The PHASES Differential Astrometry Data Archive. III. Limits to Tertiary Companions

The Palomar High-precision Astrometric Search for Exoplanet Systems (PHASES) monitored 51 subarcsecond binary systems to evaluate whether tertiary companions as small as Jovian planets orbited either the primary or secondary stars, perturbing their otherwise smooth Keplerian motions. Twenty-one of those systems were observed 10 or more times and show no evidence of additional companions. A new algorithm is presented for identifying astrometric companions and establishing the (companion mass)-(orbital period) combinations that can be excluded from existence with high confidence based on the PHASES observations, and the regions of mass-period phase space being excluded are presented for 21 PHASES binaries.Comment: 16 pages, Accepted to A

Impact of Stellar Dynamics on the Frequency of Giant Planets in Close Binaries

Hostile tidal forces may inhibit the formation of Jovian planets in binaries with semimajor axes of ≾50 AU, binaries that might be called "close" in this context. As an alternative to in situ planet formation, a binary can acquire a giant planet when one of its original members is replaced in a dynamical interaction with another star that hosts a planet. Simple scaling relations for the structure and evolution of star clusters, coupled with analytic arguments regarding binary-single and binary-binary scattering, indicate that dynamical processes can deposit Jovian planets in <1% of close binaries. If ongoing and future exoplanet surveys measure a much larger fraction, it may be that giant planets do somehow form frequently in such systems

Differential Astrometry of Sub-arcsecond Scale Binaries at the Palomar Testbed Interferometer

We have used the Palomar Testbed Interferometer to perform very high precision differential astrometry on the 0.25 arcsecond separation binary star HD 171779. In 70 minutes of observation we achieve a measurement uncertainty of approximately 9 micro-arcseconds in one axis, consistent with theoretical expectations. Night-to-night repeatability over four nights is at the level of 16 micro-arcseconds. This method of very-narrow-angle astrometry may be extremely useful for searching for planets with masses as small as 0.5 Jupiter Masses around a previously neglected class of stars -- so-called ``speckle binaries.'' It will also provide measurements of stellar parameters such as masses and distances, useful for constraining stellar models at the 10^-3 level.Comment: 19 pages including 6 figures. Submitted to ApJ. Typos corrected, several parts reworded for clarificatio

The PHASES Differential Astrometry Data Archive. V. Candidate Substellar Companions to Binary Systems

The Palomar High-precision Astrometric Search for Exoplanet Systems monitored 51 subarcsecond binary systems to evaluate whether tertiary companions as small as Jovian planets orbited either the primary or secondary stars, perturbing their otherwise smooth Keplerian motions. Six binaries are presented that show evidence of substellar companions orbiting either the primary or secondary star. Of these six systems, the likelihoods of two of the detected perturbations to represent real objects are considered to be "high confidence", while the remaining four systems are less certain and will require continued observations for confirmation.Comment: 16 Pages, Accepted to A

High-precision Orbital and Physical Parameters of Double-lined Spectroscopic Binary Stars—HD78418, HD123999, HD160922, HD200077, and HD210027

We present high-precision radial velocities (RVs) of double-lined spectroscopic binary stars HD78418, HD123999, HD160922, HD200077, and HD210027. They were obtained based on the high-resolution echelle spectra collected with the Keck I/HIRES, Shane/CAT/Hamspec, and TNG/Sarge telescopes/spectrographs over the years 2003-2008 as part of the TATOOINE search for circumbinary planets. The RVs were computed using our novel iodine cell technique for double-line binary stars, which relies on tomographically disentangled spectra of the components of the binaries. The precision of the RVs is of the order of 1-10 m s^(–1), and to properly model such measurements one needs to account for the light-time effect within the binary's orbit, relativistic effects, and RV variations due to tidal distortions of the components of the binaries. With such proper modeling, our RVs combined with the archival visibility measurements from the Palomar Testbed Interferometer (PTI) allow us to derive very precise spectroscopic/astrometric orbital and physical parameters of the binaries. In particular, we derive the masses, the absolute K- and H-band magnitudes, and the parallaxes. The masses together with the absolute magnitudes in the K and H bands enable us to estimate the ages of the binaries. These RVs allow us to obtain some of the most accurate mass determinations of binary stars. The fractional accuracy in msin i only, and hence based on the RVs alone, ranges from 0.02% to 0.42%. When combined with the PTI astrometry, the fractional accuracy in the masses in the three best cases ranges from 0.06% to 0.5%. Among them, the masses of HD210027 components rival in precision the mass determination of the components of the relativistic double pulsar system PSR J0737 – 3039. In the near future, for double-lined eclipsing binary stars we expect to derive masses with a fractional accuracy of the order of up to ~0.001% with our technique. This level of precision is an order of magnitude higher than of the most accurate mass determination for a body outside the solar system—the double neutron star system PSR B1913+16

Absolute dimensions of the early F-type eclipsing binary V506 Ophiuchi

We report extensive differential V-band photometry and high-resolution spectroscopic observations of the early F-type, 1.06-day detached eclipsing binary V506 Oph. The observations along with times of minimum light from the literature are used to derive a very precise ephemeris and the physical properties for the components, with the absolute masses and radii being determined to 0.7% or better. The masses are 1.4153 +/- 0.0100 M(Sun) and 1.4023 +/- 0.0094 M(sun) for the primary and secondary, the radii are 1.725 +/- 0.010 R(Sun) and 1.692 +/- 0.012 R(Sun), and the effective temperatures 6840 +/- 150 K and 6780 +/- 110 K, respectively. The orbit is circular and the stars are rotating synchronously. The accuracy of the radii and temperatures is supported by the resulting distance estimate of 564 +/- 30 pc, in excellent agreement with the value implied by the trigonometric parallax listed in the Gaia/DR2 catalog. Current stellar evolution models from the MIST series for a composition of [Fe/H] = -0.04 match the properties of both stars in V506 Oph very well at an age of 1.83 Gyr, and indicate they are halfway through their core hydrogen-burning phase.Comment: Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal, 8 pages in emulateapj format including figures and tables. Tables 3, 5, and 6 available only electronically from the Journa

On the Completeness of Reflex Astrometry on Extrasolar Planets near the Sensitivity Limit

We provide a preliminary estimate of the performance of reflex astrometry on Earth-like planets in the habitable zones of nearby stars. In Monte Carlo experiments, we analyze large samples of astrometric data sets with low to moderate signal-to-noise ratios. We treat the idealized case of a single planet orbiting a single star, and assume there are no non-Keplerian complications or uncertainties. The real case can only be more difficult. We use periodograms for discovery and least-squares fits for estimating the Keplerian parameters. We find a completeness for detection compatible with estimates in the literature. We find mass estimation by least squares to be biased, as has been found for noisy radial-velocity data sets; this bias degrades the completeness of accurate mass estimation. When we compare the true planetary position with the position predicted from the fitted orbital parameters, at future times, we find low completeness for an accuracy goal of 0.3 times the semimajor axis of the planet, even with no delay following the end of astrometric observations. Our findings suggest that the recommendation of the ExoPlanet Task Force (Lunine et al. 2008) for "the capability to measure convincingly wobble semi-amplitudes down to 0.2 $\mu$as integrated over the mission lifetime," may not be satisfied by an instrument characterized by the noise floor of the Space Interferometry Mission, $\sigma_\mathrm{floor}\approx0.035\mu$as. An important, unsolved, strategic challenge for the exoplanetary science program is figuring out how to predict the future position of an Earth-like planet with accuracy sufficient to ensure the efficiency and success of the science operations for follow-on spectroscopy, which would search for biologically significant molecules in the atmosphere.Comment: v2: 16 pages, 4 figures; ApJ accepte

The Spectroscopic Orbits of Five Solar Type, Single Lined Binaries

We have determined spectroscopic orbits for five single-lined spectroscopic binaries, HD 100167, HD 135991, HD 140667, HD 158222, HD 217924. Their periods range from 60.6 to 2403 days and the eccentricities, from 0.20 to 0.84. Our spectral classes for the stars confirm that they are of solar type, F9 to G5, and all are dwarfs. Their [Fe/H] abundances, determined spectroscopically, are close to the solar value and on average are 0.12 greater than abundances from a photometric calibration. Four of the five stars are rotating faster than their predicted pseudosynchronous rotational velocities.Comment: 12 pages emulateap

Absolute dimensions of the unevolved F-type eclipsing binary BT Vulpeculae

We report extensive differential V-band photometry and high-resolution spectroscopy for the 1.14 day, detached, double-lined eclipsing binary BT Vul (F0+F7). Our radial-velocity monitoring and light curve analysis lead to absolute masses and radii of M1 = 1.5439 +/- 0.0098 MSun and R1 = 1.536 +/- 0.018 RSun for the primary, and M2 = 1.2196 +/- 0.0080 MSun and R2 = 1.151 +/- 0.029 RSun for the secondary. The effective temperatures are 7270 +/- 150 K and 6260 +/- 180 K, respectively. Both stars are rapid rotators, and the orbit is circular. A comparison with stellar evolution models from the MIST series shows excellent agreement with these determinations, for a composition of [Fe/H] = +0.08 and an age of 350 Myr. The two components of BT Vul are very near the zero-age main sequence.Comment: 9 pages in emulateapj format, including tables and figures. Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journa