Planet Search Research Articles

A Search for Collisions and Planet–Disk Interactions in the Beta Pictoris Disk with 26 Years of High-precision HST/STIS Imaging

β Pictoris's well-studied debris disk and two known giant planets, in combination with the stability of the Hubble Space Telescope’s Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (HST/STIS) (and now also JWST), offers a unique opportunity to test planet–disk interaction models and to observe recent planetesimal collisions. We present HST/STIS coronagraphic imaging from two new epochs of data taken between 2021 and 2023, complementing earlier data taken in 1997 and 2012. This data set enables a temporal comparison with the longest baseline and highest precision of any debris disk to date, with sensitivity to variations in temporal surface brightness of sub-percent levels in the midplane of the disk. While no localized changes in surface brightness are detected, which would be indicative of a recent planetesimal collision, there is a tentative brightening of the southeast side of the disk over the past decade. We link the constraints on surface brightness variations to dynamical models of the planetary system’s evolution and to the collisional history of planetesimals. Using a coupled collisional model and injection/recovery framework, we estimate sensitivity to expanding collisional debris down to a Ceres mass per progenitor in the most sensitive regions of the disk midplane. These results demonstrate the capabilities of long-baseline, temporal studies with HST (and also soon with JWST) for constraining the physical processes occurring within debris disks.

A search for Planet Nine with small spacecraft: Three-body, post-Newtonian, non-gravitational, planetary and Kuiper Belt effects

A hypothetical gravitating body in the outer Solar System, the so-called Planet Nine, was proposed to explain the unexpected clustering of the Kuiper Belt Objects. As it has not been observed via telescopes, it was conjectured to be a primordial black hole (of the size of a quince) that could be gravitationally detected by laser-launching or solar sailing many small spacecraft. Here, we study various aspects that will affect such a search for Planet Nine. Our basic observable is the angular displacement in the trajectory of a small spacecraft which will be mainly affected by the gravity of Planet Nine, augmented with several other 3-body, non-gravitational, post-Newtonian, planetary and Kuiper Belt effects. First, we calculate the effect of the Sun in the framework of the circular restricted three-body problem of the Sun–Planet Nine-spacecraft for the two particular initial conditions. Then, we study the effects of Kuiper Belt and outer planets, namely Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, as well as non-gravitational perturbations such as magnetic and drag forces exerted by the interstellar medium; and the solar radiation pressure. In addition, we investigate the post-Newtonian general relativistic effects such as the frame-dragging, Schwarzschild effect, and geodetic precession on the spacecraft trajectory. We show that the leading order angular displacement is due to the solar radiation pressure for the lower spacecraft velocities, and the drag force for the higher spacecraft velocities. Among the general relativistic effects, the frame-dragging has the smallest effect; and the Schwarzschild effect due to Sun has the largest effect. However, none of the general relativistic effects produces a meaningful contribution to the detection.

Exoplanet Detection Using Machine Learning : A Comparative Study Using Kepler Mission Data

The search for habitable planets outside our solar system has captivated scientists throughout the centuries. Discovery and characterization of exoplanets have been one of the most important endeavors of modern astronomy. With various space missions, we have significantly expanded our observational capacity, resulting in an abundance of information about the universe. The influx of more data necessitates the development of techniques that can aid astronomers in processing all the information more efficiently and in an automated manner. Machine learning in recent years has become an indispensable paradigm to automate complex tasks that are possible only by humans. This work explores the application of machine learning to detect exoplanets from NASA’s Kepler mission. Our dataset comprises Kepler Objects of Interest (KOIs), encompassing their characteristic features and confirmed exoplanet status. We experiment with multiple supervised classification techniques including classical, tree-based, and neural methods. The best-performing model Histogram Gradient Boosting achieves a strong performance of 94.6% precision and 94.1% recall on a held-out dataset demonstrating the strong potential of integrating machine learning techniques into astronomy, potentially leading to new insights into planetary systems outside the solar system.

Do anomalously dense hot Jupiters orbit stealth binary stars?

ABSTRACT The Wide Angle Search for Planets (WASP) survey used transit photometry to discover nearly 200 gas-giant exoplanets and derive their planetary and stellar parameters. Reliable determination of the planetary density depends on accurate measurement of the planet’s radius, obtained from the transit depth and photodynamical determination of the stellar radius. The stellar density and hence the stellar radius are typically determined in a model-independent way from the star’s reflex orbital acceleration and the transit profile. Additional flux coming from the system due to a bright, undetected stellar binary companion can, however, potentially dilute the transit curve and radial velocity signal, leading to underestimation of the planet’s mass and radius, and to overestimation of the planet’s density. In this study, we cross-check the published radii of all the WASP planet-host stars, determined from their transit profiles and radial velocity curves, against radiometric measurements of stellar radii derived from their angular diameters (via the infrared flux method) and trigonometric parallaxes. We identify eight systems showing radiometric stellar radii significantly greater than their published photodynamical values: WASPs 20, 85, 86, 103, 105, 129, 144, and 171. We investigate these systems in more detail to establish plausible ranges of angular and radial velocity separations within which such ‘stealth binaries’ could evade detection, and deduce their likely orbital periods, mass ratios, and flux ratios. After accounting for the dilution of transit depth and radial velocity amplitude, we find that, on average, the planetary densities for the identified stealth binary systems should be reduced by a factor of 1.3.

The GAPS Programme at TNG

Context. Due to observational biases, a large fraction of known exoplanets are short-period objects. However, the search for planets began more than 20 yr ago, and so it is already possible – with the use of a suitable dataset – to begin exploring a wider range of the parameter space, such as that encompassing long-period planets. Aims. The aim of this paper is to investigate the presence of long-period giant companions in two systems where one or more planets are already known and for which a long-term trend in the radial velocities (RVs) was noted in previous works. Methods. Over the last 11 yr, we have collected 122 spectra of HD 75898 and 72 spectra of HD 11506 with the High Accuracy Radial velocity Planet Searcher for the Northern hemisphere (HARPS-N) in the framework of the Global Architecture of Planetary Systems (GAPS) project, from which we derived precise RV and activity indicator measurements. Additional RV data from the High-Resolution Echelle Spectrometer (HIRES) are also used here to increase the total time span. For our RV analysis, we used PyORBIT, an advanced Python tool for the simultaneous Bayesian analysis of RVs and stellar activity indicators. In addition, we used astrometric (Gaia DR3) and imaging archive data to complete our analysis. In particular, we combined RVs and astrometry to better constrain the mass and period of the new long-period companions. Results. We find evidence for one additional long-period companion (gas giant planet or brown dwarf) in both systems considered. The new candidate for HD 75898 has a period of roughly 18 yr and a true mass of around 8.5 Mj. For HD 11506, we confirm the new object (planet d) recently announced using HIRES data but we find that the period and true mass are both almost double the values based on HIRES results (Pd ~ 72 yr, Md ~ 13 Mj). In addition, for HD 75898, we also find evidence of an activity cycle affecting RVs with a period of one order of magnitude lower than found in the literature.

A Survey of Protoplanetary Disks Using the Keck/NIRC2 Vortex Coronagraph

Recent Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) observations of protoplanetary disks in the millimeter continuum have shown a variety of radial gaps, cavities, and spiral features. These substructures may be signposts for ongoing planet formation, and therefore these systems are promising targets for direct imaging planet searches in the near-infrared. To this end, we present results from a deep imaging survey in the L′ band (3.8 μm) with the Keck/NIRC2 vortex coronagraph to search for young planets in 43 disks with resolved features in the millimeter continuum or evidence for gaps/central cavities from their spectral energy distributions. Although we do not detect any new point sources, using the vortex coronagraph allows for high sensitivity to faint sources at small angular separations (down to ∼0.″1), allowing us to place strong upper limits on the masses of potential gas giant planets. We compare our mass sensitivities to the masses of planets derived using ALMA observations, and while we are sensitive to ∼1 M Jup planets in the gaps in some of our systems, we are generally not sensitive to planets of the masses expected from the ALMA observations. In addition to placing upper limits on the masses of gas giant planets that could be interacting with the dust in the disks to form the observed millimeter substructures, we are also able to map the micron-sized dust as seen in scattered light for 8 of these systems. Our large sample of systems also allows us to investigate limits on planetary accretion rates and disk viscosities.

Trio of super-Earth candidates orbiting K-dwarf HD 48948: a new habitable zone candidate

ABSTRACT We present the discovery of three super-Earth candidates orbiting HD 48948, a bright K-dwarf star with an apparent magnitude of $m_V$ = 8.58 mag. As part of the HARPS-N Rocky Planet Search programme, we collect 189 high-precision radial velocity measurements using the HARPS-N spectrograph from 2013 October 6, to 2023 April 16. Various methodologies are applied to extract the radial velocities from the spectra, and we conduct a comprehensive comparative analysis of the outcomes obtained through these diverse extraction techniques. To ensure the robustness of our findings, we employ several methods to address stellar variability, with a focus on Gaussian Process regression. To account for the impact of stellar variability and correlated noise in the radial velocity data set, we include activity indicators, such as $\log R^{^{\prime }}_{\mathrm{HK}}$ and bisector span, in the multidimensional Gaussian Process regression. Our analysis reveals three planetary candidates with orbital periods of 7.3, 38, and 151 d, and minimum masses estimated at $4.88 \pm 0.21$ M$_{\oplus }$, $7.27 \pm 0.70$ M$_{\oplus }$, and $10.59 \pm 1.00$ M$_{\oplus }$, respectively. The outermost planet resides within the (temperate) habitable zone, positioned at a projected distance of $0.029\,{\rm arcsec}$ from its star. Given the close proximity of this planetary system, situated at a distance of 16.8 parsecs, HD 48498 emerges as a promising target (closest super-Earth around FGK stars) for future high-contrast direct imaging and high-resolution spectroscopic studies.

Closeby Habitable Exoplanet Survey (CHES). I. Astrometric Noise and Planetary Detection Efficiency Due to Stellar Spots and Faculae

The Closeby Habitable Exoplanet Survey (CHES) is dedicated to the astrometric exploration for habitable-zone Earth-like planets orbiting solar-type stars in close proximity, achieving unprecedented microarcsecond precision. Given the elevated precision, meticulous consideration of photocenter jitters induced by stellar activity becomes imperative. This study endeavors to model the stellar activity of solar-type stars, compute astrometric noise, and delineate the detection limits of habitable planets within the astrometric domain. Simulations were conducted for identified primary targets of CHES, involving the generation of simulated observed data for astrometry and photometry, accounting for the impact of stellar activity. Estimation of activity levels in our sample was achieved through chromospheric activity indices, revealing that over 90% of the stars exhibited photocenter jitters below 1 μas. Notably, certain proximate stars, such as α Cen A and B, displayed more discernible noise arising from stellar activity. Subsequent tests were performed to evaluate detection performance, unveiling that stellar activity tends to have a less pronounced impact on planetary detectability for the majority of the stars. Approximately 95% of the targets demonstrated a detection efficiency exceeding 80%. However, for several cold stars, e.g., HD 32450 and HD 21531, with the habitable zones close to the stars, a reduction in detection efficiency was observed. These findings offer invaluable insights into the intricate interplay between stellar activity and astrometric precision, significantly advancing our understanding in the search for habitable planets.

Search for giant planets in M 67 V: A warm Jupiter orbiting the turn-off star S1429

Context. Planets orbiting members of open or globular clusters offer a great opportunity to study exoplanet populations systematically, as stars within clusters provide a mostly homogeneous sample, at least in chemical composition and stellar age. However, even though there have been coordinated efforts to search for exoplanets in stellar clusters, only a small number of planets have been detected. One successful example is the seven-year radial velocity (RV) survey ‘Search for giant planets in M 67’ of 88 stars in the open cluster M 67, which led to the discovery of five giant planets, including three close-in (P < 10 days) hot-Jupiters. Aims. In this work, we continue and extend the observation of stars in M 67, with the aim being to search for additional planets. Methods. We conducted spectroscopic observations with the Habitable Planet Finder (HPF), HARPS, HARPS-North, and SOPHIE spectrographs of 11 stars in M 67. Six of our targets showed a variation or long-term trends in their RV during the original survey, while the other five were not observed in the original sample, bringing the total number of stars to 93. Results. An analysis of the RVs reveals one additional planet around the turn-off point star S1429 and provides solutions for the orbits of stellar companions around S2207 and YBP2018. S1429 b is a warm-Jupiter on a likely circular orbit with a period of $\[\77.48_{-0.19}^{+0.18}\]$ days and a minimum mass of M sin i = 1.80 ± 0.2 MJ. We update the hot-Jupiter occurrence rate in M 67 to include the five new stars, deriving $\[\4.2_{-2.3}^{+4.1} \%\]$ when considering all stars, and $\[\5.4_{-3.0}^{+5.1} \%\]$ if binary star systems are removed.

Systematic KMTNet Planetary Anomaly Search. XI. Complete Sample of 2016 Subprime Field Planets

Following Shin et al. (2023b), which is a part of the “Systematic KMTNet Planetary Anomaly Search” series (i.e., a search for planets in the 2016 KMTNet prime fields), we conduct a systematic search of the 2016 KMTNet subprime fields using a semi-machine-based algorithm to identify hidden anomalous events missed by the conventional by-eye search. We find four new planets and seven planet candidates that were buried in the KMTNet archive. The new planets are OGLE-2016-BLG-1598Lb, OGLE-2016-BLG-1800Lb, MOA-2016-BLG-526Lb, and KMT-2016-BLG-2321Lb, which show typical properties of microlensing planets, i.e., giant planets orbit M-dwarf host stars beyond their snow lines. For the planet candidates, we find planet/binary or 2L1S/1L2S degeneracies, which are an obstacle to firmly claiming planet detections. By combining the results of Shin et al. (2023b) and this work, we find a total of nine hidden planets, which is about half the number of planets discovered by eye in 2016. With this work, we have met the goal of the systematic search series for 2016, which is to build a complete microlensing planet sample. We also show that our systematic searches significantly contribute to completing the planet sample, especially for planet/host mass ratios smaller than 10−3, which were incomplete in previous by-eye searches of the KMTNet archive.

A MIRI Search for Planets and Dust around WD 2149+021

The launch of JWST has ushered in a new era of high-precision infrared astronomy, allowing us to probe nearby white dwarfs for cold dust, exoplanets, and tidally heated exomoons. While previous searches for these exoplanets have successfully ruled out companions as small as 7–10 Jupiter masses (M Jup), no instrument prior to JWST has been sensitive to the likely more common sub-Jovian-mass planets around white dwarfs. In this paper, we present the first multiband photometry (F560W, F770W, F1500W, F2100W) taken of WD 2149+021 with the Mid-Infrared Instrument on JWST. After a careful search for both resolved and unresolved planets, we do not identify any compelling candidates around WD 2149+021. Our analysis indicates that we are sensitive to companions as small as ∼0.5 M Jup outwards of 1.″263 (28.3 au) and ∼1.0 M Jup at the innermost working angle (0.″654, 14.7 au) at 3 Gyr with 5σ confidence, placing significant constraints on any undetected companions around this white dwarf. The results of these observations emphasize the exciting future of sub-Jovian planet detection limits by JWST, which can begin to constrain how often these planets survive their host stars' evolution.

PDS 70 unveiled by star-hopping: Total intensity, polarimetry, and millimeter imaging modeled in concert

Most ground-based direct-imaging planet search campaigns use angular differential imaging that distorts the signal from extended sources, such as protoplanetary disks. In the case of the young system PDS 70, for which two planets were detected within the cavity of a protoplanetary disk, obtaining a reliable image of both planets and the disk is essential to understanding planet-disk interactions. Our goals are to reveal the true intensity of the planets and disk without self-subtraction effects for the first time, search for new giant planets beyond separations of 0.1$''$, and to study the morphology of the disk shaped by two massive planets. We present $YJHK$-band imaging, polarimetry, and spatially resolved spectroscopy of PDS 70 using near-simultaneous reference star differential imaging, also known as star-hopping. We created a radiative transfer model of the system to try to match the near-infrared imaging and polarimetric data within measurement errors. Sub-millimeter imaging data from ALMA were also modeled. Furthermore, we extracted the spectra of the planets and the disk and compared them. With strong constraints, we find that the disk is quite flared, with a scale height of sim 15<!PCT!> at the outer edge of the disk at sim 90 au, similar to some disks in the literature. The gap inside sim 50 au is estimated to have sim 1<!PCT!> of the dust density of the outer disk. The northeast outer disk arc seen in previous observations is likely the outer lip of the flared disk. Abundance ratios of sub-micron, micron, and grains estimated by the modeling indicate a shallow grain-size index greater than $-2.7$, instead of the canonical -3.5. There is both vertical and radial segregation of grains. Planet $c$ is well separated from the disk and has a spectrum similar to planet $b$, and it is clearly redder than the disk spectra. Planet $c$ is possibly associated with the sudden flaring of the disk starting at sim 50 au. We found no new planets in the system. If we assume DUSTY models and an age of 5 Myrs, this indicates no new planets more massive than 5 outside a 12 au separation.

A Perfect Tidal Storm: HD 104067 Planetary Architecture Creating an Incandescent World

The discovery of planetary systems beyond the solar system has revealed a diversity of architectures, most of which differ significantly from our system. The initial detection of an exoplanet is often followed by subsequent discoveries within the same system as observations continue, measurement precision is improved, or additional techniques are employed. The HD 104067 system is known to consist of a bright K-dwarf host star and a giant planet in a ∼55 days period eccentric orbit. Here we report the discovery of an additional planet within the HD 104067 system, detected through the combined analysis of radial velocity (RV) data from the High Resolution Echelle Spectrometer and High Accuracy Radial velocity Planet Searcher instruments. The new planet has a mass similar to Uranus and is in an eccentric ∼14 days orbit. Our injection-recovery analysis of the RV data exclude Saturn-mass and Jupiter-mass planets out to 3 au and 8 au, respectively. We further present Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite observations that reveal a terrestrial planet candidate (R p = 1.30 ± 0.12 R ⊕) in a ∼2.2 days period orbit. Our dynamical analysis of the three planet model shows that the two outer planets produce significant eccentricity excitation of the inner planet, resulting in tidally induced surface temperatures as high as ∼2600 K for an emissivity of unity. The terrestrial planet candidate may therefore be caught in a tidal storm, potentially resulting in its surface radiating at optical wavelengths.

Modelling stochastic and quasi-periodic behaviour in stellar time-series: Gaussian process regression versus power-spectrum fitting

ABSTRACT As the hunt for an Earth-like exoplanets has intensified in recent years, so has the effort to characterize and model the stellar signals that can hide or mimic small planetary signals. Stellar variability arises from a number of sources, including granulation, supergranulation, oscillations, and activity, all of which result in quasi-periodic or stochastic behaviour in photometric and/or radial velocity observations. Traditionally, the characterization of these signals has mostly been done in the frequency domain. However, the recent development of scalable Gaussian process regression methods makes direct time-domain modelling of stochastic processes a feasible and arguably preferable alternative, obviating the need to estimate the power spectral density of the data before modelling it. In this paper, we compare the two approaches using a series of experiments on simulated data. We show that frequency-domain modelling can lead to inaccurate results, especially when the time-sampling is irregular. By contrast, Gaussian process regression results are often more precise, and systematically more accurate, in both the regular and irregular time-sampling regimes. While this work was motivated by the analysis of radial velocity and photometry observations of main-sequence stars in the context of planet searches, we note that our results may also have applications for the study of other types of astrophysical variability such as quasi-periodic oscillations in X-ray binaries and active galactic nuclei variability.

DIAmante TESS AutoRegressive Planet Search (DTARPS). II. Hundreds of New TESS Candidate Exoplanets

The DIAmante TESS AutoRegressive Planet Search for the southern ecliptic hemisphere (DTARPS-S) project seeks to identify photometric transiting planets from 976,814 southern hemisphere stars observed in Year 1 of the TESS mission. This paper follows the methodology developed by Melton et al. (Paper I) using light curves extracted and preprocessed by the DIAmante project. Paper I emerged with a list of 7377 light curves with statistical properties characteristic of transiting planets but dominated by false alarms and false positives. Here a multistage vetting procedure is applied including: centroid motion and crowding metrics, false alarm and false positive reduction, photometric binary elimination, and ephemeris match removal. The vetting produces a catalog of 462 DTARPS-S candidates across the southern ecliptic hemisphere and 310 objects in a spatially incomplete Galactic plane list. 58% were not previously identified as transiting systems. Candidates are flagged for possible blending from nearby stars based on Zwicky Transient Facility data and for possible radial velocity variations based on Gaia satellite data. Orbital periods and planetary radii are refined using astrophysical modeling; the resulting parameters closely match published values for confirmed planets. The DTARPS-S population and astrophysical properties are discussed in Paper III.

DIAmante TESS AutoRegressive Planet Search (DTARPS). I. Analysis of 0.9 Million Light Curves

Nearly one million light curves from the TESS Year 1 southern hemisphere extracted from Full Field Images with the DIAmante pipeline are processed through the AutoRegressive Planet Search statistical procedure. ARIMA models remove lingering autocorrelated noise, the Transit Comb Filter identifies the strongest periodic signal in the light curve, and a Random Forest machine-learning classifier is trained and applied to identify the best potential candidates. Classifier training sets are based on injections of planetary transit signals, eclipsing binaries, and other variable stars. The optimized classifier has a True Positive Rate of 92.5% and a False Positive Rate of 0.43% from the labeled training set. The result of this DIAmante TESS autoregressive planet search of the southern ecliptic hemisphere analysis is a list of 7377 potential exoplanet candidates. The classifier had a 64% recall rate for previously confirmed exoplanets and a 78% negative recall rate for known False Positives. The completeness map of the injected planetary signals shows high recall rates for planets with 8–30R ⊕ radii and periods 0.6–13 days and poor completeness for planets with radii <2R ⊕ or periods <1 day. The list has many False Alarms and False Positives that need to be culled with multifaceted vetting operations (Paper II).

Precise characterisation of HD 15337 with CHEOPS: A laboratory for planet formation and evolution

The HD 15337 (TIC 120896927, TOI-402) system was observed by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), revealing the presence of two short-period planets situated on opposite sides of the radius gap. This offers an excellent opportunity to study theories of formation and evolution, as well as to investigate internal composition and atmospheric evaporation. We aim to constrain the internal structure and composition of two short-period planets situated on opposite sides of the radius valley:\ HD 15337 b and c. We use new transit photometry and radial velocity data. We acquired 6 new transit visits with the CHaracterising ExOPlanet Satellite (CHEOPS) and 32 new radial velocity measurements from the High Accuracy Radial Velocity Planet Searcher (HARPS) to improve the accuracy of the mass and radius estimates for both planets. We re-analysed the light curves from TESS sectors 3 and 4 and analysed new data from sector 30, correcting for long-term stellar activity. Subsequently, we performed a joint fit of the TESS and CHEOPS light curves, along with all available RV data from HARPS and the Planet Finder Spectrograph (PFS). Our model fit the planetary signals, stellar activity signal, and instrumental decorrelation model for the CHEOPS data simultaneously. The stellar activity was modelled using a Gaussian-process regression on both the RV and activity indicators. Finally, we employed a Bayesian retrieval code to determine the internal composition and structure of the planets. We derived updated and highly precise parameters for the HD 15337 system. Our improved precision on the planetary parameters makes HD 15337 b one of the most precisely characterised rocky exoplanets, with radius and mass measurements achieving a precision better than 2&lt;!PCT!&gt; and 7&lt;!PCT!&gt;, respectively. We were able to improve the precision of the radius measurement of HD 15337 c to 3&lt;!PCT!&gt;. Our results imply that the composition of HD 15337 b is predominantly rocky, while HD 15337 c exhibits a gas envelope with a mass of at least $0.01\ M_ oplus$. Our results lay the groundwork for future studies, which can further unravel the atmospheric evolution of these exoplanets and offer new insights into their composition and formation history as well as the causes behind the radius gap.

The Epoch of Giant Planet Migration Planet Search Program. II. A Young Hot Jupiter Candidate around the AB Dor Member HS Psc* *Based on observations obtained with the Hobby–Eberly Telescope (HET), which is a joint project of the University of Texas at Austin, the Pennsylvania State University, Ludwig-Maximillians-Universitaet Muenchen, and Georg-August Universitaet Goettingen. The HET is named in honor of

We report the discovery of a hot Jupiter candidate orbiting HS Psc, a K7 (≈0.7 M ⊙) member of the ≈130 Myr AB Doradus moving group. Using radial velocities over 4 yr from the Habitable-zone Planet Finder spectrograph at the Hobby–Eberly Telescope, we find a periodic signal of Pb=3.986−0.003+0.044 days. A joint Keplerian and Gaussian process stellar activity model fit to the radial velocities yields a minimum mass of mpsini=1.5−0.4+0.6 M Jup. The stellar rotation period is well constrained by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite light curve (P rot = 1.086 ± 0.003 days) and is not an integer harmonic nor alias of the orbital period, supporting the planetary nature of the observed periodicity. HS Psc b joins a small population of young, close-in giant planet candidates with robust age and mass constraints and demonstrates that giant planets can either migrate to their close-in orbital separations by 130 Myr or form in situ. Given its membership in a young moving group, HS Psc represents an excellent target for follow-up observations to characterize this young hot Jupiter further, refine its orbital properties, and search for additional planets in the system.

Teegarden’s Star revisited

The two known planets in the planetary system of Teegarden’s Star are among the most Earth-like exoplanets currently known. Revisiting this nearby planetary system with two planets in the habitable zone aims at a more complete census of planets around very low-mass stars. A significant number of new radial velocity measurements from CARMENES, ESPRESSO, MAROON-X, and HPF, as well as photometry from TESS motivated a deeper search for additional planets. We confirm and refine the orbital parameters of the two know planets Teegarden’s Star b and c. We also report the detection of a third planet d with an orbital period of 26.13 ± 0.04 days and a minimum mass of 0.82 ± 0.17 M⊕. A signal at 96 days is attributed to the stellar rotation period. The interpretation of a signal at 172 days remains open. The TESS data exclude transiting short-period planets down to about half an Earth radius. We compare the planetary system architecture of very low-mass stars. In the currently known configuration, the planetary system of Teegarden’s star is dynamically quite different from that of TRAPPIST-1, which is more compact, but dynamically similar to others such as GJ 1002.

The GAPS Programme at TNG

Context. Planets in binary systems are a fascinating and yet poorly understood phenomenon. Since there are only a few known large-separation systems in which both components host planets, characterizing them is a key target for planetary science. Aims. In this paper, we aim to carry out an exhaustive analysis of the interesting XO-2 system, where one component (XO-2N) appears to be a system with only one planet, while the other (XO-2S) has at least three planets. Methods. Over the last 9 yr, we have collected 39 spectra of XO-2N and 106 spectra of XO-2S with the High Accuracy Radial velocity Planet Searcher for the Northern emisphere (HARPS-N) in the framework of the Global Architecture of Planetary Systems (GAPS) project, from which we derived precise radial velocity (RV) and activity indicator measurements. Additional spectroscopic data from the High Resolution Echelle Spectrometer (HIRES) and from the High Dispersion Spectrograph (HDS), and the older HARPS-N data presented in previous papers, have also been used to increase the total time span. We also used photometric data from TESS to search for potential transits that have not been detected yet. For our analysis, we mainly used PyORBIT, an advanced Python tool for the Bayesian analysis of RVs, activity indicators, and light curves. Results. We found evidence for an additional long-period planet around XO-2S and characterized the activity cycle likely responsible for the long-term RV trend noticed for XO-2N. The new candidate is an example of a Jovian analog with m sin i ~ 3.7 MJ, a ~ 5.5 au, and e = 0.09. We also analyzed the stability and detection limits to get some hints about the possible presence of additional planets. Our results show that the planetary system of XO-2S is at least one order of magnitude more massive than that of XO-2N. The implications of these findings for the interpretation of the previously known abundance difference between components are also discussed.