Solar-type Main-sequence Stars Research Articles

Probing the shape of the brown dwarf desert around main-sequence A-F-G-type stars using post-common-envelope WD-BD binaries

Brown dwarfs (BDs) with masses in the range 40$-$60 $M_ Jup $ are rare around solar-type main-sequence (MS) stars, which gives rise to the brown dwarf desert (BDD). One caveat associated with previous studies of BDD is the relatively limited sample size of MS$-$BD binaries with accurately determined BD masses. We aim to produce a large sample of BD companions with precisely determined masses around MS A-F-G-type stars using observations of post-common-envelope white dwarf (WD)$-$BD binaries. We employed the rapid binary evolution code COMPAS to deduce the properties of MS$-$BD binary progenitors from post-common-envelope WD$-$BD binaries. With this method, we increase the sample of directly observed MS$-$BD binaries, enriching the data available for analyzing the BDD around MS A-F-G-type stars. Our study opens a new window for studying the shape of the BDD around A-F-G-type MS stars in the short-period regime. We find tentative evidence, albeit with a small sample size, that the ``driest'' part of the BDD around A-F-G-type stars may extend into an orbital period of several hundred days. More post-common-envelope WD$-$BD binaries detected in the future will advance our understanding of the BDD around A-F-G-type stars.

Wide post-common envelope binaries containing ultramassive white dwarfs: evidence for efficient envelope ejection in massive asymptotic giant branch stars

ABSTRACT Post-common envelope binaries (PCEBs) containing a white dwarf (WD) and a main-sequence (MS) star can constrain the physics of common envelope evolution and calibrate binary evolution models. Most PCEBs studied to date have short orbital periods (Porb ≲ 1 d), implying relatively inefficient harnessing of binaries’ orbital energy for envelope expulsion. Here, we present follow-up observations of five binaries from 3rd data release of Gaia mission containing solar-type MS stars and probable ultramassive WDs ($M\gtrsim 1.2\ {\rm M}_{\odot}$) with significantly wider orbits than previously known PCEBs, Porb = 18–49 d. The WD masses are much higher than expected for systems formed via stable mass transfer at these periods, and their near-circular orbits suggest partial tidal circularization when the WD progenitors were giants. These properties strongly suggest that the binaries are PCEBs. Forming PCEBs at such wide separations requires highly efficient envelope ejection, and we find that the observed periods can only be explained if a significant fraction of the energy released when the envelope recombines goes into ejecting it. Our one-dimensional stellar models including recombination energy confirm prior predictions that a wide range of PCEB orbital periods, extending up to months or years, can potentially result from Roche lobe overflow of a luminous asymptotic giant branch (AGB) star. This evolutionary scenario may also explain the formation of several wide WD + MS binaries discovered via self-lensing, as well as a significant fraction of post-AGB binaries and barium stars.

Testing angular momentum transport processes with asteroseismology of solar-type main-sequence stars

Context. Thanks to the so-called photometry revolution with the space-based missions CoRoT, Kepler, and TESS, asteroseismology has become a powerful tool to study the internal rotation of stars. The rotation rate depends on the efficiency of the angular momentum (AM) transport inside the star, and its study allows to constrain the internal AM transport processes, as well as improve our understanding of their physical nature. Aims. We compared the ratio of the rotation rate predicted by asteroseismology and starspot measurements of solar-type stars considering different AM transport prescriptions and investigated whether some of these prescriptions can be ruled out observationally. Methods. We conducted a two-step modelling procedure of four main-sequence stars from the Kepler LEGACY sample, which consists of an asteroseismic characterisation that serves as a guide for a modelling with rotating models, including a detailed and coherent treatment of the AM transport. The rotation profiles derived with this procedure were used to estimate the ratio of the mean asteroseismic rotation rate with the surface rotation rate from starspot measurements for each AM transport prescriptions. Comparisons between the models were then conducted. Results. In the hotter part of the Hertzsprung-Russell (HR) diagram (masses typically above ∼1.2 M⊙ at solar metallicity), models with only hydrodynamic transport processes and models with additional transport by magnetic instabilities are found to be consistent with previous measurements that observed a low degree (below 30%) of radial differential rotation between the radiative and convective zones. For these stars, which constitute a significant fraction of the Kepler LEGACY sample, a combination of asteroseismic constraints from the splitting of pressure modes and of the surface rotation rate does not allow us to conclude that an efficient AM transport is required in addition to transport by meridional circulation and shear instability alone. Even a model assuming local AM conservation cannot be ruled out. In the colder part of the HR diagram, the situation is different because of the efficient braking of the stellar surface by magnetised winds. We find a clear disagreement between the rotational properties of models that only include hydrodynamic processes and asteroseismic constraints, while models with magnetic fields correctly reproduce the observations, similarly to the solar case. Conclusions. This shows the existence of a mass regime corresponding to main-sequence F-type stars for which it is difficult to constrain the AM transport processes, unlike for hotter, Gamma Dor stars or colder, less massive solar analogues. The comparison between asteroseismic measurements and surface rotation rates enables us to easily rule out models with an inefficient transport of AM in the colder part of the HR diagram.

Is Core Angular Momentum Key to the Giant Dynamo?

The pros and cons of core angular momentum dissipation into the convective envelopes of giants as a driver of giant activity is discussed in face of the observational evidence, which points to two ”magnetic strips“, in the HRD, where in the first, at the base of the RGB, activity of moderate mass stars is freshly started and rejuvenated in the second strip, ascending along the mid-AGB. It remains unclear, though, which depths the giant dynamo is operating. Both concentrations of active giants in the HRD are related to stellar evolution phases with core contraction and spin-up, and presumably the dissipation of angular momentum into the convective envelope above. At the same time, the latter has a small Rossby number by virtue of its increasing convective turn-over time—i.e., favourable conditions to run an alpha-omega dynamo. Since coronal X-ray emission appears to give an incomplete picture of stellar activity across the HR diagramme, we here focus on the observed chromospheric emissions across the giant branches and find good agreement with the magnetic field Zeeman-detections there. Stable evolution phases—solar-type main sequence stars with central hydrogen burning and moderate mass, central Helium burning K giants—by contrast demonstrate a decline in activity, apparently imposed by magnetic braking, as such stars are also slower rotators. In that sense, the observed picture of two magnetic activity strips across the HR diagramme could empirically be explained as an interplay of magnetic braking during the stable phase of core helium burning and supply by internal angular momentum during episodes of fast core contraction with core spin-up and angular momentum dredge-up, while meeting dynamo-friendly envelope conditions. At the same time, the sporadic external supply of angular momentum by the engulfment events of a planet, in the course of the evolutionary envelope expansion, may explain some cases of exceptional activity outside the here-described general picture.

Physical and geometrical parameters of CVBS XIV: the two nearby systems HIP 19206 and HIP 84425

Data release 2 (DR2) from the Gaia mission was of great help in precise determination of fundamental parameters of Close Visual Binary and Multiple Systems (CVBMSs), especially masses of their components, which are crucial parameters in understanding formation and evolution of stars and galaxies. This article presents the complete set of fundamental parameters for two nearby close visual binary systems (CVBSs), which are HIP 19206 and HIP 84425. We utilised a combination of two methods; the first one is Tokovinin’s dynamical method to solve the orbit of the system and to estimate orbital elements and the dynamical mass sum, and the second one is Al-Wardat’s method for analysing CVBMSs to estimate the physical parameters of the individual components. The latest method employs grids of Kurucz line-blanketed plane parallel model atmospheres to build synthetic Spectral Energy Distributions (SEDs) of the individual components. Trigonometric parallax measurements given by Gaia DR2 and Hipparcos catalogues are used to analyse the two systems. The difference in these measurements yielded slight discrepancies in the fundamental parameters of the individual components, especially masses. So, a new dynamical parallax is suggested in this work based on the most convenient mass sum as given by each of the two methods. The new dynamical parallax for the system HIP 19205 of 22.97 ± 0.95 mas coincides well with the trigonometric one reported recently (in December 2020) by Gaia EDR3 of 22.3689 ± 0.4056 mas. The positions of the components of the two systems on the evolutionary tracks and isochrones are plotted, which suggest that all components are solar-type main sequence stars. Their most probable formation and evolution scenarios are also discussed.

On Post-starburst Galaxies Dominating Tidal Disruption Events

Abstract A starburst induced by a galaxy merger may create a relatively thin central stellar disk at radius ≤100 pc. We calculate the rate of tidal disruption events (TDEs) by the inspiraling secondary supermassive black hole (SMBH) through the disk. With a small enough stellar velocity dispersion ( ) in the disk, it is shown that 105–106 TDEs of solar-type main-sequence stars per post-starburst galaxy (PSB) can be produced to explain their dominance in producing observed TDEs. Although the time it takes to bring the secondary SMBH to the disk apparently varies in the range of ∼0.1–1 Gyr since the starburst, depending on its landing location and subsequently due to dynamical friction with stars exterior to the central stellar disk in question, the vast majority of TDEs by the secondary SMBH in any individual PSB occur within a time span shorter than ∼30 Myr. Five unique testable predictions of this model are suggested.

Bayesian Characterization of Main-sequence Binaries in the Old Open Cluster NGC 188

Abstract The binary fractions of open and globular clusters yield powerful constraints on their dynamical state and evolutionary history. We apply publicly available Bayesian analysis tools to a UBV RIJHK S photometric catalog of the open cluster NGC 188 to detect and characterize photometric binaries along the cluster main sequence. This technique has the advantage of self-consistently handling photometric errors, missing data in various bandpasses, and star-by-star prior constraints on cluster membership. Simulations are used to verify uncertainties and quantify selection biases in our analysis, illustrating that among binaries with mass ratios >0.5, we recover the binary fraction to better than 7% in the mean, with no significant dependence on binary fraction and a mild dependence on assumed mass-ratio distribution. Using our photometric catalog, we recover the majority (65% ± 11%) of spectroscopically identified main-sequence binaries, including eight of the nine with spectroscopically measured mass ratios. Accounting for incompleteness and systematics, we derive a mass-ratio distribution that rises toward lower mass ratios (within our q > 0.5 analysis domain). We observe a raw binary fraction for solar-type main-sequence stars with mass ratios q > 0.5 of 42% ± 4%, independent of the assumed mass-ratio distribution to within its uncertainties, consistent with literature values for old open clusters but significantly higher than the field solar-type binary fraction. We confirm that the binaries identified by our method are more concentrated than single stars, in agreement with previous studies, and we demonstrate that the binary nature of those candidates that remain unidentified spectroscopically is strongly supported by photometry from Gaia DR2.

Circumbinary discs with radiative cooling and embedded planets

Context. As of today, ten circumbinary planets orbiting solar type main sequence stars have been discovered. Nearly all orbit around the central binary very closely to the region of instability where it is difficult to form them in situ. Hence, it is assumed that they formed further out and then migrated to their observed position, which is determined by binary, disc and planet properties. Aims. We extend previous studies to a more realistic thermal disc structure and determine what parameter influence the final parking location of a planet around a binary star. Methods. We performed two-dimensional numerical simulations of viscous accretion discs around a central binary. These simulations include viscous heating and radiative cooling from the disc surfaces. We vary the binary eccentricity as well as disc viscosity and mass. Results. Concerning the disc evolution, we find that it can take well over 100 000 binary orbits until an equilibrium state is reached. As seen previously, we find that the central cavity opened by the binary becomes eccentric and precesses slowly in a prograde sense. Embedded planets migrate to the inner edge of the disc. In cases of lower disc viscosity they migrate further in maintaining a circular orbit, while for high viscosity they are parked further out on an eccentric orbit. Conclusions. Discs around binary stars are eccentric, and precess very slowly around the binary. The final location of an embedded planet is linked to its ability to open a gap in the disc. Gap-opening planets separate inner from outer disc, preventing eccentricity excitation in the latter and making it more circular. This allows embedded planets to migrate closer to the binary, in agreement with the observations. The necessary conditions for gap opening and the final planet position depend on the planet mass and disc viscosity.

Stellar Structure and Evolution With Varying Fundamental Couplings

We discuss the feasibility of using solar-type main-sequence stars as probes of fundamental physics and unification. We use a simple polytropic stellar structure model and study its sensitivity to variations of the gravitational, strong and electroweak coupling constants in the context of unification scenarios. We quantify the sensitivity of the Sun's interior temperature to these variations, finding |Δα/α| < 1.3×10-4 for a ‘canonical’ choice of unification scenario, and discuss prospects for future improvements. Further details can be found in [1].

STELLAR RADIAL VELOCITIES IN THE OLD OPEN CLUSTER M67 (NGC 2682). I. MEMBERSHIPS, BINARIES, AND KINEMATICS

(Abridged) We present results from 13776 radial-velocity (RV) measurements of 1278 candidate members of the old (4 Gyr) open cluster M67 (NGC 2682). The measurements are the results of a long-term survey that includes data from seven telescopes with observations for some stars spanning over 40 years. For narrow-lined stars, RVs are measured with precisions ranging from about 0.1 to 0.8 km/s. The combined stellar sample reaches from the brightest giants in the cluster down to about 4 magnitudes below the main-sequence turnoff (V = 16.5), covering a mass range of about 1.34 MSun to 0.76 MSun. Spatially, the sample extends to a radius of 30 arcmin (7.4 pc in projection at a distant of 850 pc or 6-7 core radii). We find M67 to have a mean RV of +33.64 km/s (with an internal precision of +/- 0.03 km/s). For stars with >=3 measurements, we derive RV membership probabilities and identify RV variables, finding 562 cluster members, 142 of which show significant RV variability. We use these cluster members to construct a color-magnitude diagram and identify a rich sample of stars that lie far from the standard single star isochrone, including the well-known blue stragglers, sub-subgiants and yellow giants. These exotic stars have a binary frequency of (at least) 80%, more than three times that detected for stars in the remainder of the sample. We confirm that the cluster is mass segregated, finding the binaries to be more centrally concentrated than the single stars in our sample at the 99.8% confidence level. The blue stragglers are centrally concentrated as compared to the solar-type main-sequence single stars in the cluster at the 99.7% confidence level. Accounting for both measurement precision and undetected binaries, we derive a RV dispersion in M67 of 0.59 +0.07 -0.06 km/s, which yields a virial mass for the cluster of 2100 +610 -550 MSun. WIYN Open Cluster Study. LXVII.

Stellar test of the physics of unification

We discuss the feasibility of using solar-type main-sequence stars as probes of fundamental physics and unification. We use a simple polytropic stellar structure model and study its sensitivity to variations of the gravitational, strong and electroweak coupling constants in the context of unification scenarios. We quantify the sensitivity of the Sun's interior temperature to these variations, finding $|\Delta\alpha/\alpha|\lesssim1.3\times10^{-4}$ for a 'canonical' choice of unification scenario, and discuss prospects for future improvements.

The KELT-South Telescope11The KELT-South telescope is funded and operated by Vanderbilt University and Fisk University in cooperation with the South African Astronomical Observatory.

ABSTRACTThe Kilodegree Extremely Little Telescope (KELT) project is a survey for new transiting planets around bright stars. KELT-South is a small-aperture, wide-field automated telescope located at Sutherland, South Africa. The telescope surveys a set of 26° × 26° fields around the southern sky and targets stars in the range of 8 < V < 10 mag, searching for transits by hot Jupiters. This article describes the KELT-South system hardware and software and discusses the quality of the observations. We show that KELT-South is able to achieve the necessary photometric precision to detect transits of hot Jupiters around solar-type main-sequence stars.

PLANET ENGULFMENT BY ∼1.5-3M☉RED GIANTS

Recent radial-velocity surveys for GK clump giants have revealed that planets also exist around ~1.5-3 Msun stars. However, no planets have been found inside 0.6 AU around clump giants, in contrast to solar-type main-sequence stars, many of which harbor short-period planets such as hot Jupiters. In this study we examine the possibility that planets were engulfed by host stars evolving on the red-giant branch (RGB). We integrate the orbital evolution of planets in the RGB and helium burning (HeB) phases of host stars, including the effects of stellar tide and stellar mass loss. Then we derive the critical semimajor axis (or the survival limit) inside which planets are eventually engulfed by their host stars after tidal decay of their orbits. Especially, we investigate the impact of stellar mass and other stellar parameters on the survival limit in more detail than previous studies. In addition, we make detailed comparison with measured semimajor axes of planets detected so far, which no previous study did. We find that the critical semimajor axis is quite sensitive to stellar mass in the range between 1.7 and 2.1 Msun, which suggests a need for careful comparison between theoretical and observational limits of existence of planets. Our comparison demonstrates that all those planets are beyond the survival limit, which is consistent with the planet-engulfment hypothesis. However, on the high-mass side (> 2.1 Msun), the detected planets are orbiting significantly far from the survival limit, which suggests that engulfment by host stars may not be the main reason for the observed lack of short-period giant planets. To confirm our conclusion, the detection of more planets around clump giants, especially with masses > 2.5 Msun, is required.

Stability analysis of a tidally excited internal gravity wave near the centre of a solar-type star

We perform a stability analysis of a tidally excited non-linear internal gravity wave near the centre of a solar-type star in two-dimensional cylindrical geometry. The motivation is to understand the tidal interaction between short-period planets and their slowly rotating solar-type host stars, which involves the launching of internal gravity waves at the top of the radiation zone that propagate towards the centre of the star. Studying the instabilities of these waves near the centre, where non-linearities are most important, is essential, since it may have implications for the survival of short-period planets orbiting solar-type stars. When these waves have sufficient amplitude to overturn the stratification, they break and form a critical layer, which efficiently absorbs subsequent ingoing wave angular momentum, and can result in the planet spiralling into the star. However, in previous simulations the waves have not been observed to undergo instability for smaller amplitudes. Here we perform a stability analysis of a non-linear standing internal gravity wave in the central regions of a solar-type star. This work has two aims: to determine any instabilities that set in for small-amplitude waves, and to further understand the breaking process for large-amplitude waves that overturn the stratification. Our results are compared with the stability of a plane internal gravity wave in a uniform stratification, and with previous work by Kumar & Goodman on a similar problem to our own. Our main result is that the waves undergo parametric instabilities for any amplitude (in the absence of viscosity and thermal conduction). However, because the non-linearity is spatially localized in the innermost wavelengths, the growth rates of these instabilities tend to be sufficiently small that they do not result in astrophysically important tidal dissipation. Indeed, we estimate that the modified tidal quality factors of the star that result are Q′★≳ 107, and possibly much greater, which implies that the resulting dissipation is at least two orders of magnitude weaker than that which results from critical-layer absorption. These results support our explanation for the survival of all currently observed short-period planets around solar-type main-sequence stars: that planets unable to cause wave breaking at the centre of their host stars are likely to survive against tidal decay. This hypothesis will be tested by ongoing and future observations of transiting planets, such as Wide Area Search for Planets and Kepler.

Gravitational redshifts in main-sequence and giant stars

Gravitational redshifts in solar-type main-sequence stars are expected to be some 500 ms$^{-1}$ greater than those in giants. Such a signature is searched for between groups of open-cluster stars which share the same average space motion and thus have the same average Doppler shift. 144 main-sequence stars and cool giants were observed in the M67 open cluster using the ESO FEROS spectrograph, obtaining radial velocities by cross correlation with a spectral template. M67 dwarf and giant radial-velocity distributions are well represented by Gaussian functions, sharing the same apparent average radial velocity within $\simeq$ 100 ms$^{-1}$. In addition, dwarfs in M67 appear to be dynamically hotter ($\sigma$ = 0.90 kms$^{-1}$) than giants ($\sigma$ = 0.68 kms$^{-1}$). Explanations for the lack of an expected signal are sought: a likely cause is the differential wavelength shifts produced by different hydrodynamics in dwarf and giant atmospheres. Radial-velocity differences measured between unblended lines in low-noise averaged spectra vary with line-strength: stronger lines are more blushifted in dwarfs than in giants, apparently 'compensating' for the gravitational redshift. Synthetic high-resolution spectra are computed from 3-dimensional hydrodynamic model atmospheres for both giants and dwarfs, and synthetic wavelength shifts obtained. In agreement with observations, 3D models predict substantially smaller wavelength-shift differences than expected from gravitational redshift only. The procedures developed could be used to test 3D models for different classes of stars, but will ultimately require high-fidelity spectra for measurements of wavelength shifts in individual spectral lines.

A binary star fraction of 76 per cent and unusual orbit parameters for the blue stragglers of NGC 188

Blue straggler stars lie on or near the main sequences of star clusters (all members of which formed around the same time), but typically are more luminous than the turn-off stars and therefore long ago should have evolved off the main sequence to become giants and white dwarfs. They are thought to derive from normal main-sequence stars that have undergone a recent increase in mass. Statistical evidence indicates that in globular star clusters the blue stragglers probably form from binary stars. The specific formation processes, such as mass transfer, mergers or stellar collisions during dynamical encounters of binary stars, remain unresolved. Here we report that 16 of the 21 blue stragglers (76 per cent) in the old (7-Gyr; ref. 2) open cluster NGC 188 are currently in binary systems, a frequency three times that found among normal solar-type main-sequence stars. These blue straggler binaries have a remarkable period-eccentricity distribution, with all but three having orbital periods of approximately 1,000 days. Moreover, these stars are rotating faster than normal main-sequence stars of the same surface temperatures. These data show that most, and possibly all, blue stragglers derive from multiple-star systems, and indicate that the several formation processes operate simultaneously. We suggest that rapid rotation of blue stragglers may place upper limits on their ages.

How accurately can we age-date solar-type dwarfs using activity/rotation diagnostics?

AbstractIt is well established that activity and rotation diminishes during the life of sun-like main sequence (~F7-K2V) stars. Indeed, the evolution of rotation and activity among these stars appears to be so deterministic that their rotation/activity diagnostics are often utilized as estimators of stellar age. A primary motivation for the recent interest in improving the ages of solar-type field dwarfs is in understanding the evolution of debris disks and planetary systems. Reliable isochronal age-dating for field, solar-type main sequence stars is very difficult given the observational uncertainties and multi-Gyr timescales for significant structural evolution. Observationally, significant databases of activity/rotation diagnostics exist for field solar-type field dwarfs (mainly from chromospheric and X-ray activity surveys).But how well can we empirically age-date solar-type field stars using activity/rotation diagnostics?Here I summarize some recent results for F7-K2 dwarfs from an analysis by Mamajek &amp; Hillenbrand (2008), including an improved “gyrochronology” [Period(color, age)] calibration, improved chromospheric (R′HK) and X-ray (log(LX/Lbol)) activity vs. rotation (via Rossby number) relations, and a chromospheric vs. X-ray activity relation that spans four orders of magnitude in log(LX/Lbol). Combining these relations, one can produce predicted chromospheric and X-ray activity isochrones as a function of color and age for solar type dwarfs.

THE EVOLUTION OF THE MULTIPLICITY OF EMBEDDED PROTOSTARS. II. BINARY SEPARATION DISTRIBUTION AND ANALYSIS

We present the Class I protostellar binary separation distribution based on the data tabulated in a companion paper. We verify the excess of Class I binary stars over solar-type main-sequence stars in the separation range from 500 AU to 4500 AU. Although our sources are in nearby star-forming regions distributed across the entire sky (including Orion), none of our objects are in a high stellar density environment. A log–normal function, used by previous authors to fit the main-sequence and T Tauri binary separation distributions, poorly fits our data, and we determine that a log–uniform function is a better fit. Our observations show that the binary separation distribution changes significantly during the Class I phase, and that the binary frequency at separations greater than 1000 AU declines steadily with respect to spectral index. Despite these changes, the binary frequency remains constant until the end of the Class I phase, when it drops sharply. We propose a scenario to account for the changes in the Class I binary separation distribution. This scenario postulates that a large number of companions with a separation greater than ∼1000 AU were ejected during the Class 0 phase, but remain gravitationally bound due to the significant mass of the Class I envelope. As the envelope dissipates, these companions become unbound and the binary frequency at wide separations declines. Circumstellar and circumbinary disks are expected to play an important role in the orbital evolution at closer separations. This scenario predicts that a large number of Class 0 objects should be non-hierarchical multiple systems, and that many Class I young stellar objects (YSOs) with a widely separated companion should also have a very close companion. We also find that Class I protostars are not dynamically pristine, but have experienced dynamical evolution before they are visible as Class I objects. Our analysis shows that the Class I binary frequency and the binary separation distribution strongly depend on the star-forming environment.

STELLAR ROTATION AND PLANET INGESTION IN GIANTS

We investigate the expected increase in the rotation rate of post-main-sequence stars as they expand and ingest orbiting planets. This phenomenon is expected to occur when the stellar radius becomes larger than the planet's periastron distance. We calculate the expected frequency of planet ingestion during the red giant, horizontal branch (HB), and early asymptotic giant branch phases for planets of mass . We also calculate the probability of observing anomalous rotation rates in a population of solar metallicity giants as a function of stellar mass and evolutionary stage. Planet ingestion is most easily detectable in a solar mass HB star, with a probability of about 1% for solar-neighborhood metallicity. Our analysis is based on the observed distribution of mass, eccentricity, semimajor axis for extrasolar planets around solar-type main-sequence stars, on stellar evolution models, and on the typical observed rotation rates observed in a sample of solar-neighborhood giants.

Warm Dust in the Terrestrial Planet Zone of a Sun‐like Pleiades Star: Collisions between Planetary Embryos?

Only a few solar-type main-sequence stars are known to be orbited by warm dust particles; the most extreme is the G0 field star BD +20 307 that emits ~4% of its energy at mid-infrared wavelengths. We report the identification of a similarly dusty star HD 23514, an F6-type member of the Pleiades. A strong mid-IR silicate emission feature indicates the presence of small warm dust particles, but with the primary flux density peak at the nonstandard wavelength of ~9 μm. The existence of so much dust within an AU or so of these stars is not easily accounted for given the very brief lifetime in orbit of small particles. The apparent absence of very hot (≳1000 K) dust at both stars suggests the possible presence of a planet closer to the stars than the dust. The observed frequency of the BD +20 307/HD 23514 phenomenon indicates that the mass equivalent of Earth's Moon must be converted, via collisions of massive bodies, to tiny dust particles that find their way to the terrestrial planet zone during the first few hundred million years of the life of many (most?) Sun-like stars. Identification of these two dusty systems among youthful nearby solar-type stars suggests that terrestrial planet formation is common.