Correlated noise affects most astronomical datasets and to neglect accounting for it can lead to spurious signal detections, especially in low signal-to-noise conditions, which is often the context ...in which new discoveries are pursued. For instance, in the realm of exoplanet detection with radial velocity time series, stellar variability can induce false detections. However, a white noise approximation is often used because accounting for correlated noise when analyzing data implies a more complex analysis. Moreover, the computational cost can be prohibitive as it typically scales as the cube of the dataset size. For some restricted classes of correlated noise models, there are specific algorithms that can be used to help bring down the computational cost. This improvement in speed is particularly useful in the context of Gaussian process regression, however, it comes at the expense of the generality of the noise model. In this article, we present the S + LEAF noise model, which allows us to account for a large class of correlated noises with a linear scaling of the computational cost with respect to the size of the dataset. The S + LEAF model includes, in particular, mixtures of quasiperiodic kernels and calibration noise. This efficient modeling is made possible by a sparse representation of the covariance matrix of the noise and the use of dedicated algorithms for matrix inversion, solving, determinant computation, etc. We applied the S + LEAF model to reanalyze the HARPS radial velocity time series of the recently published planetary system HD 136352. We illustrate the flexibility of the S + LEAF model in handling various sources of noise. We demonstrate the importance of taking correlated noise into account, and especially calibration noise, to correctly assess the significance of detected signals.
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Periodograms are common tools used to search for periodic signals in unevenly spaced time series. The significance of periodogram peaks is often assessed using false alarm probability (FAP), which in ...most studies assumes uncorrelated noise and is computed using numerical methods such as bootstrapping or Monte Carlo. These methods have a high computational cost, especially for low FAP levels, which are of most interest. We present an analytical estimate of the FAP of the periodogram in the presence of correlated noise, which is fundamental to analyze astronomical time series correctly. The analytical estimate that we derive provides a very good approximation of the FAP at a much lower cost than numerical methods. We validate our analytical approach by comparing it with Monte Carlo simulations. Finally, we discuss the sensitivity of the method to different assumptions in the modeling of the noise.
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Gaia Early Data Release 3 Brown, A. G. A.; Prusti, T.; Eyer, L. ...
Astronomy and astrophysics (Berlin),
05/2021, Volume:
649
Journal Article, Web Resource
Peer reviewed
Open access
Context.
We present the early installment of the third
Gaia
data release,
Gaia
EDR3, consisting of astrometry and photometry for 1.8 billion sources brighter than magnitude 21, complemented with the ...list of radial velocities from
Gaia
DR2.
Aims.
A summary of the contents of
Gaia
EDR3 is presented, accompanied by a discussion on the differences with respect to
Gaia
DR2 and an overview of the main limitations which are present in the survey. Recommendations are made on the responsible use of
Gaia
EDR3 results.
Methods.
The raw data collected with the
Gaia
instruments during the first 34 months of the mission have been processed by the
Gaia
Data Processing and Analysis Consortium and turned into this early third data release, which represents a major advance with respect to
Gaia
DR2 in terms of astrometric and photometric precision, accuracy, and homogeneity.
Results. Gaia
EDR3 contains celestial positions and the apparent brightness in
G
for approximately 1.8 billion sources. For 1.5 billion of those sources, parallaxes, proper motions, and the (
G
BP
−
G
RP
) colour are also available. The passbands for
G
,
G
BP
, and
G
RP
are provided as part of the release. For ease of use, the 7 million radial velocities from
Gaia
DR2 are included in this release, after the removal of a small number of spurious values. New radial velocities will appear as part of
Gaia
DR3. Finally,
Gaia
EDR3 represents an updated materialisation of the celestial reference frame (CRF) in the optical, the
Gaia
-CRF3, which is based solely on extragalactic sources. The creation of the source list for
Gaia
EDR3 includes enhancements that make it more robust with respect to high proper motion stars, and the disturbing effects of spurious and partially resolved sources. The source list is largely the same as that for
Gaia
DR2, but it does feature new sources and there are some notable changes. The source list will not change for
Gaia
DR3.
Conclusions. Gaia
EDR3 represents a significant advance over
Gaia
DR2, with parallax precisions increased by 30 per cent, proper motion precisions increased by a factor of 2, and the systematic errors in the astrometry suppressed by 30–40% for the parallaxes and by a factor ~2.5 for the proper motions. The photometry also features increased precision, but above all much better homogeneity across colour, magnitude, and celestial position. A single passband for
G
,
G
BP
, and
G
RP
is valid over the entire magnitude and colour range, with no systematics above the 1% level
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Determining the architecture of multi-planetary systems is one of the cornerstones of understanding planet formation and evolution. Resonant systems are especially important as the fragility of their ...orbital configuration ensures that no significant scattering or collisional event has taken place since the earliest formation phase when the parent protoplanetary disc was still present. In this context, TOI-178 has been the subject of particular attention since the first TESS observations hinted at the possible presence of a near 2:3:3 resonant chain. Here we report the results of observations from CHEOPS, ESPRESSO, NGTS, and SPECULOOS with the aim of deciphering the peculiar orbital architecture of the system. We show that TOI-178 harbours at least six planets in the super-Earth to mini-Neptune regimes, with radii ranging from 1.152
−0.070
+0.073
to 2.87
−0.13
+0.14
Earth radii and periods of 1.91, 3.24, 6.56, 9.96, 15.23, and 20.71 days. All planets but the innermost one form a 2:4:6:9:12 chain of Laplace resonances, and the planetary densities show important variations from planet to planet, jumping from 1.02
−0.23
+0.28
to 0.177
−0.061
+0.055
times the Earth’s density between planets
c
and
d
. Using Bayesian interior structure retrieval models, we show that the amount of gas in the planets does not vary in a monotonous way, contrary to what one would expect from simple formation and evolution models and unlike other known systems in a chain of Laplace resonances. The brightness of TOI-178 (
H
= 8.76 mag,
J
= 9.37 mag,
V
= 11.95 mag) allows for a precise characterisation of its orbital architecture as well as of the physical nature of the six presently known transiting planets it harbours. The peculiar orbital configuration and the diversity in average density among the planets in the system will enable the study of interior planetary structures and atmospheric evolution, providing important clues on the formation of super-Earths and mini-Neptunes.
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The radial velocity method is a very productive technique used to detect and confirm extrasolar planets. The most recent spectrographs, such as ESPRESSO or EXPRES, have the potential to detect ...Earth-like planets around Sun-like stars. However, stellar activity can induce radial velocity variations that dilute or even mimic the signature of a planet. A widely recognized method for disentangling these signals is to model the radial velocity time series, jointly with stellar activity indicators, using Gaussian processes and their derivatives. However, such modeling is prohibitive in terms of computational resources for large data sets, as the cost typically scales as the total number of measurements cubed. Here, we present S+LEAF 2, a Gaussian process framework that can be used to jointly model several time series, with a computational cost that scales linearly with the data set size. This framework thus provides a state-of-the-art Gaussian process model, with tractable computations even for large data sets. We illustrate the power of this framework by reanalyzing the 246 HARPS radial velocity measurements of the nearby K2 dwarf HD 13808, together with two activity indicators. We reproduce the results of a previous analysis of these data, but with a strongly decreased computational cost (more than two order of magnitude). The gain would be even greater for larger data sets.
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Gaia Early Data Release 3 Carrasco, J. M.; Cooper, W. J.; Brown, A. G. A. ...
Astronomy and astrophysics (Berlin),
05/2021, Volume:
649
Journal Article, Web Resource
Peer reviewed
Open access
Aims.
We produce a clean and well-characterised catalogue of objects within 100 pc of the Sun from the
Gaia
Early Data Release 3. We characterise the catalogue through comparisons to the full data ...release, external catalogues, and simulations. We carry out a first analysis of the science that is possible with this sample to demonstrate its potential and best practices for its use.
Methods.
Theselection of objects within 100 pc from the full catalogue used selected training sets, machine-learning procedures, astrometric quantities, and solution quality indicators to determine a probability that the astrometric solution is reliable. The training set construction exploited the astrometric data, quality flags, and external photometry. For all candidates we calculated distance posterior probability densities using Bayesian procedures and mock catalogues to define priors. Any object with reliable astrometry and a non-zero probability of being within 100 pc is included in the catalogue.
Results.
We have produced a catalogue of 331 312 objects that we estimate contains at least 92% of stars of stellar type M9 within 100 pc of the Sun. We estimate that 9% of the stars in this catalogue probably lie outside 100 pc, but when the distance probability function is used, a correct treatment of this contamination is possible. We produced luminosity functions with a high signal-to-noise ratio for the main-sequence stars, giants, and white dwarfs. We examined in detail the Hyades cluster, the white dwarf population, and wide-binary systems and produced candidate lists for all three samples. We detected local manifestations of several streams, superclusters, and halo objects, in which we identified 12 members of
Gaia
Enceladus. We present the first direct parallaxes of five objects in multiple systems within 10 pc of the Sun.
Conclusions.
We provide the community with a large, well-characterised catalogue of objects in the solar neighbourhood. This is a primary benchmark for measuring and understanding fundamental parameters and descriptive functions in astronomy.
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Gaia Data Release 3 Arenou, F.; Faigler, S.; Kervella, P. ...
Astronomy and astrophysics (Berlin),
06/2023, Volume:
674
Journal Article, Web Resource
Peer reviewed
Open access
Context.
The
Gaia
DR3 catalogue contains, for the first time, about 800 000 solutions with either orbital elements or trend parameters for astrometric, spectroscopic, and eclipsing binaries, and ...combinations of these three.
Aims.
With this paper, we aim to illustrate the huge potential of this large non-single-star catalogue.
Methods.
Using the orbital solutions and models of the binaries, we have built a catalogue of tens of thousands of stellar masses or lower limits thereof, some with consistent flux ratios. Properties concerning the completeness of the binary catalogues are discussed, statistical features of the orbital elements are explained, and a comparison with other catalogues is performed.
Results.
Illustrative applications are proposed for binaries across the Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram (HRD). Binarity is studied in the giant branch and a search for genuine spectroscopic binaries among long-period variables is performed. The discovery of new EL CVn systems illustrates the potential of combining variability and binarity catalogues. Potential compact object companions are presented, mainly white dwarf companions or double degenerates, but one candidate neutron star is also found. Towards the bottom of the main sequence, the orbits of previously suspected binary ultracool dwarfs are determined and new candidate binaries are discovered. The long awaited contribution of
Gaia
to the analysis of the substellar regime shows the brown dwarf desert around solar-type stars using true rather than minimum masses, and provides new important constraints on the occurrence rates of substellar companions to M dwarfs. Several dozen new exoplanets are proposed, including two with validated orbital solutions and one super-Jupiter orbiting a white dwarf, all being candidates requiring confirmation. Besides binarity, higher order multiple systems are also found.
Conclusions.
By increasing the number of known binary orbits by more than one order of magnitude,
Gaia
DR3 will provide a rich reservoir of dynamical masses and an important contribution to the analysis of stellar multiplicity.
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This is a corrigendum for Gaia Collaboration (2021). It corrects errors in Sects. 6.3.2 and 7.2 and Appendix A, which erroneously state that the correction to theG-band fluxes and magnitudes ...presented in Riello et al. (2021) (their Table 5) should be applied to sources in Gaia EDR3 with six-parameter astrometric solutions. In fact, the corrections should be applied to sources with twoparameter or six-parameter astrometric solutions. The corrected Astronomical Data Query Language (ADQL) query and Python source code from Appendix A are presented in the new version of Appendix A below. Following the discovery of the above error, a more detailed investigation was done for the sources with two-parameter (2-p) astrometric solutions. Out of the 344 million 2-p sources present in Gaia EDR3, about 20 million have an astrometric solution in which the actual source colour was used instead of a default colour. This means that for these 20 million 2-p sources the Gband correction should actually not be applied. These sources are mostly faint, with 96% at magnitudes G > 20, and for 75% of these 20 million sources the correction that is (wrongly) applied amounts to less than 4 milli-magnitudes. It was thus decided not to make a special effort to exclude these sources from the correction. Should a user of the Gaia EDR3 data wish to undo the wrong correction for one or more of these 20 million sources, the list of source IDs and applied corrections can be provided on request. Appendix A: G-band corrections for sources with two-parameter or six-parameter astrometric solutions Figure A.1 shows how to formulate an ADQL query, to be executed in the Gaia EDR3 archive, that contains an on-the-fly calculation of the corrected G-band fluxes or magnitudes. These queries are somewhat complex and create a performance overhead. Hence downloading the requisite Gaia EDR3 fields and calculating the corrections a posteriori may be more efficient. Example Python code to do this is included in Fig. A.2. The Python code is also available as a Jupyter notebook1. Appendix A: G-band corrections for sources with two-parameter or six-parameter astrometric solutions Figure A.1 shows how to formulate an ADQL query, to be executed in the Gaia EDR3 archive, that contains an on-the-fly calculation of the corrected G-band fluxes or magnitudes. These queries are somewhat complex and create a performance overhead. Hence downloading the requisite Gaia EDR3 fields and calculating the corrections a posteriori may be more efficient. Example Python code to do this is included in Fig. A.2. The Python code is also available as a Jupyter notebook.
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We report the discovery of four super-Earth planets around HD 215152, with orbital periods of 5.76, 7.28, 10.86, and 25.2 d, and minimum masses of 1.8, 1.7, 2.8, and 2.9 M⊕ respectively. This ...discovery is based on 373 high-quality radial velocity measurements taken by HARPS over 13 yr. Given the low masses of the planets, the signal-to-noise ratio is not sufficient to constrain the planet eccentricities. However, a preliminary dynamical analysis suggests that eccentricities should be typically lower than about 0.03 for the system to remain stable. With two pairs of planets with a period ratio lower than 1.5, with short orbital periods, low masses, and low eccentricities, HD 215152 is similar to the very compact multi-planet systems found by Kepler, which is very rare in radial-velocity surveys. This discovery proves that these systems can be reached with the radial-velocity technique, but characterizing them requires a huge amount of observations.
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Multiplanetary systems detected by the Kepler mission present an excess of planets close to first-order mean-motion resonances (2:1 and 3:2), but with a period ratio slightly higher than the resonant ...value. Several mechanisms have been proposed to explain this observation. Here we provide some clues that indicate that these near-resonant systems were initially in resonance and reached their current configuration through tidal dissipation. It has been argued that this only applies to the close-in systems and not to the farthest ones, for which the tidal effect is too weak. Using the KOI catalog of the Kepler mission, we show that the distributions of the period ratio among the most close-in and the farthest planetary systems differ significantly. This distance-dependent repartition is a strong argument in favor of the tidal dissipation scenario.
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