ABSTRACT
We report on Doppler observations of three transiting planet candidates that were detected during Campaign 1 of the
K
2 mission. The Doppler observations were conducted with FIES, HARPS-N, ...and HARPS. We measure the mass of EPIC 201546283b, and provide constraints and upper limits for EPIC 201295312b and EPIC 201577035b. EPIC 201546283b is a warm Neptune orbiting its host star in 6.77 days and has a radius of
and a mass of
, which leads to a mean density of
. EPIC 201295312b is smaller than Neptune with an orbital period of 5.66 days, a radius of
, and we constrain the mass to be below
at 95% confidence. We also find a long-term trend indicative of another body in the system. EPIC 201577035b, which was previously confirmed as the planet K2-10b, is smaller than Neptune, orbiting its host star in 19.3 days, with a radius of
. We determine its mass to be
, with a 95% confidence upper limit at
, and a mean density of
. These measurements join the relatively small collection of planets smaller than Neptune with measurements or constraints of the mean density. Our code for performing
K
2 photometry and detecting planetary transits is now publicly available.
ABSTRACT We report the discovery of K2-31b, the first confirmed transiting hot Jupiter detected by the K2 space mission. We combined K2 photometry with FastCam lucky imaging and FIES and HARPS ...high-resolution spectroscopy to confirm the planetary nature of the transiting object and derived the system parameters. K2-31b is a 1.8-Jupiter-mass planet on a 1.26-day orbit around a G7 V star ( M , R ). The planetary radius is poorly constrained (0.7 < Rp < 1.4 RJup),15 owing to the grazing transit and the low sampling rate of the K2 photometry.16
A substellar-mass object in orbit at about 300 astronomical units from the young low-mass star G 196-3 was detected by direct imaging. Optical and infrared photometry and low- and ...intermediate-resolution spectroscopy of the faint companion, hereafter referred to as G 196-3B, confirm its cool atmosphere and allow its mass to be estimated at 25$^{+15}_{-10}$ Jupiter masses. The separation between the objects and their mass ratio suggest the fragmentation of a collapsing cloud as the most likely origin for G 196-3B, but alternatively it could have originated from a protoplanetary disc that has been dissipated. Whatever the formation process was, the young age of the primary star (about 100 million years) demonstrates that substellar companions can form on short time scales.
Abstract
We report the discovery of TOI-2285b, a sub-Neptune-sized planet transiting a nearby (42 pc) M dwarf with a period of 27.3 d. We identified the transit signal from the Transiting Exoplanet ...Survey Satellite photometric data, which we confirmed with ground-based photometric observations using the multiband imagers MuSCAT2 and MuSCAT3. Combining these data with other follow-up observations including high-resolution spectroscopy with the Tillinghast Reflector Echelle Spectrograph, high-resolution imaging with the SPeckle Polarimeter, and radial velocity (RV) measurements with the InfraRed Doppler instrument, we find that the planet has a radius of $1.74 \pm 0.08\, R_\oplus$, a mass of $\lt \!\!19.5\,M_\oplus$ ($95\%$ c.l.), and an insolation flux of 1.54 ± 0.14 times that of the Earth. Although the planet resides just outside the habitable zone for a rocky planet, if the planet harbors an H2O layer under a hydrogen-rich atmosphere, then liquid water could exist on the surface of the H2O layer depending on the planetary mass and water mass fraction. The bright host star in the near-infrared (Ks = 9.0) makes this planet an excellent target for further RV and atmospheric observations to improve our understanding of the composition, formation, and habitability of sub-Neptune-sized planets.
Abstract
We report on photometric and spectroscopic observations and analysis of the 2019 superoutburst of TCP J21040470+4631129. This object showed a 9 mag superoutburst with early superhumps and ...ordinary superhumps, which are the features of WZ Sge-type dwarf novae. Five rebrightenings were observed after the main superoutburst. The spectra during the post-superoutburst stage showed Balmer, He i, and possible sodium doublet features. The mass ratio is derived as 0.0880(9) from the period of the superhump. During the third and fifth rebrightenings, growing superhumps and superoutbursts were observed, which have never been detected during a rebrightening phase among WZ Sge-type dwarf novae with multiple rebrightenings. To induce a superoutburst during the brightening phase, the accretion disk needs to have expanded beyond the 3 : 1 resonance radius of the system again after the main superoutburst. These peculiar phenomena can be explained by the enhanced viscosity and large radius of the accretion disk suggested by the higher luminosity and the presence of late-stage superhumps during the post-superoutburst stage, plus by more mass supply from the cool mass reservoir and/or from the secondary because of the enhanced mass transfer than those of other WZ Sge-type dwarf novae.
Determination of the lithium depletion boundary (LDB), i.e., the observational limit below which the cores of very low-mass objects do not reach high enough temperatures for Li destruction, has been ...used to obtain ages for several open clusters and stellar associations younger than 200 Myr-which until now has been considered the practical upper limit on the range of applicability of this method. In this work, we show that the LDB method can be extended to significant older ages than previously thought. Intermediate resolution optical spectra of six L-type candidate members in the Hyades cluster obtained using Optical System for Imaging and Low Resolution Integrated Spectroscopy at the 10.4 m Gran Telescopio Canarias are presented. The 670.8 nm resonance doublet is clearly detected only in the two faintest and coolest of these objects, which are classified as L3.5 to L4 brown dwarf (BD) cluster members with luminosities around 10−4 solar. Lithium depletion factors are estimated for our targets with the aid of synthetic spectra and they are compared with predictions from evolutionary models. An LDB age of 650 70 Myr for the Hyades provides a consistent description of our data using a set of state-of-the-art evolutionary models for BDs calculated by Baraffe et al.
We present results from the most recent (2002-2004) observing campaigns of the eclipsing system KH 15D, in addition to rereduced data obtained at Van Vleck Observatory (VVO) between 1995 and 2000. ...Phasing 9 yr of photometric data shows substantial evolution in the width and depth of the eclipses. The most recent data indicate that the eclipses are now approximately 24 days in length, or half the orbital period. These results are interpreted and discussed in the context of the recent models for this system put forward by Winn and coworkers and Chiang & Murray-Clay. A periodogram of the entire data set yields a highly significant peak at 48.37 ± 0.01 days, which is in accord with the spectroscopic period of 48.38 ± 0.01 days determined by Johnson and coworkers. Another significant peak, at 9.6 days, was found in the periodogram of the out-of-eclipse data at two different epochs. We interpret this as the rotation period of the visible star and argue that it may be tidally locked in pseudosynchronism with its orbital motion. If so, application of Hut's theory implies that the eccentricity of the orbit is e = 0.65 ± 0.01. Analysis of the Ultraviolet and Visual Echelle Spectrograph VLT spectra obtained by Hamilton and coworkers shows that the v sin i of the visible star in this system is 6.9 ± 0.3 km s-1. Using this value of v sin i and the measured rotation period of the star, we calculate the lower limit on the radius to be R = (1.3 ± 0.1) R, which concurs with the value obtained by Hamilton and coworkers from its luminosity and effective temperature. Here we assume that i = 90°, since it is likely that the spin and orbital angular momenta vectors are nearly aligned. One unusually bright data point obtained in the 1995/1996 observing season at VVO is interpreted as the point in time when the currently hidden star B made its last appearance. Based on this datum, we show that star B is 0.46 ± 0.03 mag brighter than the currently visible star A, which is entirely consistent with the historical light curve. Finally, well-sampled VJ and IJ data obtained at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory Yale 1 m telescope during 2001/2002 show an entirely new feature: the system becomes bluer by a small but significant amount in very steady fashion as it enters eclipse and shows an analogous reddening as it emerges from eclipse. This suggests an extended zone of hot gas located close to but above the photosphere of the currently visible star. The persistence of the bluing of the light curve shows that its length scale is comparable to a stellar radius.
As of today, hundreds of extrasolar planets have been discoverd, and thousands of candidates are waiting for confirmation. Although we already have discovered dozens of the least massive planets (the ...so called super-Earths), only a few have been found to be orbiting low mass stars, and only one that actually transist a bright M star. Here, we propose to carry out a photometric search for transiting super-Earths In the Habitable Zone of a large sample of very low-mass stars (M < 0.3 Mmiddot in circle). These planets have a higher transit detection probability, shorter orbital periods and produce larger radial velocity amplitudes than those orbiting Solar type stars. The observing strategy proposed for such a search would require a robotic network of 1-m class telescopes, such as the LCOGT will provide.