397 research outputs found
Tidal Limits to Planetary Habitability
The habitable zones of main sequence stars have traditionally been defined as
the range of orbits that intercept the appropriate amount of stellar flux to
permit surface water on a planet. Terrestrial exoplanets discovered to orbit M
stars in these zones, which are close-in due to decreased stellar luminosity,
may also undergo significant tidal heating. Tidal heating may span a wide range
for terrestrial exoplanets and may significantly affect conditions near the
surface. For example, if heating rates on an exoplanet are near or greater than
that on Io (where tides drive volcanism that resurface the planet at least
every 1 Myr) and produce similar surface conditions, then the development of
life seems unlikely. On the other hand, if the tidal heating rate is less than
the minimum to initiate plate tectonics, then CO_2 may not be recycled through
subduction, leading to a runaway greenhouse that sterilizes the planet. These
two cases represent potential boundaries to habitability and are presented
along with the range of the traditional habitable zone for main sequence,
low-mass stars. We propose a revised habitable zone that incorporates both
stellar insolation and tidal heating. We apply these criteria to GJ 581 d and
find that it is in the traditional habitable zone, but its tidal heating alone
may be insufficient for plate tectonics.Comment: 13 pages, 2 figures, accepted to ApJ Letters. A version with full
resolution images is available at
http://www.astro.washington.edu/users/rory/publications/bjgr09.pd
KELT-7b: A hot Jupiter transiting a bright V=8.54 rapidly rotating F-star
We report the discovery of KELT-7b, a transiting hot Jupiter with a mass of
MJ, radius of RJ, and an orbital
period of days. The bright host star (HD33643;
KELT-7) is an F-star with , Teff K, [Fe/H]
, and . It has a mass of
Msun, a radius of Rsun, and
is the fifth most massive, fifth hottest, and the ninth brightest star known to
host a transiting planet. It is also the brightest star around which KELT has
discovered a transiting planet. Thus, KELT-7b is an ideal target for detailed
characterization given its relatively low surface gravity, high equilibrium
temperature, and bright host star. The rapid rotation of the star (
km/s) results in a Rossiter-McLaughlin effect with an unusually large amplitude
of several hundred m/s. We find that the orbit normal of the planet is likely
to be well-aligned with the stellar spin axis, with a projected spin-orbit
alignment of degrees. This is currently the second most
rapidly rotating star to have a reflex signal (and thus mass determination) due
to a planetary companion measured.Comment: Accepted to The Astronomical Journa
\u3ci\u3eFundulus\u3c/i\u3e as the premier teleost model in environmental biology: Opportunities for new insights using genomics
A strong foundation of basic and applied research documents that the estuarine fish Fundulus heteroclitus and related species are unique laboratory and field models for understanding how individuals and populations interact with their environment. In this paper we summarize an extensive body of work examining the adaptive responses of Fundulus species to environmental conditions, and describe how this research has contributed importantly to our understanding of physiology, gene regulation, toxicology, and ecological and evolutionary genetics of teleosts and other vertebrates. These explorations have reached a critical juncture at which advancement is hindered by the lack of genomic resources for these species. We suggest that a more complete genomics toolbox for F. heteroclitus and related species will permit researchers to exploit the power of this model organism to rapidly advance our understanding of fundamental biological and pathological mechanisms among vertebrates, as well as ecological strategies and evolutionary processes common to all living organisms
Two mini-Neptunes Transiting the Adolescent K-star HIP 113103 Confirmed with TESS and CHEOPS
We report the discovery of two mini-Neptunes in near 2:1 resonance orbits
( d for HIP 113103 b and d for HIP 113103 c) around
the adolescent K-star HIP 113103 (TIC 121490076). The planet system was first
identified from the TESS mission, and was confirmed via additional photometric
and spectroscopic observations, including a 17.5 hour observation for the
transits of both planets using ESA CHEOPS. We place min and
min limits on the absence of transit timing variations over the three year
photometric baseline, allowing further constraints on the orbital
eccentricities of the system beyond that available from the photometric transit
duration alone. With a planetary radius of
, HIP 113103 b resides within the
radius gap, and this might provide invaluable information on the formation
disparities between super-Earths and mini-Neptunes. Given the larger radius
for HIP 113103 c, and close proximity
of both planets to HIP 113103, it is likely that HIP 113103 b might have lost
(or is still losing) its primordial atmosphere. We therefore present simulated
atmospheric transmission spectra of both planets using JWST, HST, and Twinkle.
It demonstrates a potential metallicity difference (due to differences in their
evolution) would be a challenge to detect if the atmospheres are in chemical
equilibrium. As one of the brightest multi sub-Neptune planet systems suitable
for atmosphere follow up, HIP 113103 b and HIP 113103 c could provide insight
on planetary evolution for the sub-Neptune K-star population.Comment: 18 pages, 12 figures, accepted for publication in the Monthly Notices
of the Royal Astronomical Societ
Separated twins or just siblings? A multi-planet system around an M dwarf including a cool sub-Neptune
We report the discovery of two TESS sub-Neptunes orbiting the early M dwarf
TOI-904 (TIC 261257684). Both exoplanets, TOI-904 b and c, were initially
observed in TESS sector 12 with twin sizes of 2.49R and
2.31R, respectively. Through observations in five additional sectors
in the TESS primary mission and the first and second extended missions, the
orbital periods of both planets were measured to be 10.8870.001 and
83.9990.001 days, respectively. Reconnaissance radial velocity
measurements (taken with EULER/CORALIE) and high resolution speckle imaging
with adaptive optics (obtained from SOAR/HRCAM and Gemini South/ZORRO) show no
evidence of an eclipsing binary or a nearby companion, which together with the
low false positive probabilities calculated with the statistical validation
software TRICERATOPS establish the planetary nature of these candidates. The
outer planet, TOI-904 c, is the longest-period M dwarf exoplanet found by TESS,
with an estimated equilibrium temperature of 217K. As the three other validated
planets with comparable host stars and orbital periods were observed by Kepler
around much dimmer stars (J 12), TOI-904 c, orbiting a brighter
star (J 9.6), is the coldest M dwarf planet easily accessible for
atmospheric follow-up. Future mass measurements and transmission spectroscopy
of the similar sized planets in this system could determine whether they are
also similar in density and composition, suggesting a common formation pathway,
or whether they have distinct origins.Comment: 18 pages, 6 figures, Accepted by the Astrophysical Journal Letter
Functionals of the Brownian motion, localization and metric graphs
We review several results related to the problem of a quantum particle in a
random environment.
In an introductory part, we recall how several functionals of the Brownian
motion arise in the study of electronic transport in weakly disordered metals
(weak localization).
Two aspects of the physics of the one-dimensional strong localization are
reviewed : some properties of the scattering by a random potential (time delay
distribution) and a study of the spectrum of a random potential on a bounded
domain (the extreme value statistics of the eigenvalues).
Then we mention several results concerning the diffusion on graphs, and more
generally the spectral properties of the Schr\"odinger operator on graphs. The
interest of spectral determinants as generating functions characterizing the
diffusion on graphs is illustrated.
Finally, we consider a two-dimensional model of a charged particle coupled to
the random magnetic field due to magnetic vortices. We recall the connection
between spectral properties of this model and winding functionals of the planar
Brownian motion.Comment: Review article. 50 pages, 21 eps figures. Version 2: section 5.5 and
conclusion added. Several references adde
Status of Muon Collider Research and Development and Future Plans
The status of the research on muon colliders is discussed and plans are
outlined for future theoretical and experimental studies. Besides continued
work on the parameters of a 3-4 and 0.5 TeV center-of-mass (CoM) energy
collider, many studies are now concentrating on a machine near 0.1 TeV (CoM)
that could be a factory for the s-channel production of Higgs particles. We
discuss the research on the various components in such muon colliders, starting
from the proton accelerator needed to generate pions from a heavy-Z target and
proceeding through the phase rotation and decay ()
channel, muon cooling, acceleration, storage in a collider ring and the
collider detector. We also present theoretical and experimental R & D plans for
the next several years that should lead to a better understanding of the design
and feasibility issues for all of the components. This report is an update of
the progress on the R & D since the Feasibility Study of Muon Colliders
presented at the Snowmass'96 Workshop [R. B. Palmer, A. Sessler and A.
Tollestrup, Proceedings of the 1996 DPF/DPB Summer Study on High-Energy Physics
(Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, Menlo Park, CA, 1997)].Comment: 95 pages, 75 figures. Submitted to Physical Review Special Topics,
Accelerators and Beam
TESS Discovery of Twin Planets near 2:1 Resonance around Early M-Dwarf TOI 4342
With data from the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), we showcase
improvements to the MIT Quick-Look Pipeline (QLP) through the discovery and
validation of a multi-planet system around M-dwarf TOI 4342 (,
, , K,
pc). With updates to QLP, including a new multi-planet search, as well as
faster cadence data from TESS' First Extended Mission, we discovered two
sub-Neptunes ( and ; = 5.538 days and = 10.689 days)
and validated them with ground-based photometry, spectra, and speckle imaging.
Both planets notably have high transmission spectroscopy metrics (TSMs) of 36
and 32, making TOI 4342 one of the best systems for comparative atmospheric
studies. This system demonstrates how improvements to QLP, along with faster
cadence Full-Frame Images (FFIs), can lead to the discovery of new multi-planet
systems.Comment: accepted for publication in A
Validation of TOI-1221 b: A warm sub-Neptune exhibiting TTVs around a Sun-like star
We present a validation of the long-period (
days) transiting sub-Neptune planet TOI-1221 b (TIC 349095149.01) around a
Sun-like (m=10.5) star. This is one of the few known exoplanets with
period >50 days, and belongs to the even smaller subset of which have bright
enough hosts for detailed spectroscopic follow-up. We combine TESS light curves
and ground-based time-series photometry from PEST (0.3~m) and LCOGT (1.0~m) to
analyze the transit signals and rule out nearby stars as potential false
positive sources. High-contrast imaging from SOAR and Gemini/Zorro rule out
nearby stellar contaminants. Reconnaissance spectroscopy from CHIRON sets a
planetary scale upper mass limit on the transiting object (1.1 and 3.5 M at 1 and 3, respectively) and shows no sign of a
spectroscopic binary companion. We determine a planetary radius of , placing it in the sub-Neptune regime. With a
stellar insolation of , we calculate a
moderate equilibrium temperature of 440 K, assuming no albedo
and perfect heat redistribution. We find a false positive probability from
TRICERATOPS of FPP as well as other qualitative and
quantitative evidence to support the statistical validation of TOI-1221 b. We
find significant evidence (>) of oscillatory transit timing
variations, likely indicative of an additional non-transiting planet.Comment: 17 pages, 9 figures, 4 table
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