ABSTRACT
The last decade of direct imaging (DI) searches for sub-stellar companions has uncovered a widely diverse sample that challenges the current formation models, while highlighting the ...intrinsically low occurrence rate of wide companions, especially at the lower end of the mass distribution. These results clearly show how blind surveys, crucial to constrain the underlying planet and sub-stellar companion population, are not an efficient way to increase the sample of DI companions. It is therefore becoming clear that efficient target selection methods are essential to ensure a larger number of detections. We present the results of the COPAINS Survey conducted with SPHERE/VLT, searching for sub-stellar companions to stars showing significant proper motion differences (Δμ) between different astrometric catalogues. We observed 25 stars and detected ten companions, including four new BDs: HIP 21152 B, HIP 29724 B, HD 60584 B, and HIP 63734 B. Our results clearly demonstrate how astrometric signatures, in the past only giving access to stellar companions, can now thanks to Gaia reveal companions well in the sub-stellar regime. We also introduce FORECAST (Finely Optimised REtrieval of Companions of Accelerating STars), a tool which allows to check the agreement between position and mass of the detected companions with the measured Δμ. Given the agreement between the values of the masses of the new sub-stellar companions from the photometry with the model-independent ones obtained with FORECAST, the results of COPAINS represent a significant increase in the number of potential benchmarks for BD and planet formation and evolution theories.
RFamide-related peptide (RFRP-3) is a regulator of GnRH secretion from the brain, but it can also act in human ovary to influence steroidogenesis. We aimed to study the putative local role of RFRP-3 ...in the ovary and its potential participation in the development of a polycystic ovary phenotype induced by chronic sympathetic stress (cold stress). We used adult Sprague–Dawley rats divided into control and stressed groups. In both groups, we studied the effect of intraovarian exposure to RFRP-3 on follicular development and plasma ovarian steroid concentrations. We also tested the effect of RFRP-3 on ovarian steroid production in vitro. Chronic in vivo intraovarian exposure to RFRP-3 decreased basal testosterone concentrations and cold stress-induced progesterone production by the ovary. In vitro, RFRP-3 decreased hCG-induced ovarian progesterone and testosterone secretion. Immunohistochemistry and mRNA expression analysis showed a decrease in Rfrp and expression of its receptor in the ovary of stressed rats, a result which is in line with the increased testosterone levels found in stressed rats. In vivo application of RFRP-3 recovered the low levels of secondary and healthy antral follicles found in stressed rats. Taken together, our data indicate a previously unknown response of hypothalamic and ovarian RFRP-3 to chronic cold stress, influencing ovarian steroidogenesis and follicular dynamics. Thus, it is likely that RFRP-3 modulation in the ovary is a key component of development of the polycystic ovary phenotype.
Context . The formation mechanisms of stellar, brown dwarf, and planetary companions, their dependencies on the environment and their interactions with each other are still not well established. ...Recently, combining high-contrast imaging and space astrometry we found that Jupiter-like (JL) planets are frequent in the β Pic moving group (BPMG) around those stars where their orbit can be stable, prompting further analysis and discussion. Aims . We broaden our previous analysis to other young nearby associations to determine the frequency, mass and separation of companions in general and JL in particular and their dependencies on the mass and age of the associations. Methods . We collected available data about companions to the stars in the BPMG and seven additional young associations, including those revealed by visual observations, eclipses, spectroscopy and astrometry. Results . We determined search completeness and found that it is very high for stellar companions, while completeness corrections are still large for JL companions. Once these corrections are included, we found a high frequency of companions, both stellar (>0.52 ± 0.03) and JL (0.57 ± 0.11). The two populations are clearly separated by a gap that corresponds to the well-known brown dwarf desert. Within the population of massive companions, we found clear trends in frequency, separation, and mass ratios with stellar mass. Planetary companions pile up in the region just outside the ice line and we found them to be frequent once completeness was considered. The frequency of JL planets decreases with the overall mass and possibly the age of the association. Conclusions . We tentatively identify the two populations as due to disk fragmentation and core accretion, respectively. The distributions of stellar companions with a semi-major axis <1000 au is indeed well reproduced by a simple model of formation by disk fragmentation. The observed trends with stellar mass can be explained by a shorter but much more intense phase of accretion onto the disk of massive stars and by a more steady and prolonged accretion on solar-type stars. Possible explanations for the trends in the population of JL planets with association mass and age are briefly discussed.
RFamide-related peptide (RFRP-3) is a regulator of GnRH secretion from the brain, but it can also act in human ovary to influence steroidogenesis. We aimed to study the putative local role of RFRP-3 ...in the ovary and its potential participation in the development of a polycystic ovary phenotype induced by chronic sympathetic stress (cold stress). We used adult Sprague–Dawley rats divided into control and stressed groups. In both groups, we studied the effect of intraovarian exposure to RFRP-3 on follicular development and plasma ovarian steroid concentrations. We also tested the effect of RFRP-3 on ovarian steroid production in vitro. Chronic in vivo intraovarian exposure to RFRP-3 decreased basal testosterone concentrations and cold stress-induced progesterone production by the ovary. In vitro, RFRP-3 decreased hCG-induced ovarian progesterone and testosterone secretion. Immunohistochemistry and mRNA expression analysis showed a decrease in Rfrp and expression of its receptor in the ovary of stressed rats, a result which is in line with the increased testosterone levels found in stressed rats. In vivo application of RFRP-3 recovered the low levels of secondary and healthy antral follicles found in stressed rats. Taken together, our data indicate a previously unknown response of hypothalamic and ovarian RFRP-3 to chronic cold stress, influencing ovarian steroidogenesis and follicular dynamics. Thus, it is likely that RFRP-3 modulation in the ovary is a key component of development of the polycystic ovary phenotype.
Abstract
The last decade of direct imaging (DI) searches for sub-stellar companions has uncovered a widely diverse sample that challenges the current formation models, while highlighting the ...intrinsically low occurrence rate of wide companions, especially at the lower end of the mass distribution. These results clearly show how blind surveys, crucial to constrain the underlying planet and sub-stellar companion population, are not an efficient way to increase the sample of DI companions. It is therefore becoming clear that efficient target selection methods are essential to ensure a larger number of detections. We present the results of the COPAINS Survey conducted with SPHERE/VLT, searching for sub-stellar companions to stars showing significant proper motion differences (Δμ) between different astrometric catalogues. We observed twenty-five stars and detected ten companions, including four new brown dwarfs: HIP 21152 B, HIP 29724 B, HD 60584 B and HIP 63734 B. Our results clearly demonstrates how astrometric signatures, in the past only giving access to stellar companions, can now thanks to Gaia reveal companions well in the sub-stellar regime. We also introduce FORECAST (Finley Optimised REtrieval of Companions of Accelerating STars), a tool which allows to check the agreement between position and mass of the detected companions with the measured Δμ. Given the agreement between the values of the masses of the new sub-stellar companions from the photometry with the model-independent ones obtained with FORECAST, the results of COPAINS represent a significant increase of the number of potential benchmarks for brown dwarf and planet formation and evolution theories.
Context.
The unrivalled astrometric and photometric capabilities of the
Gaia
mission have given new impetus to the study of young stars: both from an environmental perspective, as members of comoving ...star-forming regions, and from an individual perspective, as targets amenable to planet-hunting direct-imaging observations.
Aims.
In view of the large availability of theoretical evolutionary models, both fields would benefit from a unified framework that allows a straightforward comparison of physical parameters obtained by different stellar and substellar models.
Methods.
To this aim, we developed the Manifold Age Determination for Young Stars (madys), a flexible Python tool for the age and mass determination of young stellar and substellar objects. In this first release, madys automatically retrieves and crossmatches photometry from several catalogs, estimates interstellar extinction, and derives age and mass estimates for individual objects through isochronal fitting.
Results.
Harmonizing the heterogeneity of publicly available isochrone grids, the tool allows one to choose amongst 17 models, many of which with customizable astrophysical parameters, for a total of ~110 isochrone grids. Several dedicated plotting functions are provided to allow for an intuitive visual perception of the numerical output.
Conclusions.
After extensive testing, we have made the tool publicly available. Here, we demonstrate the capabilities of madys, summarizing previously published results as well providing several new examples.
Context.
Protoplanetary disks around young stars often contain substructures like rings, gaps, and spirals that could be caused by interactions between the disk and forming planets.
Aims.
We aim to ...study the young (1–3 Myr) star DR Tau in the near-infrared and characterize its disk, which was previously resolved through submillimeter interferometry with ALMA, and to search for possible substellar companions embedded into it.
Methods.
We observed DR Tau with VLT/SPHERE both in polarized light (
H
broad band) and total intensity (in
Y
,
J
,
H
, and
K
spectral bands). We also performed
L
′ band observations with LBTI/LMIRCam on the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT). We applied differential imaging techniques to analyze both the polarized data, using dual beam polarization imaging, and the total intensity data, using angular and spectral differential imaging.
Results.
We found two previously undetected spirals extending north-east and south of the star, respectively. We further detected an arc-like structure north of the star. Finally a bright, compact and elongated structure was detected at a separation of 303 ± 10 mas and a position angle 21.2 ± 3.7 degrees, just at the root of the north-east spiral arm. Since this feature is visible both in polarized light and total intensity and has a blue spectrum, itis likely caused by stellar light scattered by dust.
Conclusions.
The two spiral arms are at different separations from the star, have very different pitch angles, and are separated by an apparent discontinuity, suggesting they might have a different origin. The very open southern spiral arm might be caused by infalling material from late encounters with cloudlets into the formation environment of the star itself. The compact feature could be caused by interaction with a planet in formation still embedded in its dust envelope and it could be responsible for launching the north–east spiral. We estimate a mass of the putative embedded object of the order of few
M
Jup
.
ABSTRACT
Recent observations of resolved cold debris discs at tens of au have revealed that gaps could be a common feature in these Kuiper-belt analogues. Such gaps could be evidence for the presence ...of planets within the gaps or closer in near the edges of the disc. We present SPHERE observations of HD 92945 and HD 107146, two systems with detected gaps. We constrained the mass of possible companions responsible for the gap to 1–2 MJup for planets located inside the gap and to less than 5 MJup for separations down to 20 au from the host star. These limits allow us to exclude some of the possible configurations of the planetary systems proposed to explain the shape of the discs around these two stars. In order to put tighter limits on the mass at very short separations from the star, where direct-imaging data are less effective, we also combined our data with astrometric measurements from Hipparcos and Gaia and radial-velocity measurements. We were able to limit the separation and the mass of the companion potentially responsible for the proper-motion anomaly of HD 107146 to values of 2–7 au and 2–5 MJup, respectively.
Context. The unrivalled astrometric and photometric capabilities of the Gaia mission have given new impetus to the study of young stars: both from an environmental perspective, as members of comoving ...star-forming regions, and from an individual perspective, as targets amenable to planet-hunting direct-imaging observations. Aims. In view of the large availability of theoretical evolutionary models, both fields would benefit from a unified framework that allows a straightforward comparison of physical parameters obtained by different stellar and substellar models. Methods. To this aim, we developed the Manifold Age Determination for Young Stars (madys), a flexible Python tool for the age and mass determination of young stellar and substellar objects. In this first release, madys automatically retrieves and crossmatches photometry from several catalogs, estimates interstellar extinction, and derives age and mass estimates for individual objects through isochronal fitting. Results. Harmonizing the heterogeneity of publicly available isochrone grids, the tool allows one to choose amongst 17 models, many of which with customizable astrophysical parameters, for a total of ~110 isochrone grids. Several dedicated plotting functions are provided to allow for an intuitive visual perception of the numerical output. Conclusions. After extensive testing, we have made the tool publicly available. Here, we demonstrate the capabilities of madys, summarizing previously published results as well providing several new examples.
Context . Dynamical masses of young planets aged between 10 and 200 Myr detected in imaging play a crucial role in shaping models of giant planet formation. Regrettably, only a few such objects ...possess these characteristics. Furthermore, the evolutionary pattern of young sub-stellar companions in near-infrared colour-magnitude diagrams might diverge from free-floating objects, possibly due to differing formation processes. Aims . The recent identification of a giant planet around AF Lep, part of the β Pic moving group (BPMG), encouraged us to re-examine these points. Methods . We considered updated dynamical masses and luminosities for the sub-stellar objects in the BPMG. In addition, we compared the properties of sub-stellar companions and free-floating objects in the BPMG and other young associations remapping the positions of the objects in the colour-magnitude diagram into a dustiness-temperature plane. Results . We found that cold-start evolutionary models do not reproduce the mass-luminosity relation for sub-stellar companions in the BPMG. This aligns rather closely with predictions from “hot start” scenarios and is consistent with recent planet formation models. We obtain rather good agreement with masses from photometry and the remapping approach compared to actual dynamical masses. We also found a strong suggestion that the near-infrared colour-magnitude diagram for young companions is different from that of free-floating objects belonging to the same young associations. Conclusions . If confirmed by further data, this last result would imply that cloud settling – which likely causes the transition between L and T spectral type – occurs at a lower effective temperature in young companions than in free-floating objects. This might tentatively be explained with a different chemical composition.
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