Browsing by Subject "planets and satellites: detection"

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Almost All Of Kepler's Multiple-Planet Candidates Are Planets
(2012-05) Lissauer, Jack J.; Marcy, Geoffrey W.; Rowe, Jason F.; Bryson, Stephen T.; Adams, Elisabeth; Buchhave, Lars A.; Ciardi, David R.; Cochran, William D.; Fabrycky, D. C.; Ford, Eric B.; Fressin, Francois; Geary, John; Gilliland, Ronald L.; Holman, Matthew J.; Howell, Steve B.; Jenkins, Jon M.; Kinemuchi, Karen; Koch, David G.; Morehead, Robert C.; Ragozzine, Darin; Seader, Shawn E.; Tanenbaum, Peter G.; Torres, Guillermo; Twicken, Joseph D.; Cochran, William D.
We present a statistical analysis that demonstrates that the overwhelming majority of Kepler candidate multiple transiting systems (multis) indeed represent true, physically associated transiting planets. Binary stars provide the primary source of false positives among Kepler planet candidates, implying that false positives should be nearly randomly distributed among Kepler targets. In contrast, true transiting planets would appear clustered around a smaller number of Kepler targets if detectable planets tend to come in systems and/or if the orbital planes of planets encircling the same star are correlated. There are more than one hundred times as many Kepler planet candidates in multi-candidate systems as would be predicted from a random distribution of candidates, implying that the vast majority are true planets. Most of these multis are multiple-planet systems orbiting the Kepler target star, but there are likely cases where (1) the planetary system orbits a fainter star, and the planets are thus significantly larger than has been estimated, or (2) the planets orbit different stars within a binary/multiple star system. We use the low overall false-positive rate among Kepler multis, together with analysis of Kepler spacecraft and ground-based data, to validate the closely packed Kepler-33 planetary system, which orbits a star that has evolved somewhat off of the main sequence. Kepler-33 hosts five transiting planets, with periods ranging from 5.67 to 41 days.
Characteristics Of Kepler Planetary Candidates Based On The First Data Set
(2011-02) Borucki, William J.; Koch, David G.; Basri, Gibor; Batalha, Natalie; Boss, Alan; Brown, Timothy M.; Caldwell, Douglas; Christensen-Dalsgaard, Jorgen; Cochran, William D.; DeVore, Edna; Dunham, Edward W.; Dupree, Andrea K.; Gautier, Thomas N., III; Geary, John C.; Gilliland, Ronald; Gould, Alan; Howell, Steve B.; Jenkins, Jon M.; Kjeldsen, Hans; Latham, David W.; Lissauer, Jack J.; Marcy, Geoffrey W.; Monet, David G.; Sasselov, Dimitar; Tarter, Jill; Charbonneau, David; Doyle, Laurance; Ford, Eric B.; Fortney, Jonathan; Holman, Matthew J.; Seager, Sara; Steffen, Jason H.; Welsh, William F.; Allen, Christopher; Bryson, Stephen T.; Buchhave, Lars; Chandrasekaran, Hema; Christiansen, Jessie L.; Ciardi, David; Clarke, Bruce D.; Dotson, Jessie L.; Endl, Michael; Fischer, Debra; Fressin, Francois; Haas, Michael; Horch, Elliott; Howard, Andrew; Isaacson, Howard; Kolodziejczak, Jeffery; Li, Jie; MacQueen, Phillip; Meibom, Soren; Prsa, Andrej; Quintana, Elisa V.; Rowe, Jason; Sherry, William; Tenenbaum, Peter; Torres, Guillermo; Twicken, Joseph D.; Van Cleve, Jeffrey; Walkowicz, Lucianne; Wu, Hayley; Cochran, William D.; Endl, Michael; MacQueen, Phillip J.
In the spring of 2009, the Kepler Mission commenced high-precision photometry on nearly 156,000 stars to determine the frequency and characteristics of small exoplanets, conduct a guest observer program, and obtain asteroseismic data on a wide variety of stars. On 2010 June 15, the Kepler Mission released most of the data from the first quarter of observations. At the time of this data release, 705 stars from this first data set have exoplanet candidates with sizes from as small as that of Earth to larger than that of Jupiter. Here we give the identity and characteristics of 305 released stars with planetary candidates. Data for the remaining 400 stars with planetary candidates will be released in 2011 February. More than half the candidates on the released list have radii less than half that of Jupiter. Five candidates are present in and near the habitable zone; two near super-Earth size, and three bracketing the size of Jupiter. The released stars also include five possible multi-planet systems. One of these has two Neptune-size (2.3 and 2.5 Earth radius) candidates with near-resonant periods.
Characteristics Of Planetary Candidates Observed By Kepler. II. Analysis Of The First Four Months Of Data
(2011-07) Borucki, William J.; Koch, David G.; Basri, Gibor; Batalha, Natalie; Brown, Timothy M.; Bryson, Stephen T.; Caldwell, Douglas; Christensen-Dalsgaard, Jorgen; Cochran, William D.; DeVore, Edna; Dunham, Edward W.; Gautier, Thomas N., III; Geary, John C.; Gilliland, Ronald; Gould, Alan; Howell, Steve B.; Jenkins, Jon M.; Latham, David W.; Lissauer, Jack J.; Marcy, Geoffrey W.; Rowe, Jason; Sasselov, Dimitar; Boss, Alan; Charbonneau, David; Ciardi, David; Doyle, Laurance; Dupree, Andrea K.; Ford, Eric B.; Fortney, Jonathan; Holman, Matthew J.; Seager, Sara; Steffen, Jason H.; Tarter, Jill; Welsh, William F.; Allen, Christopher; Buchhave, Lars A.; Christiansen, Jessie L.; Clarke, Bruce D.; Das, Santanu; Desert, Jean-Michel; Endl, Michael; Fabrycky, Daniel; Fressin, Francois; Haas, Michael; Horch, Elliott; Howard, Andrew; Isaacson, Howard; Kjeldsen, Hans; Kolodziejczak, Jeffery; Kulesa, Craig; Li, Jie; Lucas, Philip W.; Machalek, Pavel; McCarthy, Donald; MacQueen, Phillip; Meibom, Soren; Miquel, Thibaut; Prsa, Andrej; Quinn, Samuel N.; Quintana, Elisa V.; Ragozzine, Darin; Sherry, William; Shporer, Avi; Tenenbaum, Peter; Torres, Guillermo; Twicken, Joseph D.; Van Cleve, Jeffrey; Walkowicz, Lucianne; Witteborn, Fred C.; Still, Martin; Cochran, William D.; Endl, Michael
On 2011 February 1 the Kepler mission released data for 156,453 stars observed from the beginning of the science observations on 2009 May 2 through September 16. There are 1235 planetary candidates with transit-like signatures detected in this period. These are associated with 997 host stars. Distributions of the characteristics of the planetary candidates are separated into five class sizes: 68 candidates of approximately Earth-size (R-p < 1.25 R-circle plus), 288 super-Earth-size (1.25 R-circle plus <= R-p < 2 R-circle plus), 662 Neptune-size (2 R-circle plus <= R-p < 6 R-circle plus), 165 Jupiter-size (6 R-circle plus <= R-p < 15 R-circle plus), and 19 up to twice the size of Jupiter (15 R-circle plus <= R-p < 22 R-circle plus). In the temperature range appropriate for the habitable zone, 54 candidates are found with sizes ranging from Earth-size to larger than that of Jupiter. Six are less than twice the size of the Earth. Over 74% of the planetary candidates are smaller than Neptune. The observed number versus size distribution of planetary candidates increases to a peak at two to three times the Earth-size and then declines inversely proportional to the area of the candidate. Our current best estimates of the intrinsic frequencies of planetary candidates, after correcting for geometric and sensitivity biases, are 5% for Earth-size candidates, 8% for super-Earth-size candidates, 18% for Neptune-size candidates, 2% for Jupiter-size candidates, and 0.1% for very large candidates; a total of 0.34 candidates per star. Multi-candidate, transiting systems are frequent; 17% of the host stars have multi-candidate systems, and 34% of all the candidates are part of multi-candidate systems.
Discovery of Seven Companions To Intermediate-Mass Stars With Extreme Mass Ratios in the Scorpius-Centaurus Association
(2015-06) Hinkley, S.; Kraus, Adam L.; Ireland, Michael J.; Cheetham, Anthony; Carpenter, John M.; Tuthill, Peter; Lacour, Sylvestre; Evans, Thomas M.; Haubois, Xaubois; Kraus, Adam L.
We report the detection of seven low-mass companions to intermediate-mass stars (SpT B/A/F; M similar to 1.5-4.5M(circle dot)) in the Scorpius-Centaurus (Sco-Cen) Association using nonredundant aperture masking interferometry. Our newly detected objects have contrasts Delta L' approximate to 4-6, corresponding to masses as low as similar to 20 M-Jup and mass ratios of q approximate to 0.01-0.08, depending on the assumed age of the target stars. With projected separations rho approximate to 10-30 AU, our aperture masking detections sample an orbital region previously unprobed by conventional adaptive optics imaging of intermediate-mass Sco-Cen stars covering much larger orbital radii (similar to 30-3000 AU). At such orbital separations, these objects resemble higher-mass versions of the directly imaged planetary mass companions to the 10-30 Myr, intermediate-mass stars HR 8799, beta Pictoris, and HD 95086. These newly discovered companions span the brown dwarf desert, and their masses and orbital radii provide a new constraint on models of the Formation of low-mass stellar and substellar companions to intermediate-mass stars.
A Four-Planet System Orbiting The K0V Star HD 141399
(2014-06) Vogt, Steven S.; Butler, R. Paul; Rivera, Eugenio J.; Kibrick, Robert; Burt, Jennifer; Hanson, Russell; Meschiari, Stefano; Henry, Gregory W.; Laughlin, Gregory; Meschiari, Stefano
We present precision radial velocity (RV) data sets from Keck-HIRES and from Lick Observatory's new Automated Planet Finder Telescope and Levy Spectrometer on Mt. Hamilton that reveal a multiple-planet system orbiting the nearby, slightly evolved, K-type star HD 141399. Our 91 observations over 10.5 yr suggest the presence of four planets with orbital periods of 94.35, 202.08, 1070.35, and 3717.35 days and minimum masses of 0.46, 1.36, 1.22, and 0.69M(J), respectively. The orbital eccentricities of the three inner planets are small, and the phase curves are well sampled. The inner two planets lie just outside the 2:1 resonance, suggesting that the system may have experienced dissipative evolution during the protoplanetary disk phase. The fourth companion is a Jupiter-like planet with a Jupiter-like orbital period. Its orbital eccentricity is consistent with zero, but more data will be required for an accurate eccentricity determination.
The Giant Planet Orbiting The Cataclysmic Binary DP Leonis
(2011-02) Beuermann, K.; Buhlmann, J.; Diese, J.; Dreizler, S.; Hessman, F. V.; Husser, T. O.; Miller, G. F.; Nickol, N.; Pons, R.; Ruhr, D.; Schmulling, H.; Schwope, A. D.; Sorge, T.; Ulrichs, L.; Winget, D. E.; Winget, K. I.; Winget, D. E.; Winget, K. I.
Planets orbiting post-common envelope binaries provide fundamental information on planet formation and evolution, especially for the yet nearly unexplored class of circumbinary planets. We searched for such planets in DP Leo, an eclipsing short-period binary, which shows long-term eclipse-time variations. Using published, reanalysed, and new mid-eclipse times of the white dwarf in DP Leo, obtained between 1979 and 2010, we find agreement with the light-travel-time effect produced by a third body in an elliptical orbit. In particular, the measured binary period in 2009/2010 and the implied radial velocity coincide with the values predicted for the motion of the binary and the third body around the common center of mass. The orbital period, semi-major axis, and eccentricity of the third body are P-c = 28.0 +/- 2.0 yrs, a(c) = 8.2 +/- 0.4 AU, and e(c) = 0.39 +/- 0.13. Its mass of sin i(c) M-c = 6.1 +/- 0.5 M-Jup qualifies it as a giant planet. It formed either as a first generation object in a protoplanetary disk around the original binary or as a second generation object in a disk formed in the common envelope shed by the progenitor of the white dwarf. Even a third generation origin in matter lost from the present accreting binary can not be entirely excluded. We searched for, but found no evidence for a fourth body.
The Lick-Carnegie Exoplanet Survey: Gliese 687 B-A Neptune-Mass Planet Orbiting A Nearby Red Dwarf
(2014-07) Burt, Jennifer; Vogt, Steven S.; Butler, R. Paul; Hanson, Russell; Meschiari, Stefano; Rivera, Eugenio J.; Henry, Gregory W.; Laughlin, Gregory; Meschiari, Stefano
Precision radial velocities from the Automated Planet Finder (APF) and Keck/HIRES reveal an M sin(i) = 18 +/- 2M(circle plus) planet orbiting the nearby M3V star GJ 687. This planet has an orbital period P = 38.14 days and a low orbital eccentricity. Our Stromgren b and y photometry of the host star suggests a stellar rotation signature with a period of P = 60 days. The star is somewhat chromospherically active, with a spot filling factor estimated to be several percent. The rotationally induced 60 day signal, however, is well separated from the period of the radial velocity variations, instilling confidence in the interpretation of a Keplerian origin for the observed velocity variations. Although GJ 687 b produces relatively little specific interest in connection with its individual properties, a compelling case can be argued that it is worthy of remark as an eminently typical, yet at a distance of 4.52 pc, a very nearby representative of the galactic planetary census. The detection of GJ 687 b indicates that the APF telescope is well suited to the discovery of low-mass planets orbiting low-mass stars in the as yet relatively un-surveyed region of the sky near the north celestial pole.
Masses, Radii, and Orbits of Small Kepler Planets: the Transition from Gaseous to Rocky Planets
(2014-02) Marcy, Geoffrey W.; Isaacson, Howard; Howard, Andrew W.; Rowe, Jason F.; Jenkins, Jon M.; Bryson, Stephen T.; Latham, David W.; Howell, Steve B.; Gautier, Thomas N., III; Batalha, Natalie M.; Rogers, Leslie; Ciardi, David; Fischer, Debra A.; Gilliland, Ronald L.; Kjeldsen, Hans; Christensen-Dalsgaard, Jorgen; Huber, Daniel; Chaplin, William J.; Basu, Sarbani; Buchhave, Lars A.; Quinn, Samuel N.; Borucki, William J.; Koch, David G.; Hunter, Roger; Caldwell, Douglas A.; Van Cleve, Jeffrey; Kolbl, Rea; Weiss, Lauren M.; Petigura, Erik; Seager, Sara; Morton, Timothy; Johnson, John Asher; Ballard, Sarah; Burke, Chris; Cochran, William D.; Endl, Michael; MacQueen, Phillip; Everett, Mark E.; Lissauer, Jack J.; Ford, Eric B.; Torres, Guillermo; Fressin, Francois; Brown, Timothy M.; Steffen, Jason H.; Charbonneau, David; Basri, Gibor S.; Sasselov, Dimitar D.; Winn, Joshua; Sanchis-Ojeda, Roberto; Christiansen, Jessie; Adams, Elisabeth; Henze, Christopher; Dupree, Andrea; Fabrycky, Daniel C.; Fortney, Jonathan J.; Tarter, Jill; Holman, Matthew J.; Tenenbaum, Peter; Shporer, Avi; Lucas, Philip W.; Welsh, William F.; Orosz, Jerome A.; Bedding, T. R.; Campante, T. L.; Davies, G. R.; Elsworth, Y.; Handberg, R.; Hekker, S.; Karoff, C.; Kawaler, S. D.; Lund, M. N.; Lundkvist, M.; Metcalfe, T. S.; Miglio, A.; Aguirre, V.; Silva Stello, D.; White, T. R.; Boss, Alan; Devore, Edna; Gould, Alan; Prsa, Andrej; Agol, Eric; Barclay, Thomas; Coughlin, Jeff; Brugamyer, Erik; Mullally, Fergal; Quintana, Elisa V.; Still, Martin; Thompson, Susan E.; Morrison, David; Twicken, Joseph D.; Desert, Jean-Michel; Carter, Josh; Crepp, Justin R.; Hebrard, Guillaume; Santerne, Alexandre; Moutou, Claire; Sobeck, Charlie; Hudgins, Douglas; Haas, Michael R.; Robertson, Paul; Lillo-Box, Jorge; Barrado, David; Cochran, William D.; MacQueen, Phillip J.; Endl, Michael; Robertson, Paul
We report on the masses, sizes, and orbits of the planets orbiting 22 Kepler stars. There are 49 planet candidates around these stars, including 42 detected through transits and 7 revealed by precise Doppler measurements of the host stars. Based on an analysis of the Kepler brightness measurements, along with high-resolution imaging and spectroscopy, Doppler spectroscopy, and (for 11 stars) asteroseismology, we establish low false-positive probabilities (FPPs) for all of the transiting planets (41 of 42 have an FPP under 1%), and we constrain their sizes and masses. Most of the transiting planets are smaller than three times the size of Earth. For 16 planets, the Doppler signal was securely detected, providing a direct measurement of the planet's mass. For the other 26 planets we provide either marginal mass measurements or upper limits to their masses and densities; in many cases we can rule out a rocky composition. We identify six planets with densities above 5 g cm(-3), suggesting a mostly rocky interior for them. Indeed, the only planets that are compatible with a purely rocky composition are smaller than similar to 2 R-circle plus. Larger planets evidently contain a larger fraction of low-density material (H, He, and H2O).
The Neptune-Sized Circumbinary Planet Kepler-38B
(2012-10) Orosz, Jerome A.; Welsh, William F.; Carter, Joshua A.; Brugamyer, Erik; Buchhave, Lars A.; Cochran, William D.; Endl, Michael; Ford, Eric B.; MacQueen, Phillip; Short, Donald R.; Torres, Guillermo; Windmiller, Gur; Agol, Eric; Barclay, Thomas; Caldwell, Douglas A.; Clarke, Bruce D.; Doyle, Laurance R.; Fabrycky, Daniel C.; Geary, John C.; Haghighipour, Nader; Holman, Matthew J.; Ibrahim, Khadeejah A.; Jenkins, Jon M.; Kinemuchi, Karen; Li, Jie; Lissauer, Jack J.; Prsa, Andrej; Ragozzine, Darin; Shporer, Avi; Still, Martin; Wade, Richard A.; Brugamyer, Erik; Cochran, William D.; Endl, Michael; MacQueen, Phillip
We discuss the discovery and characterization of the circumbinary planet Kepler-38b. The stellar binary is single-lined, with a period of 18.8 days, and consists of a moderately evolved main-sequence star (M-A = 0.949+/-0.059 M-circle dot and R-A = 1.757+/-0.034 R-circle dot) paired with a low-mass star (M-B = 0.249+/-0.010 M-circle dot and R-B = 0.2724+/-0.0053 R-circle dot) in a mildly eccentric (e = 0.103) orbit. A total of eight transits due to a circumbinary planet crossing the primary star were identified in the Kepler light curve (using Kepler Quarters 1-11), from which a planetary period of 105.595+/-0.053 days can be established. A photometric dynamical model fit to the radial velocity curve and Kepler light curve yields a planetary radius of 4.35+/-0.11 R-circle plus, or equivalently 1.12+/-0.03 R-Nep. Since the planet is not sufficiently massive to observably alter the orbit of the binary from Keplerian motion, we can only place an upper limit on the mass of the planet of 122 M-circle dot(7.11 M-Nep or equivalently 0.384 M-Jup) at 95% confidence. This upper limit should decrease as more Kepler data become available.
Precision Radial Velocities With CSHELL
(2011-07) Crockett, Christopher J.; Mahmud, Naved I.; Prato, L.; Johns-Krull, Christopher M.; Jaffe, Daniel T.; Beichman, Charles A.; Jaffe, Daniel T.
Radial velocity (RV) identification of extrasolar planets has historically been dominated by optical surveys. Interest in expanding exoplanet searches to M dwarfs and young stars, however, has motivated a push to improve the precision of near-infrared RV techniques. We present our methodology for achieving 58 m s(-1) precision in the K band on the M0 dwarf GJ 281 using the CSHELL spectrograph at the 3 m NASA Infrared Telescope Facility. We also demonstrate our ability to recover the known 4 M-JUP exoplanet Gl 86 b and discuss the implications for success in detecting planets around 1-3 Myr old T Tauri stars.
A Search For Giant Planet Companions To T Tauri Stars
(2012-12) Crockett, Christopher J.; Mahmud, Naved I.; Prato, L.; Johns-Krull, Christopher M.; Jaffe, Daniel T.; Hartigan, Patrick M.; Beichman, Charles A.; Jaffe, Daniel T.
We present results from an ongoing multiwavelength radial velocity (RV) survey of the Taurus-Auriga star-forming region as part of our effort to identify pre-main-sequence giant planet hosts. These 1-3 Myr old T Tauri stars present significant challenges to traditional RV surveys. The presence of strong magnetic fields gives rise to large, cool star spots. These spots introduce significant RV jitter which can mimic the velocity modulation from a planet-mass companion. To distinguish between spot-induced and planet-induced RV modulation, we conduct observations at similar to 6700 angstrom and similar to 2.3 mu m and measure the wavelength dependence (if any) in the RV amplitude. CSHELL observations of the known exoplanet host Gl 86 demonstrate our ability to detect not only hot Jupiters in the near-infrared but also secular trends from more distant companions. Observations of nine very young stars reveal a typical reduction in RV amplitude at the longer wavelengths by a factor of similar to 2-3. While we cannot confirm the presence of planets in this sample, three targets show different periodicities in the two wavelength regions. This suggests different physical mechanisms underlying the optical and the K-band variability.
Transit Timing Observations From Kepler. II. Confirmation Of Two Multiplanet Systems Via A Non-Parametric Correlation Analysis
(2012-05) Ford, Eric B.; Fabrycky, Daniel C.; Steffen, Jason H.; Carter, Joshua A.; Fressin, Francois; Holman, Matthew J.; Lissauer, Jack J.; Moorhead, Althea V.; Morehead, Robert C.; Ragozzine, Darin; Rowe, Jason F.; Welsh, William F.; Allen, Christopher; Batalha, Natalie M.; Borucki, William J.; Bryson, Stephen T.; Buchhave, Lars A.; Burke, Christopher J.; Caldwell, Douglas A.; Charbonneau, David; Clarke, Bruce D.; Cochran, William D.; Desert, Jean-Michel; Endl, Michael; Everett, Mark E.; Fischer, Debra A.; Gautier, Thomas N, III; Gilliland, Ron L.; Jenkins, Jon M.; Haas, Michael R.; Horch, Elliott; Howell, Steve B.; Ibrahim, Khadeejah A; Isaacson, Howard; Koch, David G; Latham, David W; Li, Jie; Lucas, Philip; MacQueen, Phillip J; Marcy, Geoffrey W; McCauliff, Sean; Mullally, Fergal R; Quinn, Samuel N; Quintana, Elisa; Shporer, Avi; Still, Martin; Tenenbaum, Peter; Thompson, Susan E; Torres, Guillermo; Twicken, Joseph D; Wohler, Bill; Kepler Sci, Team; Cochran, William D.; Endl, Michael; MacQueen, Phillip J.
We present a new method for confirming transiting planets based on the combination of transit timing variations (TTVs) and dynamical stability. Correlated TTVs provide evidence that the pair of bodies is in the same physical system. Orbital stability provides upper limits for the masses of the transiting companions that are in the planetary regime. This paper describes a non-parametric technique for quantifying the statistical significance of TTVs based on the correlation of two TTV data sets. We apply this method to an analysis of the TTVs of two stars with multiple transiting planet candidates identified by Kepler. We confirm four transiting planets in two multiple-planet systems based on their TTVs and the constraints imposed by dynamical stability. An additional three candidates in these same systems are not confirmed as planets, but are likely to be validated as real planets once further observations and analyses are possible. If all were confirmed, these systems would be near 4:6:9 and 2:4:6:9 period commensurabilities. Our results demonstrate that TTVs provide a powerful tool for confirming transiting planets, including low-mass planets and planets around faint stars for which Doppler follow-up is not practical with existing facilities. Continued Kepler observations will dramatically improve the constraints on the planet masses and orbits and provide sensitivity for detecting additional non-transiting planets. If Kepler observations were extended to eight years, then a similar analysis could likely confirm systems with multiple closely spaced, small transiting planets in or near the habitable zone of solar-type stars.