Occurrence Rate Of Giant Planets Research Articles

Populating the Milky Way

Context. Stellar populations and their distribution differ widely across the Galaxy, which is likely to affect planet demographics. Our local neighbourhood is dominated by young, metal-rich stars in the galactic thin disc, while the stellar halo and galactic bulge host a large fraction of older, metal-poor stars. Aims. We study the impact of these variations on planet populations in different regions of the Galaxy by combining a high-resolution galaxy formation simulation with state-of-the-art planet population synthesis models. Methods. We constructed a population model to estimate occurrence rates of different planet types, based on the New Generation Planet Population Synthesis (NGPPS). We applied this model to a simulated Milky Way (MW) analogue in the HESTIA galaxy formation simulation. We studied the planet occurrence rate in the metal-rich regions of the inner Galaxy, namely, in the galactic bulge and thin disc. We compared these result with the frequencies in the more distant, metal-poor region such as the thick disc and stellar halo. Results. We find that the planet demographics in the central, metal-rich regions of the MW analogue differ strongly from the planet populations in the more distant, metal-poor regions. The occurrence rate of giant planets (>300 M⊕) is 10–20 times larger in the thin disc compared to the thick disc, driven by the low amounts of solid material available for planet formation around metal-poor stars. Similarly, low-mass Earth-like planets around Sun-like stars are most abundant in the thick disc, being 1.5 times more frequent than in the thin disc. Moreover, low-mass planets are expected to be abundant throughout the galaxy, from the central regions to the outer halo, due to their formation processes being less dependent on stellar metallicity. The planet populations differ more strongly around Sun-like stars compared to dwarfs with masses 0.3–0.5 M⊙, caused by a weaker correlation between [Fe/H] metallicity and planet mass. However, it is important to note that the occurrence rates of low-mass planets are still uncertain, making our findings strongly model-dependent. Massive planets are more comprehensively understood and our findings are more robust. Nonetheless, other systematic effects have the potential to alter the giant planet population that we have not addressed in this study. We discuss some of these limitations and offer further directions for future research.

Beyond the Drake Equation: A Time-dependent Inventory of Habitable Planets and Life-bearing Worlds in the Solar Neighborhood

We introduce a mathematical framework for statistical exoplanet population and astrobiology studies that may help direct future observational efforts and experiments. The approach is based on a set of differential equations and provides a time-dependent mapping between star formation, metal enrichment, and the occurrence of exoplanets and potentially life-harboring worlds over the chemo-population history of the solar neighborhood. Our results are summarized as follows: (1) the formation of exoplanets in the solar vicinity was episodic, starting with the emergence of the thick disk about 11 Gyr ago; (2) within 100 pc from the Sun, there are as many as 11,000(η ⊕/0.24) Earth-size planets in the habitable zone (“temperate terrestrial planets” or TTPs) of K-type stars. The solar system is younger than the median TTP, and was created in a star formation surge that peaked 5.5 Gyr ago and was triggered by an external agent; (3) the metallicity modulation of the giant planet occurrence rate results in a later typical formation time, with TTPs outnumbering giant planets at early times; and (4) the closest, life-harboring Earth-like planet would be ≲20 pc away if microbial life arose as soon as it did on Earth in ≳1% of the TTPs around K stars. If simple life is abundant (fast abiogenesis), it is also old, as it would have emerged more than 8 Gyr ago in about one-third of all life-bearing planets today. Older Earth analogs are more likely to have developed sufficiently complex life capable of altering their environment and producing detectable oxygenic biosignatures.

Evidence That the Occurrence Rate of Hot Jupiters around Sun-like Stars Decreases with Stellar Age

We investigate how the occurrence rate of giant planets (minimum mass > 0.3 M Jup) around Sun-like stars depends on the age, mass, and metallicity of their host stars. We develop a hierarchical Bayesian framework to infer the number of planets per star (NPPS) as a function of both planetary and stellar parameters. The framework fully takes into account the uncertainties in the latter by utilizing the posterior samples for the stellar parameters obtained by fitting stellar isochrone models to the spectroscopic parameters, Gaia DR3 parallaxes, and 2MASS K s-band magnitudes adopting a certain bookkeeping prior. We apply the framework to 46 Doppler giants found around a sample of 382 Sun-like stars from the California Legacy Survey catalog that publishes spectroscopic parameters and search completeness for all the surveyed stars. We find evidence that the NPPS of hot Jupiters (orbital period P = 1–10 days) decreases roughly in the latter half of the main sequence over the timescale of , while that of cold Jupiters (P = 1–10 yr) does not. Assuming that this decrease is real and caused by tidal orbital decay, the modified stellar tidal quality factor is implied to be for a Sun-like main-sequence star orbited by a Jupiter-mass planet with P ≈ 3 days.

Small Planets around Cool Dwarfs: Enhanced Formation Efficiency of Super-Earths around M Dwarfs

Current measurements of planet population as a function of stellar mass show three seemingly contradictory signatures: close-in super-Earths are more prevalent around M dwarfs than FGK dwarfs; inner super-Earths are correlated with outer giants; and outer giants are less common around M dwarfs than FGK dwarfs. Here, we build a simple framework that combines the theory of pebble accretion with the measurements of dust masses in protoplanetary disks to reconcile all three observations. First, we show that cooler stars are more efficient at converting pebbles into planetary cores at short orbital periods. Second, when disks are massive enough to nucleate a heavy core at 5 au, more than enough dust can drift in to assemble inner planets, establishing the correlation between inner planets and outer giants. Finally, while stars of varying masses are similarly capable of converting pebbles into cores at long orbital periods, hotter stars are much more likely to harbor more massive dust disks so that the giant planet occurrence rate rises around hotter stars. Our results are valid over a wide range of parameter space for a disk accretion rate that follows . We predict a decline in mini-Neptune population (but not necessarily terrestrial planets) around stars lighter than ∼0.3–0.5M ⊙. Cold giants (≳5 au), if they exist, should remain correlated with inner planets even around lower-mass stars.

Mid-to-late M Dwarfs Lack Jupiter Analogs

Cold Jovian planets play an important role in sculpting the dynamical environment in which inner terrestrial planets form. The core accretion model predicts that giant planets cannot form around low-mass M dwarfs, although this idea has been challenged by recent planet discoveries. Here, we investigate the occurrence rate of giant planets around low-mass (0.1–0.3 M ⊙) M dwarfs. We monitor a volume-complete, inactive sample of 200 such stars located within 15 pc, collecting four high-resolution spectra of each M dwarf over six years and performing intensive follow-up monitoring of two candidate radial velocity variables. We use TRES on the 1.5 m telescope at the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory and CHIRON on the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory 1.5 m telescope for our primary campaign, and MAROON-X on Gemini-North for high-precision follow up. We place a 95% confidence upper limit of 1.5% (68% confidence limit of 0.57%) on the occurrence of M P sin i > 1 M J giant planets out to the water snow line and provide additional constraints on the giant planet population as a function of M P sin i and period. Beyond the snow line (100 K < T eq < 150 K), we place 95% confidence upper limits of 1.5%, 1.7%, and 4.4% (68% confidence limits of 0.58%, 0.66%, and 1.7%) for 3 M J < M P sin i < 10 M J, 0.8 M J < M P sin i < 3 M J, and 0.3 M J < M P sin i < 0.8 M J giant planets, respectively; i.e., Jupiter analogs are rare around low-mass M dwarfs. In contrast, surveys of Sun-like stars have found that their giant planets are most common at these Jupiter-like instellations.

The interplay between pebble and planetesimal accretion in population synthesis models and its role in giant planet formation

Context. In the core accretion scenario of planet formation, rocky cores grow by first accreting solids until they are massive enough to accrete gas. For giant planet formation, this means that a massive core must form within the lifetime of the gas disk. Inspired by observations of Solar System features such as the asteroid and Kuiper belts, the accretion of roughly kilometre-sized planetesimals is traditionally considered as the main accretion mechanism of solids but such models often result in longer planet formation timescales. The accretion of millimetre- to centimetre-sized pebbles, on the other hand, allows for rapid core growth within the disk lifetime. The two accretion mechanisms are typically discussed separately. Aims. We investigate the interplay between the two accretion processes in a disk containing both pebbles and planetesimals for planet formation in general and in the context of giant planet formation specifically. The goal is to disentangle and understand the fundamental interactions that arise in such hybrid pebble-planetesimal models laying the groundwork for informed analysis of future, more complex, simulations. Methods. We combined a simple model of pebble formation and accretion with a global model of planet formation which considers the accretion of planetesimals. We compared synthetic populations of planets formed in disks composed of different amounts of pebbles and 600 metre-sized planetesimals to identify the impact of the combined accretion scenario. On a system level, we studied the formation pathway of giant planets in these disks. Results. We find that, in hybrid disks containing both pebbles and planetesimals, the formation of giant planets is strongly suppressed, whereas, in a pebbles-only or planetesimals-only scenario, giant planets can form. We identify the heating associated with the accretion of up to 100 kilometre-sized planetesimals after the pebble accretion period to delay the runaway gas accretion of massive cores. Coupled with strong inward type-I migration acting on these planets, this results in close-in icy sub-Neptunes originating from the outer disk. Conclusions. We conclude that, in hybrid pebble-planetesimal scenarios, the late accretion of planetesimals is a critical factor in the giant planet formation process and that inward migration is more efficient for planets in increasingly pebble-dominated disks. We expect a reduced occurrence rate of giant planets in planet formation models that take the accretion of pebbles and planetesimals into account.

The occurrence rate of giant planets orbiting low-mass stars withTESS

ABSTRACTWe present a systematic search for transiting giant planets ($0.6 \mbox{$R_{\rm J}$}\le \mbox{$R_{\rm P}$}\le 2.0 \mbox{$R_{\rm J}$}$) orbiting nearby low-mass stars ($\mbox{$M_{*}$}\le 0.71 \mbox{${\rm M}_{\odot }$}$). The formation of giant planets around low-mass stars is predicted to be rare by the core-accretion planet formation theory. We search 91 306 low-mass stars in the TESS 30 min cadence photometry detecting fifteen giant planet candidates, including seven new planet candidates which were not known planets or identified as TOIs prior to our search. Our candidates present an exciting opportunity to improve our knowledge of the giant planet population around the lowest mass stars. We perform planet injection-recovery simulations and find that our pipeline has a high detection efficiency across the majority of our targeted parameter space. We measure the occurrence rates of giant planets with host stars in different stellar mass ranges spanning our full sample. We find occurrence rates of 0.137 ± 0.097 per cent (0.088–0.26 M⊙), 0.108 ± 0.083 per cent (0.26–0.42 M⊙), and 0.29 ± 0.15 per cent (0.42–0.71 M⊙). For our full sample (0.088–0.71 M⊙), we find a giant planet occurrence rate of 0.194 ± 0.072 per cent. We have measured for the first time the occurrence rate for giant planets orbiting stars with $\mbox{$M_{*}$}\le 0.4\, \mbox{${\rm M}_{\odot }$}$ and we demonstrate this occurrence rate to be non-zero. This result contradicts currently accepted planet formation models and we discuss some possibilities for how these planets could have formed.

Making hot Jupiters in stellar clusters: The importance of binary exchange

ABSTRACT It has been suggested that the occurrence rate of hot Jupiters (HJs) in open clusters might reach several per cent, significantly higher than that of the field (∼a per cent). In a stellar cluster, when a planetary system scatters with a stellar binary, it may acquire a companion star, which may excite large-amplitude von Zeipel–Lidov–Kozai oscillations in the planet’s orbital eccentricity, triggering high-eccentricity migration, and the formation of an HJ. We quantify the efficiency of this mechanism by modelling the evolution of a gas giant around a solar mass star under the influence of successive scatterings with binary and single stars. We show that the chance that a planet ∈ (1, 10) au becomes an HJ in a Gyr in a cluster of stellar density n* = 50 pc−3, and binary fraction fbin = 0.5 is about 2 per cent and an additional 4 per cent are forced by the companion star into collision with or tidal disruption by the central host. An empirical fit shows that the total percentage of those outcomes asymptotically reaches an upper limit determined solely by fbin (e.g. 10 per cent at fbin = 0.3 and 18 per cent at fbin = 1) on a time-scale inversely proportional to n* (∼Gyr for n* ∼ 100 pc−3). The ratio of collisions to tidal disruptions is roughly a few, and depends on the tidal model. Therefore, if the giant planet occurrence rate is 10 per cent, our mechanism implies an HJ occurrence rate of a few times 0.1 per cent in a Gyr and can thus explain a substantial fraction of the observed rate.

Formation of super-Earths in icy dead zones around low-mass stars

ABSTRACT While giant planet occurrence rates increase with stellar mass, occurrence rates of close-in super-Earths decrease. This is in contradiction to the expectation that the total mass of the planets in a system scale with the protoplanetary disc mass and hence the stellar mass. Since the snow line plays an important role in the planet formation process, we examine differences in the temperature structure of protoplanetary gas discs around stars of different mass. Protoplanetary discs likely contain a dead zone at the mid-plane that is sufficiently cold and dense for the magneto-rotational instability to be suppressed. As material builds up, the outer parts of the dead zone may be heated by self-gravity. The temperature in the disc can be below the snow line temperature far from the star and in the inner parts of a dead zone. The inner icy region has a larger radial extent around smaller mass stars. The increased mass of solid icy material may allow for the in situ formation of larger and more numerous planets close to a low-mass star. Super-Earths that form in the inner icy region may have a composition that includes a significant fraction of volatiles.

Radial Velocity Survey for Planets around Young stars (RVSPY)

Context. The occurrence rate and period distribution of (giant) planets around young stars is still not as well constrained as for older main-sequence stars. This is mostly due to the intrinsic activity-related complications and the avoidance of young stars in many large planet search programmes. Yet, dynamical restructuring processes in planetary systems may last significantly longer than the actual planet formation phase and may well extend long into the debris disc phase, such that the planet populations around young stars may differ from those observed around main-sequence stars. Aims. We introduce our Radial Velocity Survey for Planets around Young stars (RVSPY), which is closely related to the NaCo-ISPY direct imaging survey, characterise our target stars, and search for substellar companions at orbital separations smaller than a few au from the host star. Methods. We used the FEROS spectrograph, mounted to the MPG/ESO 2.2 m telescope in Chile, to obtain high signal-to-noise spectra and time series of precise radial velocities (RVs) of 111 stars, most of which are surrounded by debris discs. Our target stars have spectral types between early F and late K, a median age of 400 Myr, and a median distance of 45 pc. During the initial reconnaissance phase of our survey, we determined stellar parameters and used high-cadence observations to characterise the intrinsic stellar activity, searched for hot companions with orbital periods of up to 10 days, and derived the detection thresholds for longer-period companions. In our analysis we, have included archival spectroscopic data, spectral energy distribution, and data for photometric time series from the TESS mission. Results. For all target stars we determined their basic stellar parameters and present the results of the high-cadence RV survey and activity characterisation. We have achieved a median single-measurement RV precision of 6 m s−1 and derived the short-term intrinsic RV scatter of our targets (median 23 m s−1), which is mostly caused by stellar activity and decays with an age from &gt;100 m s−1 at &lt;20 Myr to &lt;20 m s−1 at &gt;500 Myr. We analysed time series periodograms of the high-cadence RV data and the shape of the individual cross-correlation functions. We discovered six previously unknown close companions with orbital periods between 10 and 100 days, three of which are low-mass stars, and three are in the brown dwarf mass regime. We detected no hot companion with an orbital period &lt;10 days down to a median mass limit of ~1 MJup for stars younger than 500 Myr, which is still compatible with the established occurrence rate of such companions around main-sequence stars. We found significant RV periodicities between 1.3 and 4.5 days for 14 stars, which are, however, all caused by rotational modulation due to starspots. We also analysed the data for TESS photometric time series and found significant periodicities for most of the stars. For 11 stars, the photometric periods are also clearly detected in the RV data. We also derived stellar rotation periods ranging from 1 to 10 days for 91 stars, mostly from the TESS data. From the intrinsic activity-related short-term RV jitter, we derived the expected mass-detection thresholds for longer-period companions, and selected 84 targets for the longer-term RV monitoring.

The CARMENES search for exoplanets around M dwarfs

The CARMENES radial-velocity survey is currently searching for planets in a sample of 387 M dwarfs. Here we report on two Saturn-mass planets orbiting TYC 2187-512-1 (M* = 0.50 M⊙) and TZ Ari (M* = 0.15 M⊙), respectively. We obtained supplementary photometric time series, which we use along with spectroscopic information to determine the rotation periods of the two stars. In both cases, the radial velocities also show strong modulations at the respective rotation period. We thus modeled the radial velocities as a Keplerian orbit plus a Gaussian process representing the stellar variability. TYC 2187-512-1 is found to harbor a planet with a minimum mass of 0.33 MJup in a near-circular 692-day orbit. The companion of TZ Ari has a minimum mass of 0.21 MJup, orbital period of 771 d, and orbital eccentricity of 0.46. We provide an overview of all known giant planets in the CARMENES sample, from which we infer an occurrence rate of giant planets orbiting M dwarfs with periods up to 2 yr in the range between 2 and 6%. TZ Ari b is only the second giant planet discovered orbiting a host with mass less than 0.3 M⊙. These objects occupy an extreme location in the planet mass versus host mass plane. It is difficult to explain their formation in core-accretion scenarios, so they may possibly have been formed through a disk fragmentation process.

Precise radial velocities of giant stars

Context. Radial velocity surveys of evolved stars allow us to probe a higher stellar mass range, on average, compared to main-sequence samples. Hence, differences between the planet populations around the two target classes can be caused by either the differing stellar mass or stellar evolution. To properly disentangle the effects of both variables, it is important to characterize the planet population around giant stars as accurately as possible. Aims. Our goal is to investigate the giant planet occurrence rate around evolved stars and determine its dependence on stellar mass, metallicity, and orbital period. Methods. We combine data from three different radial velocity surveys targeting giant stars: the Lick giant star survey, the radial velocity program EXoPlanets aRound Evolved StarS (EXPRESS), and the Pan-Pacific Planet Search (PPPS), yielding a sample of 482 stars and 37 planets. We homogeneously rederived the stellar parameters of all targets and accounted for varying observational coverage, precision and stellar noise properties by computing a detection probability map for each star via injection and retrieval of synthetic planetary signals. We then computed giant planet occurrence rates as a function of period, stellar mass, and metallicity, corrected for incompleteness. Results. Our findings agree with previous studies that found a positive planet-metallicity correlation for evolved stars and identified a peak in the giant planet occurrence rate as a function of stellar mass, but our results place it at a slightly smaller mass of (1.68 ± 0.59) M⊙. The period dependence of the giant planet occurrence rate seems to follow a broken power-law or log-normal distribution peaking at (718 ± 226) days or (797 ± 455) days, respectively, which roughly corresponds to 1.6 AU for a 1 M⊙ star and 2.0 AU for a 2 M⊙ star. This peak could be a remnant from halted migration around intermediate-mass stars, caused by stellar evolution, or an artifact from contamination by false positives. The completeness-corrected global occurrence rate of giant planetary systems around evolved stars is 10.7%−1.6%+2.2% for the entire sample, while the evolutionary subsets of RGB and HB stars exhibit 14.2%−2.7%+4.1% and 6.6%−1.3%+2.1%, respectively. However, both subsets have different stellar mass distributions and we demonstrate that the stellar mass dependence of the occurrence rate suffices to explain the apparent change of occurrence with the evolutionary stage.

HATS-74Ab, HATS-75b, HATS-76b, and HATS-77b: Four Transiting Giant Planets Around K and M Dwarfs*

Abstract The relative rarity of giant planets around low-mass stars compared with solar-type stars is a key prediction from the core-accretion planet formation theory. In this paper we report on the discovery of four gas giant planets that transit low-mass late K and early M dwarfs. The planets HATS-74Ab (TOI 737b), HATS-75b (TOI 552b), HATS-76b (TOI 555b), and HATS-77b (TOI 730b) were all discovered from the HATSouth photometric survey and follow-up using TESS and other photometric facilities. We use the new ESPRESSO facility at the VLT to confirm systems and measure their masses. We find that these planets have masses of 1.46 ± 0.14 MJ, 0.491 ± 0.039 MJ, 2.629 ± 0.089 MJ, and 1.374 − 0.074 + 0.100 MJ, respectively, and radii of 1.032 ± 0.021 RJ, 0.884 ± 0.013 RJ, 1.079 ± 0.031 RJ, and 1.165 ± 0.021 RJ, respectively. The planets all orbit close to their host stars with orbital periods ranging from 1.7319 days to 3.0876 days. With further work, we aim to test core-accretion theory by using these and further discoveries to quantify the occurrence rate of giant planets around low-mass host stars.

The Statistical Investigation of Exoplanets around M Dwarfs

M dwarf is not only one of the lowest mass stars in the main sequence stars, but also the most numerous stars in the Milky Way. Planets and habitable zones around M dwarfs are usually closer to their host stars than F, G, and K-type stars, so it is more convenient for us to discover new planets and observe habitable planets. On average, there are 2.5 low-mass planets orbiting around each M dwarf, which is about 3.5 times that of F, G, and K stars, while the occurrence rate of giant planets, which greatly depends on the metallicity of their host stars, is one order of magnitude lower than that of F, G, and K stars. Herein we apply a set of selection criteria to collect 401 planets around M dwarfs to investigate the property of planets. Statistical analysis shows that terrestrial planets, whose semi-major axes are less than 1 au, account for about 74% of the total number of planets. About twenty-eight Earth-sized planets orbit within the habitable zone of their stars, which means that there might be liquid water and atmosphere on planet surface. In addition, the average distance between planets and their host stars tends to increase with the masses of planets. According to the planetary mass-radius relationship, there is a turning point at 4M⊕ (mass of Earth). With few exceptions, most planets with mass <4M⊕ may be composed of 65% silicate and 35% iron, otherwise the radius of planet grows rapidly with the increase of mass because of a substantial gaseous envelope. Approximately 60% planets around M dwarfs are in tightly packed planetary systems, whose orbital configuration is observed to be trapped into 3: 2, 5: 3, and 2: 1 mean motion resonances. To explain the formation of compact system, several scenarios have been proposed, for instance inside-out formation and pebble-driven planet formation, even though the initial position of planetary embryos remains ambiguous. The formation of giant planets around low-mass stars also challenges the existing planet formation theory. Fortunately, high precision and resolution observation of space and ground-based telescopes is unveiling the structure of protoplanetary disks gradually, which offers the crucial initial conditions of planet formation, as well as the observation of planetary atmospheric composition.

A SOPHIE RV search for giant planets around young nearby stars (YNS)

Context.The search of close (a≲ 5 au) giant planet (GP) companions with radial velocity (RV) around young stars and the estimate of their occurrence rates is important to constrain the migration timescales. Furthermore, this search will allow the giant planet occurrence rates to be computed at all separations via the combination with direct imaging techniques. The RV search around young stars is a challenge as they are generally faster rotators than older stars of similar spectral types and they exhibit signatures of magnetic activity (spots) or pulsation in their RV time series. Specific analyses are necessary to characterize, and possibly correct for, this activity.Aims.Our aim is to search for planets around young nearby stars and to estimate the GP occurrence rates for periods up to 1000 days.Methods.We used the SOPHIEspectrograph on the 1.93 m telescope at the Haute-Provence Observatory to observe 63 A−Myoung (&lt;400 Myr) stars. We used our Spectroscopic data via Analysis of the Fourier Interspectrum Radial velocities software to compute the RVs and other spectroscopic observables. We then combined this survey with the HARPSYNS survey to compute the companion occurrence rates on a total of 120 youngA−Mstars.Results.We report one new trend compatible with a planetary companion on HD 109647. We also report HD 105693 and HD 112097 as binaries, and we confirm the binarity of HD 2454, HD 13531, HD 17250 A, HD 28945, HD 39587, HD 131156, HD 142229, HD 186704 A, and HD 195943. We constrained for the first time the orbital parameters of HD 195943 B. We refute the HD 13507 single brown dwarf (BD) companion solution and propose a double BD companion solution. Two GPs were previously reported from this survey in the HD 113337 system. Based on our sample of 120 young stars, we obtain a GP occurrence rate of 1−0.3+2.2% for periods lower than 1000 days, and we obtain an upper limit on BD occurrence rate of 0.9−0.9+2% in the same period range. We report a possible lack of close (P∈ [1;1000] days) GPs around young FK stars compared to their older counterparts, with a confidence level of 90%.

Understanding the Impacts of Stellar Companions on Planet Formation and Evolution: A Survey of Stellar and Planetary Companions within 25 pc

Abstract We explore the impact of outer stellar companions on the occurrence rate of giant planets detected with radial velocities. We searched for stellar and planetary companions to a volume-limited sample of solar-type stars within 25 pc. Using adaptive optics imaging observations from the Lick 3 m and Palomar 200″ Telescopes, we characterized the multiplicity of our sample stars, down to the bottom of the main sequence. With these data, we confirm field star multiplicity statistics from previous surveys. We additionally combined three decades of radial velocity (RV) data from the California Planet Search with newly collected RV data from Keck/HIRES and the Automated Planet Finder/Levy Spectrometer to search for planetary companions in these same systems. Using an updated catalog of both stellar and planetary companions, as well as detailed injection/recovery tests to determine our sensitivity and completeness, we measured the occurrence rate of planets among the single- and multiple-star systems. We found that planets with masses in the range of 0.1–10 M J and with semimajor axes of 0.1–10 au have an occurrence rate of planets per star when they orbit single stars and an occurrence rate of 0.12 ± 0.04 planets per star when they orbit a star in a binary system. Breaking the sample down by the binary separation, we found that only one planet-hosting binary system had a binary separation &lt;100 au, and none had a separation &lt;50 au. These numbers yielded planet occurrence rates of planets per star for binaries with separation a B &gt; 100 au and planets per star for binaries with separation a B &lt; 100 au. The similarity in the planet occurrence rate around single stars and wide primaries implies that wide binary systems should actually host more planets than single-star systems, since they have more potential host stars. We estimated a system-wide planet occurrence rate of 0.3 planets per wide binary system for binaries with separations a B &gt; 100 au. Finally, we found evidence that giant planets in binary systems have a different semimajor-axis distribution than their counterparts in single-star systems. The planets in the single-star sample had a significantly higher occurrence rate outside of 1 au than inside 1 au by nearly 4σ, in line with expectations that giant planets are most common near the snow line. However, the planets in the wide binary systems did not follow this distribution, but rather had equivalent occurrence rates interior and exterior to 1 au. This may point to binary-mediated planet migration acting on our sample, even in binaries wider than 100 au.

BEAST begins: sample characteristics and survey performance of the B-star Exoplanet Abundance Study

While the occurrence rate of wide giant planets appears to increase with stellar mass at least up through the A-type regime, B-type stars have not been systematically studied in large-scale surveys so far. It therefore remains unclear up to what stellar mass this occurrence trend continues. The B-star Exoplanet Abundance Study (BEAST) is a direct imaging survey with the extreme adaptive optics instrument SPHERE, targeting 85 B-type stars in the young Scorpius-Centaurus (Sco-Cen) region with the aim to detect giant planets at wide separations and constrain their occurrence rate and physical properties. The statistical outcome of the survey will help determine if and where an upper stellar mass limit for planet formation occurs. In this work, we describe the selection and characterization of the BEAST target sample. Particular emphasis is placed on the age of each system, which is a central parameter in interpreting direct imaging observations. We implement a novel scheme for age dating based on kinematic sub-structures within Sco-Cen, which complements and expands upon previous age determinations in the literature. We also present initial results from the first epoch observations, including the detections of ten stellar companions, of which six were previously unknown. All planetary candidates in the survey will need follow up in second epoch observations, which are part of the allocated observational programme and will be executed in the near future.

Enhanced Lidov–Kozai migration and the formation of the transiting giant planet WD 1856+534 b

ABSTRACT We investigate the possible origin of the transiting giant planet WD 1856+534 b, the first strong exoplanet candidate orbiting a white dwarf, through high-eccentricity migration (HEM) driven by the Lidov–Kozai (LK) effect. The host system’s overall architecture is a hierarchical quadruple in the ‘2 + 2’ configuration, owing to the presence of a tertiary companion system of two M-dwarfs. We show that a secular inclination resonance in 2 + 2 systems can significantly broaden the LK window for extreme eccentricity excitation (e ≳ 0.999), allowing the giant planet to migrate for a wide range of initial orbital inclinations. Octupole effects can also contribute to the broadening of this ‘extreme’ LK window. By requiring that perturbations from the companion stars be able to overcome short-range forces and excite the planet’s eccentricity to e ≃ 1, we obtain an absolute limit of $a_{1} \gtrsim 8 \, \mathrm{au}\, (a_{3} / 1500 \, \mathrm{au})^{6/7}$ for the planet’s semimajor axis just before migration (where a3 is the semimajor axis of the ‘outer’ orbit). We suggest that, to achieve a wide LK window through the 2 + 2 resonance, WD 1856 b likely migrated from $30 \, \mathrm{au}\lesssim a_{1} \lesssim 60 \, \mathrm{au}$, corresponding to ∼10–$20 \, \mathrm{au}$ during the host’s main-sequence phase. We discuss possible difficulties of all flavours of HEM affecting the occurrence rate of short-period giant planets around white dwarfs.

Can Large-scale Migration Explain the Giant Planet Occurrence Rate?

Abstract The giant planet occurrence rate rises with orbital period out to at least ∼300 days. Large-scale planetary migration through the disk has long been suspected to be the origin of this feature, as the timescale of standard Type I migration in a standard solar nebula is longer farther from the star. These calculations also find that typical Jupiter-bearing cores shuttle toward the disk inner edge on timescales orders of magnitude shorter than the gas disk lifetime. The presence of gas giants at myriad distances requires mechanisms to slow large-scale migration. We revisit the migration paradigm by building model occurrence rates to compare to the observations, computing simultaneously the migration of cores, their mass growth by gas accretion, and their gap opening. We show explicitly that the former two processes occur in tandem. Radial transport of planets can slow down significantly once deep gaps are carved out by their interaction with disk gas. Disks are more easily perturbed closer to the star, so accounting for gap opening flattens the final orbital period distribution. To recover the observed rise in occurrence rate, gas giants need to be more massive farther out, which is naturally achieved if their envelopes are dust-free. We find that only a narrow region of parameter space can recover the observed giant planet occurrence rate in orbital period, but not simultaneously the mass distribution of low-eccentricity giant planets. This challenges disk migration as the dominant origin channel of hot and warm Jupiters. Future efforts in characterizing the unbiased mass distribution will place stronger constraints on predictions from migration theory.

A HARPS RV search for planets around young nearby stars

Context. Young nearby stars are good candidates in the search for planets with both radial velocity (RV) and direct imaging techniques. This, in turn, allows for the computation of the giant planet occurrence rates at all separations. The RV search around young stars is a challenge as they are generally faster rotators than older stars of similar spectral types and they exhibit signatures of magnetic activity (spots) or pulsation in their RV time series. Specific analyses are necessary to characterize, and possibly correct for, this activity. Aims. Our aim is to search for planets around young nearby stars and to estimate the giant planet (GP) occurrence rates for periods up to 1000 days. Methods. We used the HARPS spectrograph on the 3.6 m telescope at La Silla Observatory to observe 89 A−M young (&lt;600 Myr) stars. We used our SAFIR (Spectroscopic data via Analysis of the Fourier Interspectrum Radial velocities) software to compute the RV and other spectroscopic observables. Then, we computed the companion occurrence rates on this sample. Results. We confirm the binary nature of HD 177171, HD 181321 and HD 186704. We report the detection of a close low mass stellar companion for HIP 36985. No planetary companion was detected. We obtain upper limits on the GP (&lt;13 MJup) and BD (∈ [13;80] MJup) occurrence rates based on 83 young stars for periods less than 1000 days, which are set, 2−2+3 and 1−1+3%.