28 research outputs found
Validating AU Microscopii d with Transit Timing Variations
AU Mic is a young (22 Myr), nearby exoplanetary system that exhibits excess transit timing variations (TTVs) that cannot be accounted for by the two known transiting planets nor stellar activity. We present the statistical “validation” of the tentative planet AU Mic d (even though there are examples of “confirmed” planets with ambiguous orbital periods). We add 18 new transits and nine midpoint times in an updated TTV analysis to prior work. We perform the joint modeling of transit light curves using EXOFASTv2 and extract the transit midpoint times. Next, we construct an O − C diagram and use Exo-Striker to model the TTVs. We generate TTV log-likelihood periodograms to explore possible solutions for d’s period, then follow those up with detailed TTV and radial velocity Markov Chain Monte Carlo modeling and stability tests. We find several candidate periods for AU Mic d, all of which are near resonances with AU Mic b and c of varying order. Based on our model comparisons, the most-favored orbital period of AU Mic d is 12.73596 ± 0.00793 days ( T _C _,d = 2458340.55781 ± 0.11641 BJD), which puts the three planets near 4:6:9 mean-motion resonance. The mass for d is 1.053 ± 0.511 M _⊕ , making this planet Earth-like in mass. If confirmed, AU Mic d would be the first known Earth-mass planet orbiting a young star and would provide a valuable opportunity in probing a young terrestrial planet’s atmosphere. Additional TTV observations of the AU Mic system are needed to further constrain the planetary masses, search for possible transits of AU Mic d, and detect possible additional planets beyond AU Mic c
Validating AU Microscopii d with Transit Timing Variations
AU Mic is a young (22 Myr) nearby exoplanetary system that exhibits excess
TTVs that cannot be accounted for by the two known transiting planets nor
stellar activity. We present the statistical "validation" of the tentative
planet AU Mic d (even though there are examples of "confirmed" planets with
ambiguous orbital periods). We add 18 new transits and nine midpoint times in
an updated TTV analysis to prior work. We perform the joint modeling of transit
light curves using EXOFASTv2 and extract the transit midpoint times. Next, we
construct an O-C diagram and use Exo-Striker to model the TTVs. We generate TTV
log-likelihood periodograms to explore possible solutions for the period of
planet d and then follow those up with detailed TTV and RV MCMC modeling and
stability tests. We find several candidate periods for AU Mic d, all of which
are near resonances with AU Mic b and c of varying order. Based on our model
comparisons, the most-favored orbital period of AU Mic d is 12.73596+/-0.00793
days (T_{C,d}=2458340.55781+/-0.11641 BJD), which puts the three planets near a
4:6:9 mean-motion orbital resonance. The mass for d is 1.053+/-0.511 M_E,
making this planet Earth-like in mass. If confirmed, AU Mic d would be the
first known Earth-mass planet orbiting a young star and would provide a
valuable opportunity in probing a young terrestrial planet's atmosphere.
Additional TTV observation of the AU Mic system are needed to further constrain
the planetary masses, search for possible transits of AU Mic d, and detect
possible additional planets beyond AU Mic c.Comment: 89 pages, 35 figures, 34 tables. Redid EXOFASTv2 transit modeling to
recover more reasonable stellar posteriors, so redid Exo-Striker TTV modeling
for consistency. Despite these changes, the overall results remain unchanged:
the 12-7-day case is still the most favored. Submitted to AAS Journals on
2023 Feb 9t
The Magellan-TESS Survey I: Survey Description and Mid-Survey Results
One of the most significant revelations from Kepler is that roughly one-third
of Sun-like stars host planets which orbit their stars within 100 days and are
between the size of Earth and Neptune. How do these super-Earth and sub-Neptune
planets form, what are they made of, and do they represent a continuous
population or naturally divide into separate groups? Measuring their masses and
thus bulk densities can help address these questions of their origin and
composition. To that end, we began the Magellan-TESS Survey (MTS), which uses
Magellan II/PFS to obtain radial velocity (RV) masses of 30 transiting
exoplanets discovered by TESS and develops an analysis framework that connects
observed planet distributions to underlying populations. In the past, RV
measurements of small planets have been challenging to obtain due to the
faintness and low RV semi-amplitudes of most Kepler systems, and challenging to
interpret due to the potential biases in the existing ensemble of small planet
masses from non-algorithmic decisions for target selection and observation
plans. The MTS attempts to minimize these biases by focusing on bright TESS
targets and employing a quantitative selection function and multi-year
observing strategy. In this paper, we (1) describe the motivation and survey
strategy behind the MTS, (2) present our first catalog of planet mass and
density constraints for 25 TESS Objects of Interest (TOIs; 20 in our population
analysis sample, five that are members of the same systems), and (3) employ a
hierarchical Bayesian model to produce preliminary constraints on the
mass-radius (M-R) relation. We find qualitative agreement with prior
mass-radius relations but some quantitative differences (abridged). The the
results of this work can inform more detailed studies of individual systems and
offer a framework that can be applied to future RV surveys with the goal of
population inferences.Comment: 101 pages (39 of main text and references, the rest an appendix of
figures and tables). Submitted to AAS Journal
The TESS Grand Unified Hot Jupiter Survey. II. Twenty New Giant Planets
NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) mission promises to
improve our understanding of hot Jupiters by providing an all-sky,
magnitude-limited sample of transiting hot Jupiters suitable for population
studies. Assembling such a sample requires confirming hundreds of planet
candidates with additional follow-up observations. Here, we present twenty hot
Jupiters that were detected using TESS data and confirmed to be planets through
photometric, spectroscopic, and imaging observations coordinated by the TESS
Follow-up Observing Program (TFOP). These twenty planets have orbital periods
shorter than 7 days and orbit relatively bright FGK stars ().
Most of the planets are comparable in mass to Jupiter, although there are four
planets with masses less than that of Saturn. TOI-3976 b, the longest period
planet in our sample ( days), may be on a moderately eccentric orbit
(), while observations of the other targets are consistent
with them being on circular orbits. We measured the projected stellar obliquity
of TOI-1937A b, a hot Jupiter on a 22.4 hour orbit with the Rossiter-McLaughlin
effect, finding the planet's orbit to be well-aligned with the stellar spin
axis (). We also investigated the possibility that
TOI-1937 is a member of the NGC 2516 open cluster, but ultimately found the
evidence for cluster membership to be ambiguous. These objects are part of a
larger effort to build a complete sample of hot Jupiters to be used for future
demographic and detailed characterization work.Comment: 67 pages, 11 tables, 13 figures, 2 figure sets. Resubmitted to ApJS
after revision
Another Shipment of Six Short-Period Giant Planets from TESS
We present the discovery and characterization of six short-period, transiting
giant planets from NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) --
TOI-1811 (TIC 376524552), TOI-2025 (TIC 394050135), TOI-2145 (TIC 88992642),
TOI-2152 (TIC 395393265), TOI-2154 (TIC 428787891), & TOI-2497 (TIC 97568467).
All six planets orbit bright host stars (8.9 <G< 11.8, 7.7 <K< 10.1). Using a
combination of time-series photometric and spectroscopic follow-up observations
from the TESS Follow-up Observing Program (TFOP) Working Group, we have
determined that the planets are Jovian-sized (R = 1.00-1.45 R),
have masses ranging from 0.92 to 5.35 M, and orbit F, G, and K stars
(4753 T 7360 K). We detect a significant orbital eccentricity
for the three longest-period systems in our sample: TOI-2025 b (P = 8.872 days,
= ), TOI-2145 b (P = 10.261 days, =
), and TOI-2497 b (P = 10.656 days, =
). TOI-2145 b and TOI-2497 b both orbit subgiant host
stars (3.8 g 4.0), but these planets show no sign of inflation
despite very high levels of irradiation. The lack of inflation may be explained
by the high mass of the planets; M (TOI-2145
b) and M (TOI-2497 b). These six new discoveries
contribute to the larger community effort to use {\it TESS} to create a
magnitude-complete, self-consistent sample of giant planets with
well-determined parameters for future detailed studies.Comment: 20 Pages, 6 Figures, 8 Tables, Accepted by MNRA
TOI-431/HIP 26013: a super-Earth and a sub-Neptune transiting a bright, early K dwarf, with a third RV planet
Stars and planetary system
TOI-431/HIP 26013: a super-Earth and a sub-Neptune transiting a bright, early K dwarf, with a third RV planet
We present the bright (Vmag = 9.12), multiplanet system TOI-431, characterized with photometry and radial velocities (RVs). We estimate the stellar rotation period to be 30.5 ± 0.7 d using archival photometry and RVs. Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) objects of Interest (TOI)-431 b is a super-Earth with a period of 0.49 d, a radius of 1.28 ± 0.04 R⊕, a mass of 3.07 ± 0.35 M⊕, and a density of 8.0 ± 1.0 g cm−3; TOI-431 d is a sub-Neptune with a period of 12.46 d, a radius of 3.29 ± 0.09 R⊕, a mass of 9.90+1.53−1.49 M⊕, and a density of 1.36 ± 0.25 g cm−3. We find a third planet, TOI-431 c, in the High Accuracy Radial velocity Planet Searcher RV data, but it is not seen to transit in the TESS light curves. It has an Msin i of 2.83+0.41−0.34 M⊕, and a period of 4.85 d. TOI-431 d likely has an extended atmosphere and is one of the most well-suited TESS discoveries for atmospheric characterization, while the super-Earth TOI-431 b may be a stripped core. These planets straddle the radius gap, presenting an interesting case-study for atmospheric evolution, and TOI-431 b is a prime TESS discovery for the study of rocky planet phase curves
TOI-431/HIP 26013: A super-Earth and a sub-Neptune transiting a bright, early K dwarf, with a third RV planet
We present the bright (Vmag = 9.12), multiplanet system TOI-431, characterized with photometry and radial velocities (RVs). We estimate the stellar rotation period to be 30.5 ± 0.7 d using archival photometry and RVs. Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) objects of Interest (TOI)-431 b is a super-Earth with a period of 0.49 d, a radius of 1.28 ± 0.04 R, a mass of 3.07 ± 0.35 M, and a density of 8.0 ± 1.0 g cm-3; TOI-431 d is a sub-Neptune with a period of 12.46 d, a radius of 3.29 ± 0.09 R, a mass of 9.90+1.53-1.49 M, and a density of 1.36 ± 0.25 g cm-3. We find a third planet, TOI-431 c, in the High Accuracy Radial velocity Planet Searcher RV data, but it is not seen to transit in the TESS light curves. It has an Msin i of 2.83+0.41-0.34 M, and a period of 4.85 d. TOI-431 d likely has an extended atmosphere and is one of the most well-suited TESS discoveries for atmospheric characterization, while the super-Earth TOI-431 b may be a stripped core. These planets straddle the radius gap, presenting an interesting case-study for atmospheric evolution, and TOI-431 b is a prime TESS discovery for the study of rocky planet phase curves