Abstract The connection between outer gas giants and inner super-Earths reflects their formation and evolutionary histories. Past work exploring this link has suggested a tentative positive ...correlation between these two populations, but these studies have been limited by small sample sizes and in some cases sample biases. Here we take a new look at this connection with a sample of 184 super-Earth systems with publicly available radial velocity data and resolved outer gas giants. We calculate the frequency of outer gas giants (GG) in super-Earth (SE) systems, dividing our sample into metal-rich (Fe/H > 0) and metal-poor (Fe/H≤0) hosts. We find P(GG∣SE, Fe/H>0) = 28.0 − 4.6 + 4.9 % and P(GG∣SE, Fe/H≤0) = 4.5 − 1.9 + 2.6 % . Comparing these conditional occurrence rates to field giant occurrence rates from Rosenthal et al. (2021), we show that there is a distinct positive correlation between inner super-Earths and outer gas giants for metal-rich host stars at the 2.7 σ level, but this correlation disappears for metal-poor systems. We further find that, around metal-rich stars, the GG/SE correlation enhances slightly for systems with giants that are more distant (beyond 3 au), more eccentric ( e > 0.2), and/or in multi-gas giant systems. Such trends disappear around metal-poor stars with the exception of systems of multiple giants in which we observe a tentative anti-correlation. Our findings highlight the critical role metallicity (disk solid budget) plays in shaping the overall planetary architecture.
We use radial velocity (RV) observations to search for long-period gas giant companions in systems hosting inner super-Earth (1-4 R⊕, 1-10 M⊕) planets to constrain formation and migration scenarios ...for this population. We consistently refit published RV data sets for 65 stars and find nine systems with statistically significant trends indicating the presence of an outer companion. We combine these RV data with AO images to constrain the masses and semi-major axes of these companions. We quantify our sensitivity to the presence of long-period companions by fitting the sample with a power-law distribution and find an occurrence rate of 39% 7% for companions 0.5-20 MJup and 1-20 au. Half of our systems were discovered by the transit method, and half were discovered by the RV method. While differences in the RV baselines and number of data points between the two samples lead to different sensitivities to distant companions, we find that occurrence rates of gas giant companions in each sample are consistent at the 0.5 level. We compare the frequency of Jupiter analogs in these systems to the equivalent rate from field star surveys and find that Jupiter analogs are more common around stars hosting super-Earths. We conclude that the presence of outer gas giants does not suppress the formation of inner super-Earths, and that these two populations of planets instead appear to be correlated. We also find that the stellar metallicities of systems with gas giant companions are higher than those without companions, in agreement with the well-established metallicity correlation from RV surveys of field stars.
We place the first constraints on the obliquity of a planetary-mass companion outside of the solar system. Our target is the directly imaged system 2MASS J01225093-2439505 (2M0122), which consists of ...a 120 Myr 0.4 M star hosting a 12-27 MJ companion at 50 au. We constrain all three of the system's angular-momentum vectors: how the companion spin axis, the stellar spin axis, and the orbit normal are inclined relative to our line of sight. To accomplish this, we measure projected rotation rates (v sin i) for both the star and the companion using new near-infrared high-resolution spectra with NIRSPEC at Keck Observatory. We combine these with a new stellar photometric rotation period from TESS and a published companion rotation period from Hubble Space Telescope to obtain spin-axis inclinations for both objects. We also fitted multiple epochs of astrometry, including a new observation with NIRC2/Keck, to measure 2M0122b's orbital inclination. The three line-of-sight inclinations place limits on the true de-projected companion obliquity and stellar obliquity. We find that while the stellar obliquity marginally prefers alignment, the companion obliquity tentatively favors misalignment. We evaluate possible origin scenarios. While collisions, secular spin-orbit resonances, and Kozai-Lidov oscillations are unlikely, formation by gravitational instability in a gravito-turbulent disk-the scenario favored for brown dwarf companions to stars-appears promising.
Abstract
We constrain the angular momentum architecture of HD 106906, a 13 ± 2 Myr old system in the ScoCen complex composed of a compact central binary, a widely separated planetary-mass tertiary HD ...106906 b, and a debris disk nested between the binary and tertiary orbital planes. We measure the orientations of three vectors: the companion spin axis, companion orbit normal, and disk normal. Using near-IR high-resolution spectra from Gemini/IGRINS, we obtain a projected rotational velocity of
v
sin
i
p
= 9.5 ± 0.2 km s
−1
for HD 106906 b. This measurement together with a published photometric rotation period implies the companion is viewed nearly pole-on, with a line-of-sight spin axis inclination of
i
p
= 14° ± 4° or 166° ± 4°. By contrast, the debris disk is known to be viewed nearly edge on. The likely misalignment of all three vectors suggests HD 106906 b formed by gravitational instability in a turbulent environment, either in a disk or cloud setting.
Rotationally modulated variability of brown dwarfs and giant planets provides unique information about their surface brightness inhomogeneities, atmospheric circulation, cloud evolution, vertical ...atmospheric structure, and rotational angular momentum. We report results from Hubble Space Telescope/Wide Field Camera 3 near-infrared time-series spectroscopic observations of three companions with masses in or near the planetary regime: VHS J125601.92-125723.9 b, GSC 6214-210 B, and ROXs 42 B b. VHS J1256-1257 b exhibits strong total intensity and spectral variability with a brightness difference of 19.3% between 1.1 and 1.7 m over 8.5 hr and even higher variability at the 24.7% level at 1.27 m. The light curve of VHS J1256-1257 b continues to rise at the end of the observing sequence so these values represent lower limits on the full variability amplitude at this epoch. This observed variability rivals (and may surpass) the most variable brown dwarf currently known, 2MASS J21392676+0220226. The implied rotation period of VHS J1256-1257 b is 21-24 hr assuming sinusoidal modulations, which is unusually long for substellar objects. No significant variability is evident in the light curves of GSC 6214-210 B (<1.2%) and ROXs 42 B b (<15.6%). With a spectral type of L7, an especially red spectrum, and a young age, VHS J1256-1257 b reinforces emerging patterns between high variability amplitude, low surface gravity, and evolutionary phase near the L/T transition.
ABSTRACT We have conducted an angular differential imaging survey with NIRC2 at Keck in search of close-in substellar companions to a sample of seven systems with confirmed planetary-mass companions ...(PMCs) on wide orbits (>50 au). These wide-separation PMCs pose significant challenges to all three possible formation mechanisms: core accretion plus scattering, disk instability, and turbulent fragmentation. We explore the possibility that these companions formed closer in and were scattered out to their present-day locations by searching for other massive bodies at smaller separations. The typical sensitivity for this survey is ΔK ∼ 12.5 at 1″. We identify eight candidate companions, whose masses would reach as low as one Jupiter mass if gravitationally bound. From our multi-epoch astrometry we determine that seven of these are conclusively background objects, while the eighth near DH Tau is ambiguous and requires additional monitoring. We rule out the presence of >7 MJup bodies in these systems down to 15-50 au that could be responsible for scattering. This result combined with the totality of evidence suggests that dynamical scattering is unlikely to have produced this population of PMCs. We detect orbital motion from the companions ROXs 42B b and ROXs 12 b, and from this determine 95% upper limits on the companions' eccentricities of 0.58 and 0.83 respectively. Finally, we find that the 95% upper limit on the occurrence rate of additional planets with masses between 5 and 15 MJup outside of 40 au in systems with PMCs is 54%.
Abstract
Multiwavelength time-resolved observations of rotationally modulated variability from brown dwarfs and giant exoplanets are the most effective method for constraining their heterogeneous ...atmospheric structures. In a companion paper, we reported the discovery of strong near-infrared variability in HST/WFC3/G141 light curves of the very red L-dwarf companion VHS J1256–1257b. In this paper, we present a follow-up 36 hr Spitzer/IRAC Channel 2 light curve together with an in-depth analysis of the Hubble space telescope (HST) and the Spitzer data. The combined data set provides time-resolved light curves of VHS1256b sampling 1.1 to 4.5
μ
m. The Spitzer light curve is best fit with a single sine wave with a period of 22.04 ± 0.05 hr and a peak-to-peak amplitude of 5.76 ± 0.04%. Combining the period with a previously measured projected rotational velocity (
), we find that VHS1256b is most consistent with equatorial viewing geometry. The HST/G141+Spitzer spectral energy distribution favors a model with a
of 1000 K and low surface gravity with disequilibrium chemistry. The spectral variability of VHS1256b is consistent with predictions from partly cloudy models, suggesting that heterogeneous clouds are the dominant source of the observed modulations. We find evidence at the 3.3
σ
level for amplitude variations within the 1.67
μ
m CH
4
band, which is the first such detection for a variable L-dwarf. We compare the HST/G141 time-resolved spectra of three red L-dwarfs with high-amplitude near-infrared rotational modulations and find that although their time-averaged spectra are similar, their spectroscopic variabilities exhibit notable differences. This diversity reinforces the advantage of time-resolved spectroscopic observations for understanding the atmospheres of brown dwarfs and directly imaged exoplanets.
Abstract
The orientation between a star’s spin axis and a planet’s orbital plane provides valuable information about the system’s formation and dynamical history. For non-transiting planets at wide ...separations, true stellar obliquities are challenging to measure, but lower limits on spin–orbit orientations can be determined from the difference between the inclination of the star’s rotational axis and the companion’s orbital plane (Δ
i
). We present results of a uniform analysis of rotation periods, stellar inclinations, and obliquities of cool stars (SpT ≳ F5) hosting directly imaged planets and brown dwarf companions. As part of this effort, we have acquired new
v
sin
i
*
values for 22 host stars with the high-resolution Tull spectrograph at the Harlan J. Smith telescope. Altogether our sample contains 62 host stars with rotation periods, most of which are newly measured using light curves from the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite. Among these, 53 stars have inclinations determined from projected rotational and equatorial velocities, and 21 stars predominantly hosting brown dwarfs have constraints on Δ
i
. Eleven of these (52
−
11
+
10
% of the sample) are likely misaligned, while the remaining 10 host stars are consistent with spin–orbit alignment. As an ensemble, the minimum obliquity distribution between 10 and 250 au is more consistent with a mixture of isotropic and aligned systems than either extreme scenario alone—pointing to direct cloud collapse, formation within disks bearing primordial alignments and misalignments, or architectures processed by dynamical evolution. This contrasts with stars hosting directly imaged planets, which show a preference for low obliquities. These results reinforce an emerging distinction between the orbits of long-period brown dwarfs and giant planets in terms of their stellar obliquities and orbital eccentricities.
Abstract
Previous attempts have been made to characterize the atmospheres of directly imaged planets at low resolution (
R
∼ 10–100 s), but the presence of clouds has often led to degeneracies in the ...retrieved atmospheric abundances with cloud opacity and temperature structure that bias retrieved compositions. In this study, we perform retrievals on the ultrayoung (≲5 Myr) directly imaged planet ROXs 42B b with both a downsampled low-resolution
JHK
-band spectrum from Gemini/NIFS and Keck/OSIRIS, and a high-resolution
K
-band spectrum from pre-upgrade Keck/NIRSPAO. Using the atmospheric retrieval framework of
petitRADTRANS
, we analyze both data sets individually and combined. We additionally fit for the stellar abundances and other physical properties of the host stars, a young M spectral type binary, using the SPHINX model grid. We find that the measured C/O, 0.50 ± 0.05, and metallicity, Fe/H = −0.67 ± 0.35, for ROXs 42B b from our high-resolution spectrum agree with those of its host stars within 1
σ
. The retrieved parameters from the high-resolution spectrum are also independent of our choice of cloud model. In contrast, the retrieved parameters from the low-resolution spectrum show strong degeneracies between the clouds and the retrieved metallicity and temperature structure. When we retrieve both data sets together, we find that these degeneracies are reduced but not eliminated, and the final results remain highly sensitive to cloud modeling choices. We conclude that high-resolution spectroscopy offers the most promising path for reliably determining atmospheric compositions of directly imaged companions independent of their cloud properties.
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