As the quality and quantity of astrophysical data continue to improve, the precision with which certain astrophysical events can be timed becomes limited not by the data themselves, but by the ...manner, standard, and uniformity with which time itself is referenced. While some areas of astronomy (most notably pulsar studies) have required absolute time stamps with precisions of considerably better than 1 minute for many decades, recently new areas have crossed into this regime. In particular, in the exoplanet community, we have found that the (typically unspecified) time standards adopted by various groups can differ by as much as a minute. Left uncorrected, this ambiguity may be mistaken for transit timing variations and bias eccentricity measurements. We argue that, since the commonly-used Julian Date, as well as its heliocentric and barycentric counterparts, can be specified in several time standards, it is imperative that their time standards always be reported when accuracies of 1 minute are required. We summarize the rationale behind our recommendation to quote the site arrival time, in addition to usingBJDTDB
BJD
TDB
, the Barycentric Julian Date in the Barycentric Dynamical Time standard for any astrophysical event. TheBJDTDB
BJD
TDB
is the most practical absolute time stamp for extraterrestrial phenomena, and is ultimately limited by the properties of the target system. We compile a general summary of factors that must be considered in order to achieve timing precisions ranging from 15 minutes to 1 µs. Finally, we provide software tools that, in principal, allow one to calculateBJDTDB
BJD
TDB
to a precision of 1 μs for any target from anywhere on Earth or from any spacecraft.
We report the first confirmation of a hot Jupiter discovered by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) mission: HD 202772A b. The transit signal was detected in the data from TESS Sector 1, ...and was confirmed to be of planetary origin through radial velocity (RV) measurements. HD 202772A b is orbiting a mildly evolved star with a period of 3.3 days. With an apparent magnitude of V = 8.3, the star is among the brightest and most massive known to host a hot Jupiter. Based on the 27 days of TESS photometry and RV data from the CHIRON, HARPS, and Tillinghast Reflector Echelle Spectrograph, the planet has a mass of and radius of , making it an inflated gas giant. HD 202772A b is a rare example of a transiting hot Jupiter around a quickly evolving star. It is also one of the most strongly irradiated hot Jupiters currently known.
Abstract
We present a search for new planetary-mass members of nearby young moving groups (YMGs) using astrometry for 694 T and Y dwarfs, including 447 objects with parallaxes, mostly produced by ...recent large parallax programs from UKIRT and Spitzer. Using the BANYAN Σ and LACEwING algorithms, we identify 30 new candidate YMG members, with spectral types of T0–T9 and distances of 10–43 pc. Some candidates have unusually red colors and/or faint absolute magnitudes compared to field dwarfs with similar spectral types, providing supporting evidence for their youth, including four early-T dwarfs. We establish one of these, the variable T1.5 dwarf 2MASS J21392676+0220226, as a new planetary-mass member (
M
Jup
) of the Carina-Near group (200 ± 50 Myr) based on its full six-dimensional kinematics, including a new parallax measurement from CFHT. The high-amplitude variability of this object is suggestive of a young age, given the coexistence of variability and youth seen in previously known YMG T dwarfs. Our four latest-type (T8–T9) YMG candidates, WISE J031624.35+430709.1, ULAS J130217.21+130851.2, WISEPC J225540.74–311841.8, and WISE J233226.49–432510.6, if confirmed, will be the first free-floating planets (≈2–6
M
Jup
) whose ages and luminosities are compatible with both hot-start and cold-start evolutionary models, and thus overlap with the properties of the directly imaged planet 51 Eri b. Several of our early/mid-T candidates have peculiar near-infrared spectra, indicative of heterogenous photospheres or unresolved binarity. Radial velocity measurements needed for final membership assessment for most of our candidates await upcoming 20–30 m class telescopes. In addition, we compile all 15 known T7–Y1 benchmarks and derive a homogeneous set of their effective temperatures, surface gravities, radii, and masses.
Abstract
The future of exoplanet science is bright, as
Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite
(
TESS
) once again demonstrates with the discovery of its longest-period confirmed planet to date. We ...hereby present HD 21749b (TOI 186.01), a sub-Neptune in a 36 day orbit around a bright (
V
= 8.1) nearby (16 pc) K4.5 dwarf.
TESS
measures HD 21749b to be
R
⊕
, and combined archival and follow-up precision radial velocity data put the mass of the planet at
M
⊕
. HD 21749b contributes to the
TESS
Level 1 Science Requirement of providing 50 transiting planets smaller than 4
R
⊕
with measured masses. Furthermore, we report the discovery of HD 21749c (TOI 186.02), the first Earth-sized (
) planet from
TESS
. The HD 21749 system is a prime target for comparative studies of planetary composition and architecture in multi-planet systems.
Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) observations have revealed a compact multiplanet system around the sixth-magnitude star HR 858 (TIC 178155732, TOI 396), located 32 pc away. Three ...planets, each about twice the size of Earth, transit this slightly evolved, late F-type star, which is also a member of a visual binary. Two of the planets may be in mean motion resonance. We analyze the TESS observations, using novel methods to model and remove instrumental systematic errors, and combine these data with follow-up observations taken from a suite of ground-based telescopes to characterize the planetary system. The HR 858 planets are enticing targets for precise radial velocity observations, secondary eclipse spectroscopy, and measurements of the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect.
The Kilodegree Extremely Little Telescope (KELT) has been surveying more than 70% of the celestial sphere for nearly a decade. While the primary science goal of the survey is the discovery of ...transiting, large-radii planets around bright host stars, the survey has collected more than 106 images, with a typical cadence between 10-30 minutes, for more than four million sources with apparent visual magnitudes in the approximate range . Here, we provide a catalog of 52,741 objects showing significant large-amplitude fluctuations likely caused by stellar variability, as well as 62,229 objects identified with likely stellar rotation periods. The detected variability ranges in rms-amplitude from ∼3 mmag to ∼2.3 mag, and the detected periods range from ∼0.1 to 2000 days. We provide variability upper limits for all other ∼4,000,000 sources. These upper limits are principally a function of stellar brightness, but we achieve typical 1 sensitivity on 30 min timescales down to ∼5 mmag at , and down to ∼43 mmag at . We have matched our catalog to the TESS Input catalog and the AAVSO Variable Star Index to precipitate the follow-up and classification of each source. The catalog is maintained as a living database on the Filtergraph visualization portal at the URL https://filtergraph.com/kelt_vars.
The amount of ultraviolet irradiation and ablation experienced by a planet depends strongly on the temperature of its host star. Of the thousands of extrasolar planets now known, only six have been ...found that transit hot, A-type stars (with temperatures of 7,300-10,000 kelvin), and no planets are known to transit the even hotter B-type stars. For example, WASP-33 is an A-type star with a temperature of about 7,430 kelvin, which hosts the hottest known transiting planet, WASP-33b (ref. 1); the planet is itself as hot as a red dwarf star of type M (ref. 2). WASP-33b displays a large heat differential between its dayside and nightside, and is highly inflated-traits that have been linked to high insolation. However, even at the temperature of its dayside, its atmosphere probably resembles the molecule-dominated atmospheres of other planets and, given the level of ultraviolet irradiation it experiences, its atmosphere is unlikely to be substantially ablated over the lifetime of its star. Here we report observations of the bright star HD 195689 (also known as KELT-9), which reveal a close-in (orbital period of about 1.48 days) transiting giant planet, KELT-9b. At approximately 10,170 kelvin, the host star is at the dividing line between stars of type A and B, and we measure the dayside temperature of KELT-9b to be about 4,600 kelvin. This is as hot as stars of stellar type K4 (ref. 5). The molecules in K stars are entirely dissociated, and so the primary sources of opacity in the dayside atmosphere of KELT-9b are probably atomic metals. Furthermore, KELT-9b receives 700 times more extreme-ultraviolet radiation (that is, with wavelengths shorter than 91.2 nanometres) than WASP-33b, leading to a predicted range of mass-loss rates that could leave the planet largely stripped of its envelope during the main-sequence lifetime of the host star.
Abstract
We derive the bolometric luminosities (
L
bol
) of 865 field-age and 189 young ultracool dwarfs (spectral types M6–T9, including 40 new discoveries presented here) by directly integrating ...flux-calibrated optical to mid-infrared (MIR) spectral energy distributions (SEDs). The SEDs consist of low-resolution (
R
∼ 150) near-infrared (NIR; 0.8–2.5
μ
m) spectra (including new spectra for 97 objects), optical photometry from the Pan-STARRS1 survey, and MIR photometry from the CatWISE2020 survey and Spitzer/IRAC. Our
L
bol
calculations benefit from recent advances in parallaxes from Gaia, Spitzer, and UKIRT, as well as new parallaxes for 19 objects from CFHT and Pan-STARRS1 presented here. Coupling our
L
bol
measurements with a new uniform age analysis for all objects, we estimate substellar masses, radii, surface gravities, and effective temperatures (
T
eff
) using evolutionary models. We construct empirical relationships for
L
bol
and
T
eff
as functions of spectral type and absolute magnitude, determine bolometric corrections in optical and infrared bandpasses, and study the correlation between evolutionary model-derived surface gravities and NIR gravity classes. Our sample enables a detailed characterization of
BT-Settl
and
ATMO
2020 atmospheric model systematics as a function of spectral type and position in the NIR color–magnitude diagram. We find the greatest discrepancies between atmospheric and evolutionary model-derived
T
eff
(up to 800 K) and radii (up to 2.0
R
Jup
) at the M/L spectral type transition boundary. With 1054 objects, this work constitutes the largest sample to date of ultracool dwarfs with determinations of their fundamental parameters.
We present the discovery of KELT-1b, the first transiting low-mass companion from the wide-field Kilodegree Extremely Little Telescope-North (KELT-North) transit survey. A joint analysis of the ...spectroscopic, radial velocity, and photometric data indicates that the V = 10.7 primary is a mildly evolved mid-F star with T sub(eff) = 6516+ or -49 K, log g = 4.228 super(+0.014) sub(-0.021) , and Fe/H = 0.052+ or -0.079, with an inferred mass M sub(*) = 1.335 + or - 0.063 M sub(middot in circle) and radius R sub(*) = 1.471 super(+0.045) sub(0.035) R sub(middot in circle). The companion is a low-mass brown dwarf or a super-massive planet with mass M sub(p) = 27.38 + or - 0.93 M sub(Jup) and radius R sub(p) = 1.116 super(+0.038) sub(-0.029) R sub(Jup). Comparison with standard evolutionary models suggests that the radius of KELT-1b is likely to be significantly inflated. Adaptive optics imaging reveals a candidate stellar companion to KELT-1 with a separation of 588 + or - 1 mas, which is consistent with an M dwarf if it is at the same distance as the primary.
Abstract
We present the identification of the second discovery from the COol Companions ON Ultrawide orbiTS (COCONUTS) program, the COCONUTS-2 system, composed of the M3 dwarf L 34-26 and the T9 ...dwarf WISEPA J075108.79−763449.6. Given their common proper motions and parallaxes, these two field objects constitute a physically bound pair with a projected separation of 594″ (6471au). The primary star COCONUTS-2A has strong stellar activity (H
α
, X-ray, and ultraviolet emission) and is rapidly rotating (P
rot
= 2.83 days), from which we estimate an age of 150–800 Myr. Comparing equatorial rotational velocity derived from the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) light curve to spectroscopic
v
sin
i
, we find that COCONUTS-2A has a nearly edge-on inclination. The wide exoplanet COCONUTS-2b has an effective temperature of
T
eff
= 434 ± 9 K, a surface gravity of
log
g
=
4.11
−
0.18
+
0.11
dex, and a mass of
M
=
6.3
−
1.9
+
1.5
M
Jup
based on hot-start evolutionary models, leading to a mass ratio of
0.016
−
0.005
+
0.004
for the COCONUTS-2 system. COCONUTS-2b is the second coldest (after WD 0806−661B), and the second widest (after TYC 9486-927-1 b) exoplanet imaged to date. Comparison of COCONUTS-2b’s infrared photometry with ultracool model atmospheres suggests the presence of both condensate clouds and non-equilibrium chemistry in its photosphere. Similar to 51 Eri b, COCONUTS-2b has a sufficiently low luminosity (
log
(
L
bol
/
L
⊙
)
=
−
6.384
±
0.028
dex) to be consistent with the cold-start process that may form gas-giant (exo)planets, though its large separation means that such formation would not have occurred in situ. Finally, at a distance of 10.9 pc, COCONUTS-2b is the nearest imaged exoplanet to Earth known to date.
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