1,034 research outputs found
Astrometry and Exoplanets: the Gaia Era, and Beyond
The wealth of information in the Gaia catalogue of exoplanets will constitute
a fundamental contribution to several hot topics of the astrophysics of
planetary systems. I briefly review the potential impact of Gaia micro-arsec
astrometry in several areas of exoplanet science, discuss what key follow-up
observations might be required as a complement to Gaia data, and shed some
light on the role of next generation astrometric facilities in the arena of
planetary systems.Comment: 6 pages, 1 figure. Proceedings of the final ELSA Conference 'Gaia: at
the frontiers of astrometry', Sevres (France), 7-11 June 2010. To appear in
EAS Publication Series, EDP Science
Exoplanets with Gaia: Synergies in the Making
The era of high-precision astrometry has dawned upon us. The potential of
Gaia as-level precision in positional measurements is about to be
unleashed in the field of extrasolar planetary systems. The Gaia data hold the
promise for much improved global characterization of planetary systems around
stars of all types, ages, and chemical composition, particularly when
synergistically combined with other indirect and direct planet detection and
characterization programs.Comment: 7 pages, 1 figure. Proceedings of the International Conference 'The
Milky Way Unravelled by Gaia', Barcelona (Spain), 1-5 December 2014. EAS
Publication Series, in pres
The Gaia Survey Contribution to EChO Target Selection and Characterization
The scientific output of the proposed EChO mission (in terms of spectroscopic
characterization of the atmospheres of transiting extrasolar planets) will be
maximized by a careful selection of targets and by a detailed characterization
of the main physical parameters (such as masses and radii) of both the planets
and their stellar hosts. To achieve this aim, the availability of high-quality
data from other space-borne and ground-based programs will play a crucial role.
Here we identify and discuss the elements of the Gaia catalogue that will be of
utmost relevance for the selection and characterization of transiting planet
systems to be observed by the proposed EChO mission.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures. Accepted for publication in Experimental
Astronom
The Gaia Astrometric Survey
In its all-sky survey, the ESA global astrometry mission Gaia will perform
high-precision astrometry and photometry for 1 billion stars down to
mag. The data collected in the Gaia catalogue, to be published by the end of
the next decade, will likely revolutionize our understanding of many aspects of
stellar and Galactic astrophysics. One of the relevant areas in which the Gaia
observations will have great impact is the astrophysics of planetary systems.
This summary focuses on a) the complex technical problems related to and
challenges inherent in correctly modelling the signals of planetary systems
present in measurements collected with a space-borne observatory poised to
carry out precision astrometry at the micro-arcsecond (as) level, and b)
on the potential of Gaia as astrometry for important contributions to the
astrophysics of planetary systems.Comment: 2 pages. Summary of an invited talk given at Special Session 6
(Planetary Systems as Potential Sites for Life) of the XXVIIth IAU General
Assembly held in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil). To appear in IAU Highlights of
Astronomy 15 (2010
Hipparcos preliminary astrometric masses for the two close-in companions to HD 131664 and HD 43848. A brown dwarf and a low mass star
[abridged] We attempt to improve on the characterization of the properties
(orbital elements, masses) of two Doppler-detected sub-stellar companions to
the nearby G dwarfs HD 131664 and HD 43848. We carry out orbital fits to the
Hipparcos IAD for the two stars, taking advantage of the knowledge of the
spectroscopic orbits, and solving for the two orbital elements that can be
determined in principle solely by astrometry, the inclination angle and the
longitude of the ascending node . A number of checks are carried out in
order to assess the reliability of the orbital solutions thus obtained. The
best-fit solution for HD 131664 yields deg and
deg. The resulting inferred true companion mass is then
. For \object{HD 43848}, we find deg and deg,
and . Based on the statistical evidence from an
-test, the study of the joint confidence intervals of variation of and
, and the comparison of the derived orbital semi-major axes with a
distribution of false astrometric orbits obtained for single stars observed by
Hipparcos, the astrometric signal of the two companions to HD 131664 and HD
43848 is then considered detected in the Hipparcos IAD, with a level of
statistical confidence not exceeding 95%. We constrain the true mass of HD
131664b to that of a brown dwarf to within a somewhat statistically significant
degree of confidence (). For HD 43848b, a true mass in the brown
dwarf regime is ruled out at the confidence level. [abridged]Comment: 13 pages, 6 figures, 4 tables. Accepted for publication in Astronomy
& Astrophysic
Testing Planet Formation Models with Gaia as Astrometry
In this paper, we first summarize the results of a large-scale double-blind
tests campaign carried out for the realistic estimation of the Gaia potential
in detecting and measuring planetary systems. Then, we put the identified
capabilities in context by highlighting the unique contribution that the Gaia
exoplanet discoveries will be able to bring to the science of extrasolar
planets during the next decade.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure. To appear in the proceedings of "IAU Symposium 248
- A Giant Step: from Milli- to Micro-arcsecond Astrometry", held in Shanghai,
China, 15-19 Oct. 200
The galactic habitable zone of the Milky Way and M31 from chemical evolution models with gas radial flows
The galactic habitable zone is defined as the region with sufficient
abundance of heavy elements to form planetary systems in which Earth-like
planets could be born and might be capable of sustaining life, after surviving
to close supernova explosion events. Galactic chemical evolution models can be
useful for studying the galactic habitable zones in different systems. We apply
detailed chemical evolution models including radial gas flows to study the
galactic habitable zones in our Galaxy and M31. We compare the results to the
relative galactic habitable zones found with "classical" (independent ring)
models, where no gas inflows were included. For both the Milky Way and
Andromeda, the main effect of the gas radial inflows is to enhance the number
of stars hosting a habitable planet with respect to the "classical" model
results, in the region of maximum probability for this occurrence, relative to
the classical model results. These results are obtained by taking into account
the supernova destruction processes. In particular, we find that in the Milky
Way the maximum number of stars hosting habitable planets is at 8 kpc from the
Galactic center, and the model with radial flows predicts a number which is 38%
larger than what predicted by the classical model. For Andromeda we find that
the maximum number of stars with habitable planets is at 16 kpc from the center
and that in the case of radial flows this number is larger by 10 % relative to
the stars predicted by the classical model.Comment: Accepted by MNRA
White Dwarf Planets from GAIA
We investigate the potential of high-precision astrometry with GAIA for
detection of giant planetary companions to nearby white dwarfs. If one
considers that, to date, no confirmed planets around single white dwarfs are
known, the results from GAIA will be crucial to study the late-stage evolution
of planetary systems and to verify the possibility that 2nd-generation planets
are formed.Comment: Part of PlanetsbeyondMS/2010 proceedings
http://arxiv.org/html/1011.6606v1, Proc. of the workshop on "Planetary
Systems beyond the Main Sequence" (Bamberg, 11-14 August 2010), AIPC in press
(eds. S. Schuh, H. Drechsel and U. Heber), 4 pages, 1 figur
Detectability of substellar companions around white dwarfs with Gaia
To date not a single-bona fide planet has been identified orbiting a single
white dwarf. In fact we are ignorant about the final configuration of >95% of
planetary systems. Theoretical models predict a gap in the final distribution
of orbital periods, due to the opposite effects of stellar mass loss (planets
pushed outwards) and tidal interactions (planets pushed inwards) during the RGB
and the AGB stellar expansions. Over its five year primary mission, Gaia is
expected to astrometrically detect the first (few tens of) WD massive
planets/BDs giving first evidence that WD planets exist, at least those in wide
orbits. In this article we present preliminary results of our simulations of
what Gaia should be able to find in this field.Comment: Proceedings of the 19th European Workshop on White Dwarfs (Montr\'eal
11-15 August 2014). To appear on ASP Conference Series; 4 pages, 2 figure
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