Two decades ago, empirical evidence concerning the existence and frequency of planets around stars, other than our own, was absent. Since that time, the detection of extrasolar planets from ...Jupiter-sized to, most recently, Earth-sized worlds has blossomed and we are finally able to shed light on the plurality of Earth-like, habitable planets in the cosmos. Extrasolar moons may also be frequently habitable worlds, but their detection or even systematic pursuit remains lacking in the current literature. Here, we present a description of the first systematic search for extrasolar moons as part of a new observational project called "The Hunt for Exomoons with Kepler" (HEK). The HEK project distills the entire list of known transiting planet candidates found by Kepler (2326 at the time of writing) down to the most promising candidates for hosting a moon. Selected targets are fitted using a multimodal nested sampling algorithm coupled with a planet-with-moon light curve modeling routine. By comparing the Bayesian evidence of a planet-only model to that of a planet-with-moon, the detection process is handled in a Bayesian framework. In the case of null detections, upper limits derived from posteriors marginalized over the entire prior volume will be provided to inform the frequency of large moons around viable planetary hosts, eta(ProQuest: Formulae and/or non-USASCII text omitted). After discussing our methodologies for target selection, modeling, fitting, and vetting, we provide two example analyses.
We report the discovery of four relatively massive (2-7 M J) transiting extrasolar planets. HAT-P-20b orbits the moderately bright V = 11.339 K3 dwarf star GSC 1910-00239 on a circular orbit, with a ...period P = 2.875317 ? 0.000004 days, transit epoch Tc = 2455080.92661 ? 0.00021 (BJDUTC), and transit duration 0.0770 ? 0.0008 days. The host star has a mass of 0.76 ? 0.03 M , radius of 0.69 ? 0.02 R , effective temperature 4595 ? 80 K, and metallicity Fe/H = +0.35 ? 0.08. The planetary companion has a mass of 7.246 ? 0.187 M J and a radius of 0.867 ? 0.033 R J yielding a mean density of 13.78 ? 1.50 g cm--3. HAT-P-21b orbits the V = 11.685 G3 dwarf star GSC 3013-01229 on an eccentric (e = 0.228 ? 0.016) orbit, with a period P = 4.124481 ? 0.000007 days, transit epoch Tc = 2454996.41312 ? 0.00069, and transit duration 0.1530 ? 0.0027 days. The host star has a mass of 0.95 ? 0.04 M , radius of 1.10 ? 0.08 R , effective temperature 5588 ? 80 K, and metallicity Fe/H = +0.01 ? 0.08. The planetary companion has a mass of 4.063 ? 0.161 M J and a radius of 1.024 ? 0.092 R J yielding a mean density of 4.68+1.59 -- 0.99 g cm--3. HAT-P-21b is a borderline object between the pM and pL class planets, and the transits occur near apastron. HAT-P-22b orbits the bright V = 9.732 G5 dwarf star HD 233731 on a circular orbit, with a period P = 3.212220 ? 0.000009 days, transit epoch Tc = 2454930.22001 ? 0.00025, and transit duration 0.1196 ? 0.0014 days. The host star has a mass of 0.92 ? 0.03 M , radius of 1.04 ? 0.04 R , effective temperature 5302 ? 80 K, and metallicity Fe/H = +0.24 ? 0.08. The planet has a mass of 2.147 ? 0.061 M J and a compact radius of 1.080 ? 0.058 R J yielding a mean density of 2.11+0.40 -- 0.29 g cm--3. The host star also harbors an M-dwarf companion at a wide separation. Finally, HAT-P-23b orbits the V = 12.432 G0 dwarf star GSC 1632-01396 on a close to circular orbit, with a period P = 1.212884 ? 0.000002 days, transit epoch Tc = 2454852.26464 ? 0.00018, and transit duration 0.0908 ? 0.0007 days. The host star has a mass of 1.13 ? 0.04 M , radius of 1.20 ? 0.07 R , effective temperature 5905 ? 80 K, and metallicity Fe/H = +0.15 ? 0.04. The planetary companion has a mass of 2.090 ? 0.111 M J and a radius of 1.368 ? 0.090 R J yielding a mean density of 1.01 ? 0.18 g cm--3. HAT-P-23b is an inflated and massive hot Jupiter on a very short period orbit, and has one of the shortest characteristic infall times (7.5+2.9 -- 1.8 Myr) before it gets engulfed by the star.
We report on the discovery of HAT-P-11b, the smallest radius transiting extrasolar planet (TEP) discovered from the ground, and the first hot Neptune discovered to date by transit searches. HAT-P-11b ...orbits the bright (V = 9.587) and metal rich (Fe/H = +0.31 +- 0.05) K4 dwarf star GSC 03561-02092 with P = 4.8878162 +- 0.0000071 days and produces a transit signal with depth of 4.2 mmag, the shallowest found by transit searches that is due to a confirmed planet. We present a global analysis of the available photometric and radial velocity (RV) data that result in stellar and planetary parameters, with simultaneous treatment of systematic variations. The planet, like its near-twin GJ 436b, is somewhat larger than Neptune (17 M{sub +}, 3.8 R{sub +}) both in mass M{sub p} = 0.081 +- 0.009 M{sub J}(25.8 +- 2.9 M{sub +}) and radius R{sub p} = 0.422 +- 0.014 R{sub J}(4.73 +- 0.16 R{sub +}). HAT-P-11b orbits in an eccentric orbit with e = 0.198 +- 0.046 and omega = 355.{sup 0}2 +- 17.{sup 0}3, causing a reflex motion of its parent star with amplitude 11.6 +- 1.2 m s{sup -1}, a challenging detection due to the high level of chromospheric activity of the parent star. Our ephemeris for the transit events is T{sub c} = 2454605.89132 +- 0.00032 (BJD), with duration 0.0957 +- 0.0012 days, and secondary eclipse epoch of 2454608.96 +- 0.15 days (BJD). The basic stellar parameters of the host star are M{sub *} = 0.809{sup +0.020}{sub -0.027} M{sub sun}, R{sub *} = 0.752 +- 0.021 R{sub sun}, and T{sub eff*} = 4780 +- 50 K. Importantly, HAT-P-11 will lie on one of the detectors of the forthcoming Kepler mission; this should make possible fruitful investigations of the detailed physical characteristic of both the planet and its parent star at unprecedented precision. We discuss an interesting constraint on the eccentricity of the system by the transit light curve and stellar parameters. This will be particularly useful for eccentric TEPs with low-amplitude RV variations in Kepler's field. We also present a blend analysis, that for the first time treats the case of a blended transiting hot Jupiter mimicking a transiting hot Neptune, and proves that HAT-P-11b is not such a blend.
Abstract
Recent analyses of the Gaia data have identified diffuse stellar populations surrounding nearby open clusters. It is important to verify that these “halos,” “tails,” and “strings” are of ...similar ages and compositions as stars in the denser part of the cluster. We present an analysis of NGC 2516 (≈150 Myr), which has a classical tidal radius of 10 pc and an apparent halo of stars spanning 500 pc (20° on-sky). Combining photometry from Gaia, rotation periods from TESS, and lithium measurements from Gaia-ESO and GALAH, we find that the halo of NGC 2516 is the same age as the cluster’s core. Two-thirds of kinematically selected halo members out to 250 pc from the cluster center have rotation periods consistent with a gyrochronological age of 150 Myr. A comparison sample of field stars shows no such trend. The lithium abundances of stars in the halo are higher than in the field and correlated with the stellar rotation rate and binarity fraction, as has been noted in other young open clusters. Broadly speaking, this work supports a new paradigm wherein the halos of open clusters are often more populous than their cores. We highlight implications for spectroscopic survey targeting, open cluster dispersal, and planet searches around young stars.
High-precision photometry for K2 Campaign 1 Huang, C. X; Penev, K; Hartman, J. D ...
Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society,
12/2015, Letnik:
454, Številka:
4
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
The two reaction wheel K2 mission promises and has delivered new discoveries in the stellar and exoplanet fields. However, due to the loss of accurate pointing, it also brings new challenges for the ...data reduction processes. In this paper, we describe a new reduction pipeline for extracting high-precision photometry from the K2 data set, and present public light curves for the K2 Campaign 1 target pixel data set. Key to our reduction is the derivation of global astrometric solutions from the target stamps, from which accurate centroids are passed on for high-precision photometry extraction. We extract target light curves for sources from a combined UCAC4 and EPIC catalogue – this includes not only primary targets of the K2 campaign 1, but also any other stars that happen to fall on the pixel stamps. We provide the raw light curves, and the products of various detrending processes aimed at removing different types of systematics. Our astrometric solutions achieve a median residual of ∼0.127 arcsec. For bright stars, our best 6.5 h precision for raw light curves is ∼20 parts per million (ppm). For our detrended light curves, the best 6.5 h precision achieved is ∼15 ppm. We show that our detrended light curves have fewer systematic effects (or trends, or red-noise) than light curves produced by other groups from the same observations. Example light curves of transiting planets and a Cepheid variable candidate, are also presented. We make all light curves public, including the raw and detrended photometry, at http://k2.hatsurveys.org.
Using data from the Hungarian-made Automated Telescope Network (HATNet) survey for transiting exoplanets, we measure photometric rotation periods for 368 Pleiades stars with 0.4 ≲M≲ 1.3 M⊙. We detect ...periodic variability for 74 per cent of the cluster members in this mass range that are within our field-of-view, and 93 per cent of the members with 0.7 ≲M≲ 1.0 M⊙. This increases, by a factor of 5, the number of Pleiades members with measured periods. We compare these data to the rich sample of spectroscopically determined projected equatorial rotation velocities (v sin i) available in the literature for this cluster. Included in our sample are 14 newly identified probable cluster members which have proper motions, photometry and rotation periods consistent with membership. For stars with M≳ 0.85 M⊙ the rotation periods, v sin i and radius estimates are consistent with the stars having an isotropic distribution of rotation axes, if a moderate differential rotation law is assumed. For stars with M≲ 0.85 M⊙, the inferred sin i values are systematically larger than 1.0. These observations imply that the combination of measured parameters P(v sin i)/R is too large by ∼ 24 per cent for low-mass stars in this cluster. By comparing our new mass–period relation for the Pleiades to the slightly older cluster M35, we confirm previous indications that the spin-down stalls at ∼ 100 Myr for the slowest rotating stars with 0.7 ≲M≲ 1.1 M⊙– a fact which may indicate that the internal transport of angular momentum is inefficient in slowly rotating solar-mass stars.
We report the discovery of two exoplanets transiting high-jitter stars. HAT-P-32b orbits the bright V = 11.289 late-F-early-G dwarf star GSC 3281-00800, with a period P = 2.150008 ? 0.000001 d. The ...stellar and planetary masses and radii depend on the eccentricity of the system, which is poorly constrained due to the high-velocity jitter (~80 m s--1). Assuming a circular orbit, the star has a mass of 1.16 ? 0.04 M and radius of 1.22 ? 0.02 R , while the planet has a mass of 0.860 ? 0.164 M J and a radius of 1.789 ? 0.025 R J. The second planet, HAT-P-33b, orbits the bright V = 11.188 late-F dwarf star GSC 2461-00988, with a period P = 3.474474 ? 0.000001 d. As for HAT-P-32, the stellar and planetary masses and radii of HAT-P-33 depend on the eccentricity, which is poorly constrained due to the high jitter (~50 m s--1). In this case, spectral line bisector spans (BSs) are significantly anti-correlated with the radial velocity residuals, and we are able to use this correlation to reduce the residual rms to ~35 m s--1. We find that the star has a mass of 1.38 ? 0.04 M and a radius of 1.64 ? 0.03 R while the planet has a mass of 0.762 ? 0.101 M J and a radius of 1.686 ? 0.045 R J for an assumed circular orbit. Due to the large BS variations exhibited by both stars we rely on detailed modeling of the photometric light curves to rule out blend scenarios. Both planets are among the largest radii transiting planets discovered to date.
We report on the discovery of HAT-P-12b, a transiting extrasolar planet orbiting the moderately bright V 12.8 K4 dwarf GSC 03033 - 00706, with a period P = 3.2130598 +/- 0.0000021 d, transit epoch Tc ...= 2454419.19556 +/- 0.00020 (BJD), and transit duration 0.0974 +/- 0.0006 d. The host star has a mass of 0.73 +/- 0.02 M, radius of 0.70+0.02 -0.01 R, effective temperature 4650 +/- 60 K, and metallicity Fe/H = -0.29 +/- 0.05. We find a slight correlation between the observed spectral line bisector spans and the radial velocity, so we consider, and rule out, various blend configurations including a blend with a background eclipsing binary, and hierarchical triple systems where the eclipsing body is a star or a planet. We conclude that a model consisting of a single star with a transiting planet best fits the observations, and show that a likely explanation for the apparent correlation is contamination from scattered moonlight. Based on this model, the planetary companion has a mass of 0.211 +/- 0.012 M J and radius of 0.959+0.029 -0.021 R J yielding a mean density of 0.295 +/- 0.025 g cm-3. Comparing these observations with recent theoretical models, we find that HAT-P-12b is consistent with a ~1-4.5 Gyr, mildly irradiated, H/He-dominated planet with a core mass MC 10 M {circled plus}. HAT-P-12b is thus the least massive H/He-dominated gas giant planet found to date. This record was previously held by Saturn.
Abstract
We report the discovery of HATS-70b, a transiting brown dwarf at the deuterium burning limit. HATS-70b has a mass of
and a radius of
, residing in a close-in orbit with a period of
days. The ...host star is a
A star rotating at
, enabling us to characterize the spectroscopic transit of the brown dwarf via Doppler tomography. We find that HATS-70b, like other massive planets and brown dwarfs previously sampled, orbits in a low projected-obliquity orbit with
. The low obliquities of these systems is surprising given all brown dwarf and massive planets with obliquities measured orbit stars hotter than the Kraft break. This trend is tentatively inconsistent with dynamically chaotic migration for systems with massive companions, though the stronger tidal influence of these companions makes it difficult to draw conclusions on the primordial obliquity distribution of this population. We also introduce a modeling scheme for planets around rapidly rotating stars, accounting for the influence of gravity darkening on the derived stellar and planetary parameters.
The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) is providing precise time-series photometry for most star clusters in the solar neighborhood. Using the TESS images, we have begun a Cluster ...Difference Imaging Photometric Survey, in which we are focusing both on stars that are candidate cluster members and on stars that show indications of youth. Our aims are to discover giant transiting planets with known ages, and to provide light curves suitable for studies in stellar astrophysics. For this work, we made 159,343 light curves of candidate young stars, across 596 distinct clusters. Each light curve represents between 20 and 25 days of observations of a star brighter than GRp = 16, with 30-minute sampling. We describe the image-subtraction and time-series analysis techniques we used to create the light curves, which have noise properties that agree with theoretical expectations. We also comment on the possible utility of the light-curve sample for studies of stellar rotation evolution and binary eccentricity damping. The light curves, which cover about one-sixth of the galactic plane, are available at archive.stsci.edu/hlsp/cdips.