period change, suggesting a lower limit for orbital decay at 8 Myr, with a lower limit on the reduced tidal quality factor of Q^{\prime }_{\star }&gt;(1.9 \pm 0.8) \times 10^5 with $95\%$ confidence. We built up an observational, low-resolution transmission spectrum of the planet, finding evidence of the presence of optical absorbers, although with a low significance. Using TESS data, we reconstructed the phase curve finding that KELT-16 b has a phase offset of 25.25 ± 14.03 ○E, a day- and night-side brightness temperature of 3190 ± 61 K and 2668 ± 56 K, respectively. Finally, we compared the flux ratio of the planet over its star at the TESS and Spitzer wavelengths with theoretical emission spectra, finding evidence of a temperature inversion in the planet’s atmosphere, the chemical composition of which is preferably oxygen-rich rather than carbon-rich.</jats:p