Extrasolar Planetary System Research Articles

Can Asteroid Belts Exist in the Luyten’s System?

The extra-solar planetary system Luyten is relatively close (12.3 light years) to our Sun. The Luyten’s red dwarf star is orbited by four planets, two of them Earth-like (in mass) and in 4:1 resonance. Extra-solar systems might contain asteroid belts such as ours. Therefore, it is important to investigate whether it is possible to have a stable population of minor bodies and compare them to those in our system. The study of extra-solar systems is crucial for understanding the evolution of planetary systems in general. Here, we investigate the stability of two possible asteroid populations in the Luyten’s system: the main asteroid belt between the two inner and two outer planets, and an outer asteroid belt, situated beyond the planets. We also explore the likelihood of observing an asteroid or a dwarf planet in this system. Our study suggests that the existence of asteroid belts is possible, notably the main belt at 0.09–0.53 au from the star and an outer belt (with the inner boundary at 0.85 au and the outer boundary at ∼66,000 au). The average Yarkovsky drift for the Luyten’s main asteroid belt is ∼0.5×10−4 au/Myr for km-size objects. The Luyten’s system might host extra-solar minor bodies, some of which could be capable of entering our own system. Presently, no asteroids can be detected in the Luyten’s system, not even a Ceres-sized body, because the detection signal using the radial velocity method is at least two orders of magnitude less than that required for discerning such objects. The detection probability of an asteroid in the Luyten belt similar to Ceres is about 1.3%, which is less than the probability of finding Luyten B (∼3%).

Analysis of Tidal Accelerations in the Solar System and in Extrasolar Planetary Systems

Volcanism powered by tidal forces inside celestial bodies can provide enough energy to keep important solvents for living systems in the liquid phase. A prerequisite to calculate such tidal interactions and consequences is depending on simulations for tidal accelerations in a multi-body system. Unfortunately, from measurements in many extrasolar planetary systems, only few physical and orbital parameters are well-known enough for investigated celestial bodies. For calculating tidal acceleration vectors under missing most orbital parameter exactly, a simulation method is developed that is only based on a few basic parameters, easily measurable even in extrasolar planetary systems. Such a method as the one presented here allows finding a relation between the tidal acceleration vectors and potential heating inside celestial objects. Using the values and results of our model approach to our solar system as a “gold standard” for feasibility allowed us to classify this heating in relation to different forms of volcanism. This “gold standard” approach gave us a classification measure for the relevance of tidal heating in other extrasolar systems with a reduced availability of exact physical parameters. We help to estimate conditions for the identification of potential candidates for further sophisticated investigations by more complex established methods such as viscoelastic multi-body theories. As a first example, we applied the procedures developed here to the extrasolar planetary system TRAPPIST-1 as an example to check our working hypothesis.

On the formation of terrestrial planets between two massive planets: the case of 55 Cancri

ABSTRACT Considering the huge computational resources required by smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) simulations and the overestimation of post-collision materials from perfect merging, we develop a statistical method to deal with collisions during the formation of planetary systems by introducing random material loss. In this method, the mass and water content lost by the sole outcome from every merger vary randomly within a range dependent on the total mass and water content of colliding bodies. The application of the random loss method to the planet formation in the Solar system shows a good consistency with existing SPH results. We also apply this method to the extrasolar planetary system 55 Cancri that hosts (at least) five planets and study the formation of terrestrial planets between the outermost two planets. A disc with 500 Mars mass embryos in dynamically cold orbits before the late-stage accretion phase is assumed. Scenarios with different amounts of planetary embryos and different loss parameters are adopted in our simulations. The statistical result from hundreds of simulations shows that an Earth-like planet with water inventory of roughly 6 Earth ocean could form between 55 Cnc f and d. It may reside between 1.0 and 2.6 au but the most likely region extends from 1.5 to 2.1 au. Thus, the probability of this planet being in the potentially habitable zone (0.59–1.43 au) is relatively low, only around 10 per cent. Planets 55 Cnc f and d could also be shaped and gain some water from giant impacts and consequently the orbits of them may also change accordingly.

New HST data and modeling reveal a massive planetesimal collision around Fomalhaut

The apparent detection of an exoplanet orbiting Fomalhaut was announced in 2008. However, subsequent observations of Fomalhaut b raised questions about its status: Unlike other exoplanets, it is bright in the optical and nondetected in the infrared, and its orbit appears to cross the debris ring around the star without the expected gravitational perturbations. We revisit previously published data and analyze additional Hubble Space Telescope (HST) data, finding that the source is likely on a radial trajectory and has faded and become extended. Dynamical and collisional modeling of a recently produced dust cloud yields results consistent with the observations. Fomalhaut b appears to be a directly imaged catastrophic collision between two large planetesimals in an extrasolar planetary system. Similar events should be very rare in quiescent planetary systems of the age of Fomalhaut, suggesting that we are possibly witnessing the effects of gravitational stirring due to the orbital evolution of hypothetical planet(s) around the star.

Implications of the interstellar object 1I/'Oumuamua for planetary dynamics and planetesimal formation

’Oumuamua, the first bona fide interstellar planetesimal, was discovered passing through our Solar system on a hyperbolic orbit. This object was likely dynamically ejected from an extrasolar planetary system after a series of close encounters with gas giant planets. To account for ’Oumuamua’s detection, simple arguments suggest that ∼1 M⊕ of planetesimals are ejected per solar mass of Galactic stars. However, that value assumes mono-sized planetesimals. If the planetesimal mass distribution is instead top-heavy, the inferred mass in interstellar planetesimals increases to an implausibly high value. The tension between theoretical expectations for the planetesimal mass function and the observation of ’Oumuamua can be relieved if a small fraction (⁠|${\sim } 0.1{\rm -}1 \, \rm {per\,cent}$|⁠) of planetesimals are tidally disrupted on the pathway to ejection into ’Oumuamua-sized fragments. Using a large suite of simulations of giant planet dynamics including planetesimals, we confirm that 0.1–1 per cent of planetesimals pass within the tidal disruption radius of a gas giant on their pathway to ejection. ’Oumuamua may thus represent a surviving fragment of a disrupted planetesimal. Finally, we argue that an asteroidal composition is dynamically disfavoured for ’Oumuamua, as asteroidal planetesimals are both less abundant and ejected at a lower efficiency than cometary planetesimals.

Investigating Extra-solar Planetary System Qatar-1 through Transit Observations

We report the results of the transit timing variation (TTV) analysis of the extra-solar planet Qatar-1b using thirty eight light curves. Our analysis combines thirty five previously available transit light curves with three new transits observed by us between June 2016 and September 2016 using the 2-m Himalayan Chandra Telescope (HCT) at the Indian Astronomical Observatory (Hanle, India). From these transit data, the physical and orbital parameters of the Qatar-1 system are determined. In addition to this, the ephemeris for the orbital period and mid-transit time are refined to investigate the possible TTV. We find that the null-TTV model provides the better fit to the (O-C) data. This indicates that there is no evidence for TTVs to confirm the presence of additional planets in the Qatar-1 system. The use of the 3.6-m Devasthal Optical Telescope (DOT) operated by the Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES, Nainital, India) could improve the photometric precision to examine the signature of TTVs in this system with a greater accuracy than in the present work.

Synergies between exoplanet surveys and variable star research

With the discovery of the first transiting extrasolar planetary system back to 1999, a great number of projects started to hunt for other similar systems. Because of the incidence rate of such systems was unknown and the length of the shallow transit events is only a few percent of the orbital period, the goal was to monitor continuously as many stars as possible for at least a period of a few months. Small aperture, large field of view automated telescope systems have been installed with a parallel development of new data reduction and analysis methods, leading to better than 1% per data point precision for thousands of stars. With the successful launch of the photometric satellites CoRot and Kepler, the precision increased further by one-two orders of magnitude. Millions of stars have been analyzed and searched for transits. In the history of variable star astronomy this is the biggest undertaking so far, resulting in photometric time series inventories immensely valuable for the whole field. In this review we briefly discuss the methods of data analysis that were inspired by the main science driver of these surveys and highlight some of the most interesting variable star results that impact the field of variable star astronomy.

Erratum to: Orbital structure of the GJ876 extrasolar planetary system based on the latest Keck and HARPS radial velocity data

Erratum to: Orbital structure of the GJ876 extrasolar planetary system based on the latest Keck and HARPS radial velocity data

High order normal form stability estimates for co-orbital motion

We present estimates of the size of the analytic domain of stability for co-orbital motions obtained by a high order normal form in the framework of the elliptic restricted three body problem. As a demonstration example, we consider the motion of a Trojan body in an extrasolar planetary system with a giant planet of mass parameter \(\mu =0.005\) and eccentricity \(e^{\prime }=0.1\). The analysis contains three basic steps: (i) derivation of an accurate expansion of the Hamiltonian, (ii) computation of the normal form up to an optimal order (in the Nekhoroshev sense), and (iii) computation of the optimal size of the remainder at various values of the action integrals (proper elements) of motion. We explain our choice of variables as well as the method used to expand the Hamiltonian so as to ensure a precise model. We then compute the normal form up to the normalisation order \(r=50\) by use of a computer-algebraic program. We finally estimate the size \(||R||\) of the remainder as a function of the normalization order, and compute the optimal normalization order at which the remainder becomes minimum. It is found that the optimal value \(\log (||R_{opt}||)\) can serve in order to construct a stability map for the domain of co-orbital motion using only series. This is compared to the stability map found by a purely numerical approach based on chaotic indicators.

Effects of a planetesimal debris disc on stability scenarios for the extrasolar planetary system HR 8799

HR 8799 is a four planet system that also hosts a debris disk. By numerically integrating both planets and a planetesimal disk, we find interactions between an exterior planetesimal disk and the planets can influence the lifetime of the system. We first consider resonant planetary configurations that remained stable for at least 7 Myrs sans debris disk. An exterior debris disk with only 1 per cent the mass of the outermost planet (approximately a Neptune mass) was sufficiently large enough to pull the system out of resonance after 2 to 6 Myrs. Secondly, we consider configurations which are unstable in less than a few hundred thousand years. We find that these can be stabilized by a debris disk with a mass of more than 10 per cent that of the outermost planet. Our two sets of simulations suggest that estimates of the long term stability of a planetary system should take into account the role of the debris disk.

A new analysis of the GJ581 extrasolar planetary system

We have done a new analysis of the available observations for the GJ581 exoplanetary system. Today this system is controversial due to choices that can be done in the orbital determination. The main ones are the ocurrence of aliases and the additional bodies - the planets f and g - announced in Vogt et al. 2010. Any dynamical study of exoplanets requires the good knowledge of the orbital elements and the investigations involving the planet g are particularly interesting, since this body would lie in the Habitable Zone (HZ) of the star GJ581. This region,for this system, is very attractive of the dynamical point of view due to several resonances of two and three bodies present there. In this work, we investigate the conditions under which the planet g may exist. We stress the fact that the planet g is intimately related with the orbital elements of the planet d; more precisely, we conclude that it is not possible to disconnect its existence from the determination of the eccentricity of the planet d. Concerning the planet f, we have found one solution with period $\approx 450$ days, but we are judicious about any affirmation concernig this body because its signal is in the threshold of detection and the high period is in a spectral region where the ocorruence of aliases is very common. Besides, we outline some dynamical features of the habitable zone with the dynamical map and point out the role played by some resonances laying there.

Numerical integration of dynamical systems with Lie series

The integration of the equations of motion in gravitational dynamical systems -- either in our Solar System or for extra-solar planetary system -- being non integrable in the global case, is usually performed by means of numerical integration. Among the different numerical techniques available for solving ordinary differential equations, the numerical integration using Lie series has shown some advantages. In its original form (Hanslmeier 1984), it was limited to the N-body problem where only gravitational interactions are taken into account. We present in this paper a generalisation of the method by deriving an expression of the Lie-terms when other major forces are considered. As a matter of fact, previous studies had been made but only for objects moving under gravitational attraction. If other perturbations are added, the Lie integrator has to be re-built. In the present work we consider two cases involving position and position-velocity dependent perturbations: relativistic acceleration in the framework of General Relativity and a simplified force for the Yarkovsky effect. A general iteration procedure is applied to derive the Lie series to any order and precision. We then give an application to the integration of the equation of motions for typical Near-Earth objects and planet Mercury.

Orbital structure of the GJ876 extrasolar planetary system based on the latest Keck and HARPS radial velocity data

We use full available array of radial velocity data, including recently published HARPS and Keck observatory sets, to characterize the orbital configuration of the planetary system orbiting GJ876. First, we propose and describe in detail a fast method to fit perturbed orbital configuration, based on the integration of the sensitivity equations inferred by the equations of the original N-body problem. Further, we find that it is unsatisfactory to treat the available radial velocity data for GJ876 in the traditional white noise model, because the actual noise appears autocorrelated (and demonstrates non-white frequency spectrum). The time scale of this correlation is about a few days, and the contribution of the correlated noise is about 2 m/s (i.e., similar to the level of internal errors in the Keck data). We propose a variation of the maximum-likelihood algorithm to estimate the orbital configuration of the system, taking into account the red noise effects. We show, in particular, that the non-zero orbital eccentricity of the innermost planet d, obtained in previous studies, is likely a result of misinterpreted red noise in the data. In addition to offsets in some orbital parameters, the red noise also makes the fit uncertainties systematically underestimated (while they are treated in the traditional white noise model). Also, we show that the orbital eccentricity of the outermost planet is actually ill-determined, although bounded by ~0.2. Finally, we investigate possible orbital non-coplanarity of the system, and limit the mutual inclination between the planets b and c orbits by 5°–15°, depending on the angular position of the mutual orbital nodes.

THE DYNAMICS OF STELLAR CORONAE HARBORING HOT JUPITERS. I. A TIME-DEPENDENT MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMIC SIMULATION OF THE INTERPLANETARY ENVIRONMENT IN THE HD 189733 PLANETARY SYSTEM

We carry out the first time-dependent numerical MagnetoHydroDynamic modeling of an extrasolar planetary system to study the interaction of the stellar magnetic field and wind with the planetary magnetosphere and outflow. We base our model on the parameters of the HD 189733 system, which harbors a close-in giant planet. Our simulation reveals a highly structured stellar corona characterized by sectors with different plasma properties. The star-planet interaction varies in magnitude and complexity, depending on the planetary phase, planetary magnetic field strength, and the relative orientation of the stellar and planetary fields. It also reveals a long, comet-like tail which is a result of the wrapping of the planetary magnetospheric tail by its fast orbital motion. A reconnection event occurs at a specific orbital phase, causing mass loss from the planetary magnetosphere that can generate a hot spot on the stellar surface. The simulation also shows that the system has sufficient energy to produce hot-spots observed in Ca II lines in giant planet hosting stars. However, the short duration of the reconnection event suggests that such SPI cannot be observed persistently.

A much lower density for the transiting extrasolar planet WASP-7

We present the first high-precision photometry of the transiting extrasolar planetary system WASP-7, obtained using telescope defocussing techniques and reaching a scatter of 0.68 mmag per point. We find that the transit depth is greater and that the host star is more evolved than previously thought. The planet has a significantly larger radius (1.330 +/- 0.093 Rjup versus 0.915 +0.046 -0.040 Rjup) and much lower density (0.41 +/- 0.10 rhojup versus 1.26 +0.25 -0.21 rhojup) and surface gravity (13.4 +/- 2.6 m/s2 versus 26.4 +4.4 -4.0 m/s2) than previous measurements showed. Based on the revised properties it is no longer an outlier in planetary mass--radius and period--gravity diagrams. We also obtain a more precise transit ephemeris for the WASP-7 system.

On the influence of the Kozai mechanism in habitable zones of extrasolar planetary systems

Aims. We investigate the long-term evolution of inclined test particles representing a small Earth-like body with negligible gravitational effects (hereafter called massless test-planets) in the restricted three-body problem, and consisting of a star, a gas giant, and a massless test-planet. The test-planet is initially on a circular orbit and moves around the star at distances closer than the gas giant. The aim is to show the influences of the eccentricity and the mass of the gas giant on the dynamics, for various inclinations of the test-planet, and to investigate in more detail the Kozai mechanism in the elliptic problem.Methods. We performed a parametric study, integrating the orbital evolution of test particles whose initial conditions were distributed on the semi-major axis – inclination plane. The gas giant’s initial eccentricity was varied. For the calculations, we used the Lie integration method and in some cases the Bulirsch-Stoer algorithm. To analyze the results, the maximum eccentricity and the Lyapunov characteristic indicator were used. All integrations were performed for 105 periods of the gas giant.Results. Our calculations show that inclined massless test-planets can be in stable configurations with gas giants on either circular or elliptic orbits. The higher the eccentricity of the gas giant, the smaller the possible range in semi-major axis for the test-planet. For gas giants on circular orbits, our results illustrate the well-known results associated with the Kozai mechanism, which do not allow stable orbits above a critical inclination of approximately 40°. For gas giants on eccentric orbits, the dynamics is quite similar, and the massless companion exhibits limited variations in eccentricity. In addition, we identify a region around 35° consisting of long-time stable, low eccentric orbits. We show that these results are also valid for Earth-mass companions, therefore they can be applied to extrasolar systems: for instance, the extrasolar planetary system HD 154345 can possess a 35° degree inclined, nearly circular, Earth-mass companion in the habitable zone.

ERRATUM: “PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF THE 0.94 DAY PERIOD TRANSITING PLANETARY SYSTEM WASP-18” (2009, ApJ, 707, 167)

We present high-precision photometry of five consecutive transits of WASP-18, an extrasolar planetary system with one of the shortest orbital periods known. Through the use of telescope defocussing we achieve a photometric precision of 0.47 to 0.83 mmag per observation over complete transit events. The data are analysed using the JKTEBOP code and three different sets of stellar evolutionary models. We find the mass and radius of the planet to be M_b = 10.43 +/- 0.30 +/- 0.24 Mjup R_b = 1.165 +/- 0.055 +/- 0.014 Rjup (statistical and systematic errors) respectively. The systematic errors in the orbital separation and the stellar and planetary masses, arising from the use of theoretical predictions, are of a similar size to the statistical errors and set a limit on our understanding of the WASP-18 system. We point out that seven of the nine known massive transiting planets (M_b > 3 Mjup) have eccentric orbits, whereas significant orbital eccentricity has been detected for only four of the 46 less massive planets. This may indicate that there are two different populations of transiting planets, but could also be explained by observational biases. Further radial velocity observations of low-mass planets will make it possible to choose between these two scenarios.

High-precision photometry by telescope defocusing - III. The transiting planetary system WASP-2★

We present high-precision photometry of three transits of the extrasolar planetary system WASP-2, obtained by defocusing the telescopes, and achieving scatters of between 0.42 and 0.73 mmag versus the best-fitting model. These data are modelled using the jktebop code, and taking into account the light from the recently discovered faint star close to the system. The physical properties of the WASP-2 system are derived using tabulated predictions from five different sets of stellar evolutionary models, allowing both statistical and systematic error bars to be specified. We find the mass and radius of the planet to be Mb= 0.846 ± 0.055 ± 0.023 MJup and Rb= 1.043 ± 0.029 ± 0.015RJup. It has a low equilibrium temperature of 1281 ± 21 K, in agreement with a recent finding that it does not have an atmospheric temperature inversion. The first of our transit data sets has a scatter of only 0.42 mmag with respect to the best-fitting light-curve model, which to our knowledge is a record for ground-based observations of a transiting extrasolar planetary system.

NEW OBSERVATIONAL CONSTRAINTS ON THE υ ANDROMEDAE SYSTEM WITH DATA FROM THEHUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPEAND HOBBY-EBERLY TELESCOPE

We have used high-cadence radial velocity (RV) measurements from the Hobby-Eberly Telescope with existing velocities from the Lick, Elodie, Harlan J. Smith, and Whipple 60'' telescopes combined with astrometric data from the Hubble Space Telescope Fine Guidance Sensors to refine the orbital parameters and determine the orbital inclinations and position angles of the ascending node of components υ And A c and d. With these inclinations and using M * = 1.31M ☉ as a primary mass, we determine the actual masses of two of the companions: υ And A c is 13.98+2.3 –5.3 M JUP, and υ And A d is 10.25+0.7 –3.3 M JUP. These measurements represent the first astrometric determination of mutual inclination between objects in an extrasolar planetary system, which we find to be 299 ± 1°. The combined RV measurements also reveal a long-period trend indicating a fourth planet in the system. We investigate the dynamic stability of this system and analyze regions of stability, which suggest a probable mass of υ And A b. Finally, our parallaxes confirm that υ And B is a stellar companion of υ And A.

A SEARCH FOR WIDE COMPANIONS TO THE EXTRASOLAR PLANETARY SYSTEM HR 8799

The extrasolar planetary system around HR 8799 is the first multiplanet system ever imaged. It is also, by a wide margin, the highest mass system with >27 Jupiters of planetary mass past 25 AU. This is a remarkable system with no analogue with any other known planetary system. In the first part of this paper we investigate the nature of two faint objects imaged near the system. These objects are considerably fainter (H=20.4, and 21.6 mag) and more distant (projected separations of 612, and 534 AU) than the three known planetary companions b, c, and d (68-24 AU). It is possible that these two objects could be lower mass planets (of mass ~5 and ~3 Jupiters) that have been scattered to wider orbits. We make the first direct comparison of newly reduced archival Gemini adaptive optics images to archival HST/NICMOS images. With nearly a decade between these epochs we can accurately assess the proper motion nature of each candidate companion. We find that both objects are unbound to HR 8799 and are background. We estimate that HR 8799 has no companions of H<22 from ~5-15 arcsec. Any scattered giant planets in the HR 8799 system are >600 AU or less than 3 Jupiters in mass. In the second part of this paper we carry out a search for wider common proper motion objects. While we identify no bound companions to HR 8799, our search yields 16 objects within 1 degree in the NOMAD catalog and POSS DSS images with similar (+/-20 mas/yr) proper motions to HR 8799, three of which warrant follow-up observations.