scholarly journals Hint of curvature in the orbital motion of the exoplanet 51 Eridani b using 3 yr of VLT/SPHERE monitoring

2019 ◽  
Vol 624 ◽  
pp. A118 ◽  
Author(s):  
A.-L. Maire ◽  
L. Rodet ◽  
F. Cantalloube ◽  
R. Galicher ◽  
W. Brandner ◽  
...  

Context. The 51 Eridani system harbors a complex architecture with its primary star forming a hierarchical system with the binary GJ 3305AB at a projected separation of 2000 au, a giant planet orbiting the primary star at 13 au, and a low-mass debris disk around the primary star with possible cold and warm components inferred from the spectral energy distribution. Aims. We aim to better constrain the orbital parameters of the known giant planet. Methods. We monitored the system over three years from 2015 to 2018 with the Spectro-Polarimetric High-contrast Exoplanet REsearch (SPHERE) instrument at the Very Large Telescope (VLT). Results. We measure an orbital motion for the planet of ~130 mas with a slightly decreasing separation (~10 mas) and find a hint of curvature. This potential curvature is further supported at 3σ significance when including literature Gemini Planet Imager (GPI) astrometry corrected for calibration systematics. Fits of the SPHERE and GPI data using three complementary approaches provide broadly similar results. The data suggest an orbital period of 32−9+17 yr (i.e., 12−2+4 au in semi-major axis), an inclination of 133−7+14 deg, an eccentricity of 0.45−0.15+0.10, and an argument of periastron passage of 87−30+34 deg [mod 180°]. The time at periastron passage and the longitude of node exhibit bimodal distributions because we do not yet detect whether the planet is accelerating or decelerating along its orbit. Given the inclinations of the orbit and of the stellar rotation axis (134–144°), we infer alignment or misalignment within 18° for the star–planet spin-orbit. Further astrometric monitoring in the next 3–4 yr is required to confirm at a higher significance the curvature in the motion of the planet, determine if the planet is accelerating or decelerating on its orbit, and further constrain its orbital parameters and the star–planet spin-orbit.

2013 ◽  
Vol 8 (S299) ◽  
pp. 241-246
Author(s):  
Mickaël Bonnefoy ◽  
Anthony Boccaletti ◽  
Anne-Marie Lagrange ◽  
France Allard ◽  
Christoph Mordasini ◽  
...  

AbstractThe young (12+8−4 Myr) and nearby (19.44±0.05 pc) star β Pictoris is considered one of the best laboratories for the study of early phases of planetary systems formation since the identification of an extended debris disk surrounding the star in 1984. In 2009, we imaged at 3.8 μm with NaCo at VLT a gas giant planet around β Pictoris, roughly along the disk mid-plane, with a semi-major axis between 8 and 14 AU. We present here the first images of the planet in the J (1.265 μm), H (1.66 μm), and M' (4.78 μm) bands obtained between 2011 and 2012. We used these data to build the 1-5 μm spectral energy distribution (SED) of the companion, and to consolidate previous semi-major axis (8-10 AU) estimates. We compared the SED to seven atmospheric models to derive Teff = 1700 ± 100 K. We used the temperature and the luminosity of β Pictoris b to estimate new masses for the companion. We compared these masses to independent constraints set by the orbital parameters and the radial velocities and use them to discuss the formation history of the object.


2018 ◽  
Vol 617 ◽  
pp. A76 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Chauvin ◽  
R. Gratton ◽  
M. Bonnefoy ◽  
A.-M. Lagrange ◽  
J. de Boer ◽  
...  

Context. HD 95086 (A8V, 17 Myr) hosts a rare planetary system for which a multi-belt debris disk and a giant planet of 4–5 MJup have been directly imaged. Aims. Our study aims to characterize the global architecture of this young system using the combination of radial velocity and direct imaging observations. We want to characterize the physical and orbital properties of HD 95086 b, search for additional planets at short and wide orbits and image the cold outer debris belt in scattered light. Methods. We used HARPS at the ESO 3.6 m telescope to monitor the radial velocity of HD 95086 over two years and investigate the existence of giant planets at less than 3 au orbital distance. With the IRDIS dual-band imager and the IFS integral field spectrograph of SPHERE at VLT, we imaged the faint circumstellar environment beyond 10 au at six epochs between 2015 and 2017. Results. We do not detect additional giant planets around HD 95086. We identify the nature (bound companion or background contaminant) of all point-like sources detected in the IRDIS field of view. None of them correspond to the ones recently discovered near the edge of the cold outer belt by ALMA. HD 95086 b is resolved for the first time in J-band with IFS. Its near-infrared spectral energy distribution is well fitted by a few dusty and/or young L7–L9 dwarf spectral templates. The extremely red 1–4 μm spectral distribution is typical of low-gravity objects at the L/T spectral type transition. The planet’s orbital motion is resolved between January 2015 and May 2017. Together with past NaCo measurements properly re-calibrated, our orbital fitting solutions favor a retrograde low to moderate-eccentricity orbit e = 0.2+0.3−0.2, with a semi-major axis ~52 au corresponding to orbital periods of ~288 yr and an inclination that peaks at i = 141°, which is compatible with a planet-disk coplanar configuration. Finally, we report the detection in polarimetric differential imaging of the cold outer debris belt between 100 and 300 au, consistent in radial extent with recent ALMA 1.3 mm resolved observations.


2020 ◽  
Vol 494 (4) ◽  
pp. 5118-5133 ◽  
Author(s):  
D W Kurtz ◽  
G Handler ◽  
S A Rappaport ◽  
H Saio ◽  
J Fuller ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT CO Cam (TIC 160268882) is the second ‘single-sided pulsator’ to be discovered. These are stars where one hemisphere pulsates with a significantly higher amplitude than the other side of the star. CO Cam is a binary star comprised of an Am δ Sct primary star with Teff = 7070 ± 150 K, and a spectroscopically undetected G main-sequence secondary star. The dominant pulsating side of the primary star is centred on the L1 point. We have modelled the spectral energy distribution combined with radial velocities, and independently the TESS light curve combined with radial velocities. Both of these give excellent agreement and robust system parameters for both stars. The δ Sct star is an oblique pulsator with at least four low radial overtone (probably) f modes with the pulsation axis coinciding with the tidal axis of the star, the line of apsides. Preliminary theoretical modelling indicates that the modes must produce much larger flux perturbations near the L1 point, although this is difficult to understand because the pulsating star does not come near to filling its Roche lobe. More detailed models of distorted pulsating stars should be developed. These newly discovered single-sided pulsators offer new opportunities for astrophysical inference from stars that are oblique pulsators in close binary stars.


2020 ◽  
Vol 499 (2) ◽  
pp. 2564-2574
Author(s):  
Boris T Gänsicke ◽  
Pablo Rodríguez-Gil ◽  
Nicola P Gentile Fusillo ◽  
Keith Inight ◽  
Matthias R Schreiber ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT We report the identification of SDSS J121929.45+471522.8 as the third apparently isolated magnetic (B ≃ 18.5 ± 1.0 MG) white dwarf exhibiting Zeeman-split Balmer emission lines. The star shows coherent variability at optical wavelengths with an amplitude of ≃0.03 mag and a period of 15.26 h, which we interpret as the spin period of the white dwarf. Modelling the spectral energy distribution and Gaia parallax, we derive a white dwarf temperature of 7500 ± 148 K, a mass of 0.649 ± 0.022 M⊙, and a cooling age of 1.5 ± 0.1 Gyr, as well as an upper limit on the temperature of a sub-stellar or giant planet companion of ≃250 K. The physical properties of this white dwarf match very closely those of the other two magnetic white dwarfs showing Balmer emission lines: GD356 and SDSS J125230.93−023417.7. We argue that, considering the growing evidence for planets and planetesimals on close orbits around white dwarfs, the unipolar inductor model provides a plausible scenario to explain the characteristics of this small class of stars. The tight clustering of the three stars in cooling age suggests a common mechanism switching the unipolar inductor on and off. Whereas Lorentz drift naturally limits the lifetime of the inductor phase, the relatively late onset of the line emission along the white dwarf cooling sequence remains unexplained.


2004 ◽  
Vol 218 ◽  
pp. 429-430
Author(s):  
N. Wang ◽  
S. Johnston ◽  
R. N. Manchester

This paper summarizes the results of 13 years of timing observations of a unique binary pulsar, B1259–63, which has a massive B2e star companion. A small glitch in the pulsar period apparently occurred in 1997 Aug, not long after the 1997 periastron. We found that spin-orbit coupling with secular changes in periastron longitude and projected semi-major axis cannot account for the observed period variations. A model in which step changes in pulsar orbital parameters occur at each periastron accounts best for the observed timing behavior.


2020 ◽  
Vol 641 ◽  
pp. L1 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Martioli ◽  
G. Hébrard ◽  
C. Moutou ◽  
J.-F. Donati ◽  
É. Artigau ◽  
...  

We present high-resolution near-infrared spectropolarimetric observations using the SPIRou instrument at Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) during a transit of the recently detected young planet AU Mic b, with supporting spectroscopic data from iSHELL at NASA InfraRed Telescope Facility. We detect Zeeman signatures in the Stokes V profiles and measure a mean longitudinal magnetic field of ¯Bℓ = 46.3 ± 0.7 G. Rotationally modulated magnetic spots likely cause long-term variations of the field with a slope of dBℓ/dt = −108.7 ± 7.7 G d−1. We apply the cross-correlation technique to measure line profiles and obtain radial velocities through CCF template matching. We find an empirical linear relationship between radial velocity and Bℓ, which allows us to estimate the radial-velocity induced by stellar activity through rotational modulation of spots for the five hours of continuous monitoring of AU Mic with SPIRou. We model the corrected radial velocities for the classical Rossiter-McLaughlin effect, using MCMC to sample the posterior distribution of the model parameters. This analysis shows that the orbit of AU Mic b is prograde and aligned with the stellar rotation axis with a sky-projected spin-orbit obliquity of λ = 0°−15°+18°. The aligned orbit of AU Mic b indicates that it formed in the protoplanetary disk that evolved into the current debris disk around AU Mic.


2019 ◽  
Vol 489 (1) ◽  
pp. 574-593
Author(s):  
William Tobin ◽  
Stuart I Barnes ◽  
Stephen Persson ◽  
Karen R Pollard

ABSTRACT We present spectroscopy with resolution R ∼ 33 000 of the circumstellar Ca ii H&K absorptions in the star β Pictoris during 1997 and 1998. From 1997 April onwards, both lines were observed simultaneously. A total of 688 spectra were obtained over 95 nights in order to characterize the lines’ behaviour. Near-continuous Falling Evaporating Body (FEB) variable absorption activity was seen, including additional strong, blueshifted features besides the one on 1997 June 19–20 already reported by others. Temporal coverage is more even than in the HARPS spectra from 2004–11 that have been analysed for FEB orbital parameters via a model of FEB evaporation. Our observations likely encompass the 1997–98 Hill-sphere transit by β Pic b, but we have found no clear signature of transiting material. Lower velocity FEB absorptions tend to be deeper, narrower and longer lived, in confirmation of earlier studies. The ratio of line strengths for one absorption on 1998 November 27 is evocative of the variations expected for a single FEB making a transit perpendicular to the stellar rotation axis. Analysis with the evaporation model produces similar distributions of orbital parameters to those obtained from the HARPS observations, but when the derived orbital parameters are fed into a model based solely on gravitational dynamics of point masses, the predicted FEB accelerations do not agree with observed values. More sophisticated modelling is called for. There is no convincing intrinsic variation in the central circumstellar absorption such as might be expected if an H i ring is responsible for the confinement of circumstellar Ca+ ions. Our observations are available electronically for further analysis by others.


2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
O. Zakhozhay ◽  
C. del Burgo ◽  
V. Zakhozhay

We present a geometric model for the modelling of spectral energy distribution of inclined protoplanetary disks. We investigate peculiarities in the geometry of nearly edge-on disks with an inner hole and a central object. In the investigation we consider two cases: that of geometrically thin disks (where the star is larger than the rim of the inner edge of the disk) and that of geometrically thick disks (when the star is smaller than the inner rim of the disk). Our model is appropriate for modelling substellar objects with primordial gas-rich disks, as activity (such as accretion or outflows) in such disks has low amplitude and can be ignored even when modelling early evolution stages. Furthermore, it can also be used to model any symmetric system with a disk and a spherical central body (star, brown dwarf or giant planet).


2020 ◽  
Vol 642 ◽  
pp. A228
Author(s):  
Klaus Werner ◽  
Nicole Reindl ◽  
Lisa Löbling ◽  
Ingrid Pelisoli ◽  
Veronika Schaffenroth ◽  
...  

The subgiant UCAC2 46706450 is a late-type star with an ultraviolet (UV) excess. It was considered as a candidate to establish a sample of stars of spectral type F, G, and K with white dwarf (WD) companions that could be used to test binary evolution models. To verify the WD nature of the companion, UV spectroscopy has previously been performed by other authors. Via a detailed model-atmosphere analysis, we show that the UV source is an extremely hot WD with an effective temperature of Teff = 105 000 ± 5000 K, mass of M∕M⊙ = 0.54 ± 0.02, radius of R/R⊙ = 0.040−0.004+0.005, and luminosity of L/L⊙ = 176−49+55, meaning that the compact object is just about to enter the WD cooling sequence. Investigating spectra of the cool star (Teff = 4945 ± 250 K), we found that it is a K-type subgiant with M∕M⊙ = 0.8−2.4, R/R⊙ = 5.9−0.5+0.7, and L/L⊙ = 19−5+5 that is rapidly rotating with vsin(i) = 81 km s−1. Optical light curves reveal a period of two days and an o-band peak-to-peak amplitude of 0.06 mag. We suggest that it is caused by stellar rotation in connection with star spots. With the radius, we infer an extremely high rotational velocity of vrot = 151−13+18 km s−1, thus marking the star as one of the most rapidly rotating subgiants known. This explains chromospheric activity observed by H α emission and emission-line cores in Ca II H and K as well as NUV flux excess. From equal and constant radial velocities of the WD and the K subgiant as well as from a fit to the spectral energy distribution, we infer that they form a physical, wide (though unresolved) binary system. Both components exhibit similar metal abundances and show iron-group elements with slightly oversolar (up to 0.6 dex) abundance, meaning that atomic diffusion in the WD atmosphere is not yet active due to a residual, weak radiation-driven wind. Kinematically and from its height above the Galactic plane, the system belongs to the Galactic thick disk, indicating that it is an old system and that the initial masses of both stars were close to 1 M⊙.


2018 ◽  
Vol 617 ◽  
pp. A109 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Olofsson ◽  
R. G. van Holstein ◽  
A. Boccaletti ◽  
M. Janson ◽  
P. Thébault ◽  
...  

Context. Debris disks are the intrinsic by-products of the star and planet formation processes. Most likely due to instrumental limitations and their natural faintness, little is known about debris disks around low mass stars, especially when it comes to spatially resolved observations. Aims. We present new VLT/SPHERE IRDIS dual-polarization imaging (DPI) observations in which we detect the dust ring around the M2 spectral type star TWA 7. Combined with additional angular differential imaging observations we aim at a fine characterization of the debris disk and setting constraints on the presence of low-mass planets. Methods. We modeled the SPHERE DPI observations and constrain the location of the small dust grains, as well as the spectral energy distribution of the debris disk, using the results inferred from the observations, and performed simple N-body simulations. Results. We find that the dust density distribution peaks at ~0.72′′ (25 au), with a very shallow outer power-law slope, and that the disk has an inclination of ~13° with a position angle of ~91° east of north. We also report low signal-to-noise ratio detections of an outer belt at a distance of ~1.5′′ (~52 au) from the star, of a spiral arm in the southern side of the star, and of a possible dusty clump at 0.11′′. These findings seem to persist over timescales of at least a year. Using the intensity images, we do not detect any planets in the close vicinity of the star, but the sensitivity reaches Jovian planet mass upper limits. We find that the SED is best reproduced with an inner disk at ~0.2′′ (~7 au) and another belt at 0.72′′ (25 au). Conclusions. We report the detections of several unexpected features in the disk around TWA 7. A yet undetected 100M⊕ planet with a semi-major axis at 20−30 au could possibly explain the outer belt as well as the spiral arm. We conclude that stellar winds are unlikely to be responsible for the spiral arm.


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