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At least 91 records · Page 5
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2017

Post-main-sequence Evolution of Icy Minor Planets. III. Water Retention in Dwarf Planets and Exomoons and Implications for White Dwarf Pollution

Studies suggest that the pollution of white dwarf (WD) atmospheres arises from the accretion of minor planets, but the exact properties of polluting material, and in particular the evidence for water in some cases are not yet understood. Several previous works studied the possibility of water surviving inside minor planets around evolving stars. However, they all focused on small, comet-sized to moonlet-sized minor planets, when the inferred mass inside the convection zones of He-dominated WDs could actually be compatible with much more massive minor planets. Here we explore for the first time, the water retention inside exoplanetary dwarf planets, or moderate-sized moons, with radii of the order of hundreds of kilometers. This paper concludes a series of papers that has now covered nearly the entire potential mass range of minor planets, in addition to the full mass range of their host stars. We find that water retention is (a) affected by the mass of the WD progenitor, and (b) it is on average at least 5%, irrespective of the assumed initial water composition, if it came from a single accretion event of an icy dwarf planet or moon. The latter prediction strengthens the possibility of habitability in WD planetary systems, and it may also be used in order to distinguish between pollution originating from multiple small accretion events and singular large accretion events. To conclude our work, we provide a code that calculates ice and water retention by interpolation and may be freely used as a service to the community.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2021

The Role of Early Giant-planet Instability in Terrestrial Planet Formation

The terrestrial planets are believed to have formed by violent collisions of tens of lunar- to Mars-size protoplanets at time t < 200 Myr after the protoplanetary gas disk dispersal (t {sub 0}). The solar system giant planets rapidly formed during the protoplanetary disk stage and, after t {sub 0}, radially migrated by interacting with outer disk planetesimals. An early (t < 100 Myr) dynamical instability is thought to have occurred with Jupiter having gravitational encounters with a planetary-size body, jumping inward by ∼0.2–0.5 au, and landing on its current, mildly eccentric orbit. Here we investigate how the giant-planet instability affected the formation of the terrestrial planets. We study several instability cases that were previously shown to match many solar system constraints. We find that resonances with giant planets help to remove solids available for accretion near ∼1.5 au, thus stalling the growth of Mars. It does not matter, however, whether the giant planets are placed on their current orbits at t {sub 0} or whether they realistically evolve in one of our instability models; the results are practically the same. The tight orbital spacing of Venus and Earth is difficult to reproduce in our simulations, including cases where bodies grow from a narrow annulus at 0.7–1 au, because protoplanets tend to spread radially during accretion. The best results are obtained in the narrow-annulus model when protoplanets emerging from the dispersing gas nebula are assumed to have (at least) the mass of Mars. This suggests efficient accretion of the terrestrial protoplanets during the first ∼10 Myr of the solar system.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Experimental Constraints on Solid Nitride Phases in Rocky Mantles of Reduced Planets and Implications for Observable Atmosphere Compositions

Abstract Astronomical surveys have discovered thousands of transiting exoplanets, revealing that rocky planets are common in the galaxy. A planet's interior chemistry is frequently inferred by average density, described by mass‐radius (M‐R) relationships. However, M‐R relationships give rise to non‐unique interpretations of a planet's interior composition, an issue that limits our ability to characterize far‐away worlds. We present experimental and density functional theoretical results addressing the influence of an ultra‐reducing (oxygen‐poor) interior chemistry on rocky mantle phases and discuss the possible implications for atmospheric observables. We show that silicon carbide (SiC) and molecular nitrogen (N 2 ) react to form solid silicon nitride (γ‐Si 3 N 4 ) at high pressures and high temperatures in a laser‐heated diamond‐anvil cell, consistent with ab initio computations. Si 3 N 4 remains stable under extreme conditions and when quenched to ambient conditions. As SiC is a common compound found under very reducing conditions, these results indicate that nitrogen may form solid phases in an oxygen‐poor rocky planet. If, by sequestering nitrogen in a planet's mantle, the distribution of nitrogen between a planet's interior and atmosphere is altered (i.e., a nitrogen‐rich mantle and nitrogen‐poor atmosphere), these results indicate that there may be atmospheric observables connected to the mantle‐redox state of a rocky planet besides the oxygen‐containing phases ubiquitous in exoplanet literature.

Daviau, Kierstin↗
DOE OSTI2015

GEMINI PLANET IMAGER OBSERVATIONS OF THE AU MICROSCOPII DEBRIS DISK: ASYMMETRIES WITHIN ONE ARCSECOND

We present Gemini Planet Imager (GPI) observations of AU Microscopii, a young M dwarf with an edge-on, dusty debris disk. Integral field spectroscopy and broadband imaging polarimetry were obtained during the commissioning of GPI. In our broadband imaging polarimetry observations, we detect the disk only in total intensity and find asymmetries in the morphology of the disk between the southeast (SE) and northwest (NW) sides. The SE side of the disk exhibits a bump at 1″ (10 AU projected separation) that is three times more vertically extended and three times fainter in peak surface brightness than the NW side at similar separations. This part of the disk is also vertically offset by 69 ± 30 mas to the northeast at 1″ when compared to the established disk midplane and is consistent with prior Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array and Hubble Space Telescope/Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph observations. We see hints that the SE bump might be a result of detecting a horizontal sliver feature above the main disk that could be the disk backside. Alternatively, when including the morphology of the NW side, where the disk midplane is offset in the opposite direction ∼50 mas between 0.″4 and 1.″2, the asymmetries suggest a warp-like feature. Using our integral field spectroscopy data to search for planets, we are 50% complete for ∼4 M{sub Jup} planets at 4 AU. We detect a source, resolved only along the disk plane, that could either be a candidate planetary mass companion or a compact clump in the disk.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2016

Spectroscopic characterization of HD 95086 b with the Gemini Planet Imager

Here, we present new H (1.5–1.8 μm) photometric and K 1 (1.9–2.2 μm) spectroscopic observations of the young exoplanet HD 95086 b obtained with the Gemini Planet Imager. The H-band magnitude has been significantly improved relative to previous measurements, whereas the low-resolution K 1 ($\lambda /\delta \lambda \approx 66$) spectrum is featureless within the measurement uncertainties and presents a monotonically increasing pseudo-continuum consistent with a cloudy atmosphere. By combining these new measurements with literature $L^{\prime} $ photometry, we compare the spectral energy distribution (SED) of the planet to other young planetary-mass companions, field brown dwarfs, and to the predictions of grids of model atmospheres. HD 95086 b is over a magnitude redder in ${K}_{1}-L^{\prime} $ color than 2MASS J12073346–3932539 b and HR 8799 c and d, despite having a similar $L^{\prime} $ magnitude. Considering only the near-infrared measurements, HD 95086 b is most analogous to the brown dwarfs 2MASS J2244316+204343 and 2MASS J21481633+4003594, both of which are thought to have dusty atmospheres. Morphologically, the SED of HD 95086 b is best fit by low temperature (${T}_{{\rm{eff}}}$ = 800–1300 K), low surface gravity spectra from models which simulate high photospheric dust content. This range of effective temperatures is consistent with field L/T transition objects, but the spectral type of HD 95086 b is poorly constrained between early L and late T due to its unusual position the color–magnitude diagram, demonstrating the difficulty in spectral typing young, low surface gravity substellar objects. As one of the reddest such objects, HD 95086 b represents an important empirical benchmark against which our current understanding of the atmospheric properties of young extrasolar planets can be tested.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
NASA NTRS2016

Long Term Evolution of Planetary Systems with a Terrestrial Planet and a Giant Planet

We study the long term orbital evolution of a terrestrial planet under the gravitational perturbations of a giant planet. In particular, we are interested in situations where the two planets are in the same plane and are relatively close. We examine both possible configurations: the giant planet orbit being either outside or inside the orbit of the smaller planet. The perturbing potential is expanded to high orders and an analytical solution of the terrestrial planetary orbit is derived. The analytical estimates are then compared against results from the numerical integration of the full equations of motion and we find that the analytical solution works reasonably well. An interesting finding is that the new analytical estimates improve greatly the predictions for the timescales of the orbital evolution of the terrestrial planet compared to an octupole order expansion. Finally, we briefly discuss possible applications of the analytical estimates in astrophysical problems.

Dynamical evolution↗
DOE OSTI2013

Characterization of the KOI-94 system with transit timing variation analysis: Implication for the planet-planet eclipse

The KOI-94 system is a closely packed, multi-transiting planetary system discovered by the Kepler space telescope. It is known as the first system that exhibited a rare event called a 'planet-planet eclipse (PPE)', in which two planets partially overlap with each other in their double-transit phase. In this paper, we constrain the parameters of the KOI-94 system with an analysis of the transit timing variations (TTVs). Such constraints are independent of the radial velocity (RV) analysis recently performed by Weiss and coworkers, and valuable in examining the reliability of the parameter estimate using TTVs. We numerically fit the observed TTVs of KOI-94c, KOI-94d, and KOI-94e for their masses, eccentricities, and longitudes of periastrons, and obtain the best-fit parameters including m{sub c}=9.4{sub −2.1}{sup +2.4} M{sub ⊕}, m{sub d}=52.1{sub −7.1}{sup +6.9} M{sub ⊕}, m{sub e}=13.0{sub −2.1}{sup +2.5} M{sub ⊕}, and e ≲ 0.1 for all the three planets. While these values are mostly in agreement with the RV result, the mass of KOI-94d estimated from the TTV is significantly smaller than the RV value m {sub d} = 106 ± 11 M {sub ⊕}. In addition, we find that the TTV of the outermost planet KOI-94e is not well reproduced in the current modeling. We also present analytic modeling of the PPE and derive a simple formula to reconstruct the mutual inclination of the two planets from the observed height, central time, and duration of the brightening caused by the PPE. Based on this model, the implication of the results of TTV analysis for the time of the next PPE is discussed.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Validation of Kepler's multiple planet candidates. III. Light curve analysis and announcement of hundreds of new multi-planet systems

The Kepler mission has discovered more than 2500 exoplanet candidates in the first two years of spacecraft data, with approximately 40% of those in candidate multi-planet systems. The high rate of multiplicity combined with the low rate of identified false positives indicates that the multiplanet systems contain very few false positive signals due to other systems not gravitationally bound to the target star. False positives in the multi-planet systems are identified and removed, leaving behind a residual population of candidate multi-planet transiting systems expected to have a false positive rate less than 1%. We present a sample of 340 planetary systems that contain 851 planets that are validated to substantially better than the 99% confidence level; the vast majority of these have not been previously verified as planets. We expect ∼two unidentified false positives making our sample of planet very reliable. We present fundamental planetary properties of our sample based on a comprehensive analysis of Kepler light curves, ground-based spectroscopy, and high-resolution imaging. Since we do not require spectroscopy or high-resolution imaging for validation, some of our derived parameters for a planetary system may be systematically incorrect due to dilution from light due to additional stars in the photometric aperture. Nonetheless, our result nearly doubles the number verified exoplanets.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2016

A 1.9 EARTH RADIUS ROCKY PLANET AND THE DISCOVERY OF A NON-TRANSITING PLANET IN THE KEPLER-20 SYSTEM

Kepler-20 is a solar-type star (V = 12.5) hosting a compact system of five transiting planets, all packed within the orbital distance of Mercury in our own solar system. A transition from rocky to gaseous planets with a planetary transition radius of ∼1.6 R{sub ⊕} has recently been proposed by several articles in the literature. Kepler-20b (R{sub p} ∼ 1.9 R{sub ⊕}) has a size beyond this transition radius; however, previous mass measurements were not sufficiently precise to allow definite conclusions to be drawn regarding its composition. We present new mass measurements of three of the planets in the Kepler-20 system that are facilitated by 104 radial velocity measurements from the HARPS-N spectrograph and 30 archival Keck/HIRES observations, as well as an updated photometric analysis of the Kepler data and an asteroseismic analysis of the host star (M{sub ⋆} = 0.948±0.051 M{sub ⊙} and R{sub ⋆} = 0.964±0.018 R{sub ⊙}). Kepler-20b is a 1.868{sub −0.034}{sup +0.066} R{sub ⊕} planet in a 3.7 day period with a mass of 9.70{sub −1.44}{sup +1.41} M{sub ⊕}, resulting in a mean density of 8.2{sub −1.3}{sup +1.5} g cm{sup −3}, indicating a rocky composition with an iron-to-silicate ratio consistent with that of the Earth. This makes Kepler-20b the most massive planet with a rocky composition found to date. Furthermore, we report the discovery of an additional non-transiting planet with a minimum mass of 19.96{sub −3.61}{sup +3.08} M{sub ⊕} and an orbital period of ∼34 days in the gap between Kepler-20f (P ∼ 11 days) and Kepler-20d (P ∼ 78 days).

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2021

TESS Hunt for Young and Maturing Exoplanets (THYME). IV. Three Small Planets Orbiting a 120 Myr Old Star in the Pisces–Eridanus Stream

Young exoplanets can offer insight into the evolution of planetary atmospheres, compositions, and architectures. We present the discovery of the young planetary system TOI 451 (TIC 257605131, Gaia DR2 4844691297067063424). TOI 451 is a member of the 120 Myr old Pisces–Eridanus stream (Psc–Eri). We confirm membership in the stream with its kinematics, its lithium abundance, and the rotation and UV excesses of both TOI 451 and its wide-binary companion, TOI 451 B (itself likely an M-dwarf binary). We identified three candidate planets transiting in the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite data and followed up the signals with photometry from Spitzer and ground-based telescopes. The system comprises three validated planets at periods of 1.9, 9.2, and 16 days, with radii of 1.9, 3.1, and 4.1 R {sub ⨂}, respectively. The host star is near-solar mass with V = 11.0 and H = 9.3 and displays an infrared excess indicative of a debris disk. The planets offer excellent prospects for transmission spectroscopy with the Hubble Space Telescope and the James Webb Space Telescope, providing the opportunity to study planetary atmospheres that may still be in the process of evolving.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
NASA NTRS1983

Comparative ionospheres. I - The inner planets. II - The outer planets

A description is given first of the fundamental physical and chemical processes controlling the thermospheres and ionospheres of the inner planets, Venus and Mars. A comparison is made between the neutral composition and temperature structure of Venus and Mars and those of the earth. Consideration is then given to the chemical and diffusion processes in the ionosphere. After a brief treatment of the ionospheric energetics and heat sources, the mechanisms underlying the maintenance of the nightside ionosphere of Venus are reviewed. A description is then given of the upper atmospheres and ionospheres of the major planets, Jupiter and Saturn. The treatment of the temperature structure and composition of the thermospheres of the major planets includes a description of the physical and chemical processes controlling the hydrocarbons and atomic hydrogen. A comparison is then made between the ionospheres of the major planets and those of the inner planets. It is noted that Io and Titan also have atmospheres and ionospheres, and these are treated briefly. Even though comets cannot be classed as planets, they have atmospheres and ionospheres that are not gravitationally confined.

Cravens, T. E.↗
NASA NTRS2020

Precise mass and radius of a transiting super-Earth planet orbiting the M dwarf TOI-1235: a planet in the radius gap?

We report the confirmation of a transiting planet around the bright weakly active M0.5 V star TOI-1235 (TYC 4384–1735–1, V ≈ 11.5 mag), whose transit signal was detected in the photometric time series of sectors 14, 20, and 21 of the TESS space mission. We confirm the planetary nature of the transit signal, which has a period of 3.44 d, by using precise RV measurements with the CARMENES, HARPS-N, and iSHELL spectrographs, supplemented by high-resolution imaging and ground-based photometry. A comparison of the properties derived for TOI-1235 b with theoretical models reveals that the planet has a rocky composition, with a bulk density slightly higher than that of Earth. In particular, we measure a mass of M(p) = 5.9 ± 0.6 Mꚛ and a radius of R(p) = 1.69 ± 0.08 Rꚛ, which together result in a density of ρp = 6.7(− 1.1,+ 1.3) g/cu. cm. When compared with other well-characterized exoplanetary systems, the particular combination of planetary radius and mass places our discovery in the radius gap, which is a transition region between rocky planets and planets with significant atmospheric envelopes. A few examples of planets occupying the radius gap are known to date. While the exact location of the radius gap for M dwarfs is still a matter of debate, our results constrain it to be located at around 1.7 Rꚛ or larger at the insolation levels received by TOI-1235 b (~60 Sꚛ). This makes it an extremely interesting object for further studies of planet formation and atmospheric evolution.

P. Bluhm↗
DOE OSTI2013

PLANET HUNTERS: NEW KEPLER PLANET CANDIDATES FROM ANALYSIS OF QUARTER 2

We present new planet candidates identified in NASA Kepler Quarter 2 public release data by volunteers engaged in the Planet Hunters citizen science project. The two candidates presented here survive checks for false positives, including examination of the pixel offset to constrain the possibility of a background eclipsing binary. The orbital periods of the planet candidates are 97.46 days (KIC 4552729) and 284.03 (KIC 10005758) days and the modeled planet radii are 5.3 and 3.8 R{sub Circled-Plus }. The latter star has an additional known planet candidate with a radius of 5.05 R{sub Circled-Plus} and a period of 134.49 days, which was detected by the Kepler pipeline. The discovery of these candidates illustrates the value of massively distributed volunteer review of the Kepler database to recover candidates which were otherwise uncataloged.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2012

THE McDONALD OBSERVATORY PLANET SEARCH: NEW LONG-PERIOD GIANT PLANETS AND TWO INTERACTING JUPITERS IN THE HD 155358 SYSTEM

We present high-precision radial velocity (RV) observations of four solar-type (F7-G5) stars-HD 79498, HD 155358, HD 197037, and HD 220773-taken as part of the McDonald Observatory Planet Search Program. For each of these stars, we see evidence of Keplerian motion caused by the presence of one or more gas giant planets in long-period orbits. We derive orbital parameters for each system and note the properties (composition, activity, etc.) of the host stars. While we have previously announced the two-gas-giant HD 155358 system, we now report a shorter period for planet c. This new period is consistent with the planets being trapped in mutual 2:1 mean-motion resonance. We therefore perform an in-depth stability analysis, placing additional constraints on the orbital parameters of the planets. These results demonstrate the excellent long-term RV stability of the spectrometers on both the Harlan J. Smith 2.7 m telescope and the Hobby-Eberly telescope.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

THE GEMINI/NICI PLANET-FINDING CAMPAIGN: THE FREQUENCY OF PLANETS AROUND YOUNG MOVING GROUP STARS

We report results of a direct imaging survey for giant planets around 80 members of the β Pic, TW Hya, Tucana-Horologium, AB Dor, and Hercules-Lyra moving groups, observed as part of the Gemini/NICI Planet-Finding Campaign. For this sample, we obtained median contrasts of ΔH = 13.9 mag at 1'' in combined CH{sub 4} narrowband ADI+SDI mode and median contrasts of ΔH = 15.1 mag at 2'' in H-band ADI mode. We found numerous (>70) candidate companions in our survey images. Some of these candidates were rejected as common-proper motion companions using archival data; we reobserved with Near-Infrared Coronagraphic Imager (NICI) all other candidates that lay within 400 AU of the star and were not in dense stellar fields. The vast majority of candidate companions were confirmed as background objects from archival observations and/or dedicated NICI Campaign followup. Four co-moving companions of brown dwarf or stellar mass were discovered in this moving group sample: PZ Tel B (36 ± 6 M{sub Jup}, 16.4 ± 1.0 AU), CD–35 2722B (31 ± 8 M{sub Jup}, 67 ± 4 AU), HD 12894B (0.46 ± 0.08 M{sub ☉}, 15.7 ± 1.0 AU), and BD+07 1919C (0.20 ± 0.03 M{sub ☉}, 12.5 ± 1.4 AU). From a Bayesian analysis of the achieved H band ADI and ASDI contrasts, using power-law models of planet distributions and hot-start evolutionary models, we restrict the frequency of 1-20 M{sub Jup} companions at semi-major axes from 10-150 AU to <18% at a 95.4% confidence level using DUSTY models and to <6% at a 95.4% using COND models. Our results strongly constrain the frequency of planets within semi-major axes of 50 AU as well. We restrict the frequency of 1-20 M{sub Jup} companions at semi-major axes from 10-50 AU to <21% at a 95.4% confidence level using DUSTY models and to <7% at a 95.4% using COND models. This survey is the deepest search to date for giant planets around young moving group stars.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

THE PAN-PACIFIC PLANET SEARCH. II. CONFIRMATION OF A TWO-PLANET SYSTEM AROUND HD 121056

Precise radial velocities from the Anglo-Australian Telescope (AAT) confirm the presence of a rare short-period planet around the K0 giant HD 121056. An independent two-planet solution using the AAT data shows that the inner planet has P = 89.1 ± 0.1 days, and m sin i = 1.35 ± 0.17 M{sub Jup}. These data also confirm the planetary nature of the outer companion, with m sin i = 3.9 ± 0.6 M{sub Jup} and a = 2.96 ± 0.16 AU. HD 121056 is the most-evolved star to host a confirmed multiple-planet system, and is a valuable example of a giant star hosting both a short-period and a long-period planet.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

PEERING INTO THE GIANT-PLANET-FORMING REGION OF THE TW HYDRAE DISK WITH THE GEMINI PLANET IMAGER

We present Gemini Planet Imager (GPI) adaptive optics near-infrared images of the giant-planet-forming regions of the protoplanetary disk orbiting the nearby (D = 54 pc), pre-main-sequence (classical T Tauri) star TW Hydrae. The GPI images, which were obtained in coronagraphic/polarimetric mode, exploit starlight scattered off small dust grains to elucidate the surface density structure of the TW Hya disk from ∼80 AU to within ∼10 AU of the star at ∼1.5 AU resolution. The GPI polarized intensity images unambiguously confirm the presence of a gap in the radial surface brightness distribution of the inner disk. The gap is centered near ∼23 AU, with a width of ∼5 AU and a depth of ∼50%. In the context of recent simulations of giant-planet formation in gaseous, dusty disks orbiting pre-main-sequence stars, these results indicate that at least one young planet with a mass ∼0.2 M{sub J} could be present in the TW Hya disk at an orbital semimajor axis similar to that of Uranus. If this (proto)planet is actively accreting gas from the disk, it may be readily detectable by GPI or a similarly sensitive, high-resolution infrared imaging system.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗