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At least 1,063 records · Page 59
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DOE OSTI2015

ASTEROSEISMIC-BASED ESTIMATION OF THE SURFACE GRAVITY FOR THE LAMOST GIANT STARS

Asteroseismology is one of the most accurate approaches to estimate the surface gravity of a star. However, most of the data from the current spectroscopic surveys do not have asteroseismic measurements, which is very expensive and time consuming. In order to improve the spectroscopic surface gravity estimates for a large amount of survey data with the help of the small subset of the data with seismic measurements, we set up a support vector regression (SVR) model for the estimation of the surface gravity supervised by 1374 Large Sky Area Multi-object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST) giant stars with Kepler seismic surface gravity. The new approach can reduce the uncertainty of the estimates down to about 0.1 dex, which is better than the LAMOST pipeline by at least a factor of 2, for the spectra with signal-to-noise ratio higher than 20. Compared with the log g estimated from the LAMOST pipeline, the revised log g values provide a significantly improved match to the expected distribution of red clump and red giant branch stars from stellar isochrones. Moreover, even the red bump stars, which extend to only about 0.1 dex in log g, can be discriminated from the new estimated surface gravity. The method is then applied to about 350,000 LAMOST metal-rich giant stars to provide improved surface gravity estimates. In general, the uncertainty of the distance estimate based on the SVR surface gravity can be reduced to about 12% for the LAMOST data.

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DOE OSTI2015

Rapid rotation of low-mass red giants using APOKASC: A measure of interaction rates on the post-main-sequence

We investigate the occurrence rate of rapidly rotating (vsini >10 km s{sup −1}), low-mass giant stars in the Apache Point Observatory Galaxy Evolution Experiment-Kepler (APOKASC) fields with asteroseismic mass and surface gravity measurements. Such stars are likely merger products and their frequency places interesting constraints on stellar population models. We also identify anomalous rotators, i.e., stars with 5 km s{sup −1} < vsini < 10 km s{sup −1} that are rotating significantly faster than both angular momentum evolution predictions and the measured rates of similar stars. Our data set contains fewer rapid rotators than one would expect given measurements of the Galactic field star population, which likely indicates that asteroseismic detections are less common in rapidly rotating red giants. The number of low-mass moderate (5–10 km s{sup −1}) rotators in our sample gives a lower limit of 7% for the rate at which low-mass stars interact on the upper red giant branch because single stars in this mass range are expected to rotate slowly. Finally, we classify the likely origin of the rapid or anomalous rotation where possible. KIC 10293335 is identified as a merger product and KIC 6501237 is a possible binary system of two oscillating red giants.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

THE STATISTICAL MECHANICS OF PLANET ORBITS

The final “giant-impact” phase of terrestrial planet formation is believed to begin with a large number of planetary “embryos” on nearly circular, coplanar orbits. Mutual gravitational interactions gradually excite their eccentricities until their orbits cross and they collide and merge; through this process the number of surviving bodies declines until the system contains a small number of planets on well-separated, stable orbits. In this paper we explore a simple statistical model for the orbit distribution of planets formed by this process, based on the sheared-sheet approximation and the ansatz that the planets explore uniformly all of the stable region of phase space. The model provides analytic predictions for the distribution of eccentricities and semimajor axis differences, correlations between orbital elements of nearby planets, and the complete N-planet distribution function, in terms of a single parameter, the “dynamical temperature,” that is determined by the planetary masses. The predicted properties are generally consistent with N-body simulations of the giant-impact phase and with the distribution of semimajor axis differences in the Kepler catalog of extrasolar planets. A similar model may apply to the orbits of giant planets if these orbits are determined mainly by dynamical evolution after the planets have formed and the gas disk has disappeared.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

Rotation of giant stars

The internal rotation of post-main sequence stars is investigated, in response to the convective pumping of angular momentum toward the stellar core, combined with a tight magnetic coupling between core and envelope. The spin evolution is calculated using model stars of initial mass 1, 1.5, and 5 M{sub ⊙}, taking into account mass loss on the giant branches. We also include the deposition of orbital angular momentum from a sub-stellar companion, as influenced by tidal drag along with the excitation of orbital eccentricity by a fluctuating gravitational quadrupole moment. A range of angular velocity profiles Ω(r) is considered in the envelope, extending from solid rotation to constant specific angular momentum. We focus on the backreaction of the Coriolis force, and the threshold for dynamo action in the inner envelope. Quantitative agreement with measurements of core rotation in subgiants and post-He core flash stars by Kepler is obtained with a two-layer angular velocity profile: uniform specific angular momentum where the Coriolis parameter Co≡Ωτ{sub con}≲1 (here τ{sub con} is the convective time), and Ω(r)∝r{sup −1} where Co≳1. The inner profile is interpreted in terms of a balance between the Coriolis force and angular pressure gradients driven by radially extended convective plumes. Inward angular momentum pumping reduces the surface rotation of subgiants, and the need for a rejuvenated magnetic wind torque. The co-evolution of internal magnetic fields and rotation is considered in Kissin and Thompson, along with the breaking of the rotational coupling between core and envelope due to heavy mass loss.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

THE MASS DISTRIBUTION FUNCTION OF PLANETS

The distribution of orbital period ratios of adjacent planets in extrasolar planetary systems discovered by the Kepler space telescope exhibits a peak near ∼1.5–2, a long tail of larger period ratios, and a steep drop-off in the number of systems with period ratios below ∼1.5. We find from these data that the dimensionless orbital separations have an approximately log-normal distribution. Using Hill’s criterion for the dynamical stability of two planets, we find an upper bound on planet masses such that the most common planet mass does not exceed 10{sup −3.2}m{sub ∗}, or about two-thirds of Jupiter’s mass for solar-mass stars. Assuming that the mass ratio and the dynamical separation (orbital spacings in units of mutual Hill radius) of adjacent planets are independent random variates, and adopting empirical distributions for these, we use Hill’s criterion in a statistical way to estimate the planet mass distribution function from the observed distribution of orbital separations. We find that the planet mass function is peaked in logarithm of mass, with a peak value and standard deviation of logm/M{sub ⊕} of ∼(0.6−1.0) and ∼(1.1−1.2), respectively.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

Probing the masses and radii of donor stars in eclipsing X-ray binaries with the Swift burst alert telescope

Physical parameters of both the mass donor and compact object can be constrained in X-ray binaries with well-defined eclipses, as our survey of wind-fed supergiant X-ray binaries IGR J16393-4643, IGR J16418-4532, IGR J16479-4514, IGR J18027-2016, and XTE J1855-026 reveals. Using the orbital period and Kepler’s third law, we express the eclipse half-angle in terms of radius, inclination angle, and the sum of the masses. Pulse-timing and radial velocity curves can give masses of both the donor and compact object as in the case of the “double-lined” binaries IGR J18027-2016 and XTE J1855-026. The eclipse half angles are 15{sub −2}{sup +3}, 31.7{sub −0.8}{sup +0.7}, 32 ± 2,34 ± 2, and 33.6±0.7 degrees for IGR J16393-4643, IGR J16418-4532, IGR J16479-4514, IGR J18027-2016, and XTE 1855-026, respectively. In wind-fed systems, the primary not exceeding the Roche-lobe size provides an upper limit on system parameters. In IGR J16393-4643, spectral types of B0 V or B0-5 III are found to be consistent with the eclipse duration and Roche-lobe, but the previously proposed donor stars in IGR J16418-4532 and IGR J16479-4514 were found to be inconsistent with the Roche-lobe size. Stars with spectral types O7.5 I and earlier are possible. For IGR J18027-2016, the mass and radius of the donor star lie between 18.6–19.4 M{sub ⊙} and 17.4–19.5 R{sub ⊙}. We constrain the neutron star mass between 1.37 and 1.43 M{sub ⊙}.We find the mass and radius of the donor star in XTE J1855-026 to lie between 19.6–20.2 M{sub ⊙} and 21.5–23.0 R{sub ⊙}. The neutron star mass was constrained to 1.77–1.82 M{sub ⊙}. Eclipse profiles are asymmetric in IGR J18027-2016 and XTE J1855-026, which we attribute to accretion wakes.

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DOE OSTI2015

HEARTBEAT STARS: SPECTROSCOPIC ORBITAL SOLUTIONS FOR SIX ECCENTRIC BINARY SYSTEMS

We present multi-epoch spectroscopy of “heartbeat stars,” eccentric binaries with dynamic tidal distortions and tidally induced pulsations originally discovered with the Kepler satellite. Optical spectra of six known heartbeat stars using the Wyoming Infrared Observatory 2.3 m telescope allow measurement of stellar effective temperatures and radial velocities from which we determine orbital parameters including the periods, eccentricities, approximate mass ratios, and component masses. These spectroscopic solutions confirm that the stars are members of eccentric binary systems with eccentricities e > 0.34 and periods P = 7–20 days, strengthening conclusions from prior works that utilized purely photometric methods. Heartbeat stars in this sample have A- or F-type primary components. Constraints on orbital inclinations indicate that four of the six systems have minimum mass ratios q = 0.3–0.5, implying that most secondaries are probable M dwarfs or earlier. One system is an eclipsing, double-lined spectroscopic binary with roughly equal-mass mid-A components (q = 0.95), while another shows double-lined behavior only near periastron, indicating that the F0V primary has a G1V secondary (q = 0.65). This work constitutes the first measurements of the masses of secondaries in a statistical sample of heartbeat stars. The good agreement between our spectroscopic orbital elements and those derived using a photometric model support the idea that photometric data are sufficient to derive reliable orbital parameters for heartbeat stars.

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DOE OSTI2015

IMPACT OF η{sub Earth} ON THE CAPABILITIES OF AFFORDABLE SPACE MISSIONS TO DETECT BIOSIGNATURES ON EXTRASOLAR PLANETS

We present an analytic model to estimate the capabilities of space missions dedicated to the search for biosignatures in the atmosphere of rocky planets located in the habitable zone of nearby stars. Relations between performance and mission parameters, such as mirror diameter, distance to targets, and radius of planets, are obtained. Two types of instruments are considered: coronagraphs observing in the visible, and nulling interferometers in the thermal infrared. Missions considered are: single-pupil coronagraphs with a 2.4 m primary mirror, and formation-flying interferometers with 4 × 0.75 m collecting mirrors. The numbers of accessible planets are calculated as a function of η{sub Earth}. When Kepler gives its final estimation for η{sub Earth}, the model will permit a precise assessment of the potential of each instrument. Based on current estimations, η{sub Earth} = 10% around FGK stars and 50% around M stars, the coronagraph could study in spectroscopy only ∼1.5 relevant planets, and the interferometer ∼14.0. These numbers are obtained under the major hypothesis that the exozodiacal light around the target stars is low enough for each instrument. In both cases, a prior detection of planets is assumed and a target list established. For the long-term future, building both types of spectroscopic instruments, and using them on the same targets, will be the optimal solution because they provide complementary information. But as a first affordable space mission, the interferometer looks the more promising in terms of biosignature harvest.

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DOE OSTI2015

Modeling indications of technology in planetary transit light curves—Dark-side illumination

We analyze potential effects of an extraterrestrial civilization’s use of orbiting mirrors to illuminate the dark side of a synchronously rotating planet on planetary transit light curves. Previous efforts to detect civilizations based on side effects of planetary-scale engineering have focused on structures affecting the host star output (e.g., Dyson spheres). However, younger civilizations are likely to be less advanced in their engineering efforts, yet still capable of sending small spacecraft into orbit. Since M dwarfs are the most common type of star in the solar neighborhood, it seems plausible that many of the nearest habitable planets orbit dim, low-mass M stars, and will be in synchronous rotation. Logically, a civilization evolving on such a planet may be inspired to illuminate their planet’s dark side by placing a single large mirror at the L2 Lagrangian point, or launching a fleet of small thin mirrors into planetary orbit. We briefly examine the requirements and engineering challenges of such a collection of orbiting mirrors, then explore their impact on transit light curves. We incorporate stellar limb darkening and model a simplistic mirror fleet’s effects for transits of Earth-like (R = 0.5 to 2 R{sub Earth}) planets which would be synchronously rotating for orbits within the habitable zone of their host star. Although such an installation is undetectable in Kepler data, the James Webb Space Telescope will provide the sensitivity necessary to detect a fleet of mirrors orbiting Earth-like habitable planets around nearby stars.

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DOE OSTI2015

Six planets orbiting HD 219134

We present new, high-precision Doppler radial velocity (RV) data sets for the nearby K3V star HD 219134. The data include 175 velocities obtained with the HIRES Spectrograph at the Keck I Telescope and 101 velocities obtained with the Levy Spectrograph at the Automated Planet Finder Telescope at Lick Observatory. Our observations reveal six new planetary candidates, with orbital periods of P = 3.1, 6.8, 22.8, 46.7, 94.2, and 2247 days, spanning masses of Msini=3.8, 3.5, 8.9, 21.3, 10.8, and 108 M{sub ⊕}, respectively. Our analysis indicates that the outermost signal is unlikely to be an artifact induced by stellar activity. In addition, several years of precision photometry with the T10 0.8 m automatic photometric telescope at Fairborn Observatory demonstrated a lack of brightness variability to a limit of ∼0.0002 mag, providing strong support for planetary-reflex motion as the source of the RV variations. The HD 219134 system with its bright (V = 5.6) primary provides an excellent opportunity to obtain detailed orbital characterization (and potentially follow-up observations) of a planetary system that resembles many of the multiple-planet systems detected by Kepler, which are expected to be detected by NASA’s forthcoming TESS Mission and by ESA’s forthcoming PLATO Mission.

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DOE OSTI2015

Thresholded power law size distributions of instabilities in astrophysics

Power-law-like size distributions are ubiquitous in astrophysical instabilities. There are at least four natural effects that cause deviations from ideal power law size distributions, which we model here in a generalized way: (1) a physical threshold of an instability; (2) incomplete sampling of the smallest events below a threshold x{sub 0}; (3) contamination by an event-unrelated background x{sub b}; and (4) truncation effects at the largest events due to a finite system size. These effects can be modeled in the simplest terms with a “thresholded power law” distribution function (also called generalized Pareto [type II] or Lomax distribution), N(x)dx∝(x+x{sub 0}){sup −a}dx, where x{sub 0} > 0 is positive for a threshold effect, while x{sub 0} < 0 is negative for background contamination. We analytically derive the functional shape of this thresholded power law distribution function from an exponential growth evolution model, which produces avalanches only when a disturbance exceeds a critical threshold x{sub 0}. We apply the thresholded power law distribution function to terrestrial, solar (HXRBS, BATSE, RHESSI), and stellar flare (Kepler) data sets. We find that the thresholded power law model provides an adequate fit to most of the observed data. Major advantages of this model are the automated choice of the power law fitting range, diagnostics of background contamination, physical instability thresholds, instrumental detection thresholds, and finite system size limits. When testing self-organized criticality models that predict ideal power laws, we suggest including these natural truncation effects.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

Spin–orbit misalignment of two-planet-system KOI-89 via gravity darkening

We constrain the true spin–orbit alignment of the KOI-89 system by numerically fitting the two Kepler photometric light curves produced by the transiting planets KOI-89.01 and KOI-89.02. The two planets have periods of 84.69 and 207.58 days, respectively. We find that the two bodies are low-density giant planets with radii of 0.45 ± 0.03 R{sub jup} and 0.43 ± 0.05 R{sub jup} and spin–orbit misalignments of 72° ± 3° and 73{sub −5}{sup ∘+11}, respectively. Through dynamic stability tests, we demonstrate the general trend of higher system stability with the two planets close to mutual alignment and estimate their coalignment angle to 20° ± 20°—i.e., the planets are misaligned with the star but may be aligned with each other. From these results, we limit KOI-89's misalignment mechanisms to star–disk-binary interactions, disk warping via planet–disk interactions, planet–planet scattering, Kozai resonance, or internal gravity waves.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

SPITZER MICROLENS MEASUREMENT OF A MASSIVE REMNANT IN A WELL-SEPARATED BINARY

We report the detection and mass measurement of a binary lens OGLE-2015-BLG-1285La,b, with the more massive component having M{sub 1} > 1.35 M{sub ⊙} (80% probability). A main-sequence star in this mass range is ruled out by limits on blue light, meaning that a primary in this mass range must be a neutron star (NS) or black hole (BH). The system has a projected separation r{sub ⊥} = 6.1 ± 0.4 AU and lies in the Galactic bulge. These measurements are based on the “microlens parallax” effect, i.e., comparing the microlensing light curve as seen from Spitzer, which lay at 1.25 AU projected from Earth, to the light curves from four ground-based surveys, three in the optical and one in the near-infrared. Future adaptive optics imaging of the companion by 30 m class telescopes will yield a much more accurate measurement of the primary mass. This discovery both opens the path and defines the challenges to detecting and characterizing BHs and NSs in wide binaries, with either dark or luminous companions. In particular, we discuss lessons that can be applied to future Spitzer and Kepler K2 microlensing parallax observations.

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DOE OSTI2015

SPITZER IRAC PHOTOMETRY FOR TIME SERIES IN CROWDED FIELDS

We develop a new photometry algorithm that is optimized for the Infrared Array Camera (IRAC) Spitzer time series in crowded fields and that is particularly adapted to faint or heavily blended targets. We apply this to the 170 targets from the 2015 Spitzer microlensing campaign and present the results of three variants of this algorithm in an online catalog. We present detailed accounts of the application of this algorithm to two difficult cases, one very faint and the other very crowded. Several of Spitzer's instrumental characteristics that drive the specific features of this algorithm are shared by Kepler and WFIRST, implying that these features may prove to be a useful starting point for algorithms designed for microlensing campaigns by these other missions.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

THE INFORMATION CONTENT IN ANALYTIC SPOT MODELS OF BROADBAND PRECISION LIGHT CURVES

We present the results of numerical experiments to assess degeneracies in light curve models of starspots. Using synthetic light curves generated with the Cheetah starspot modeling code, we explore the extent to which photometric light curves constrain spot model parameters, including spot latitudes and stellar inclination. We also investigate the effects of spot parameters and differential rotation on one's ability to correctly recover rotation periods and differential rotation in the Kepler light curves. We confirm that in the absence of additional constraints on the stellar inclination, such as spectroscopic measurements of vsin i or occultations of starspots by planetary transits, the spot latitude and stellar inclination are difficult to determine uniquely from the photometry alone. We find that for models with no differential rotation, spots that appear on opposite hemispheres of the star may cause one to interpret the rotation period to be half of the true period. When differential rotation is included, the changing longitude separation between spots breaks the symmetry of the hemispheres and the correct rotation period is more likely to be found. The dominant period found via periodogram analysis is typically that of the largest spot. Even when multiple spots with periods representative of the star's differential rotation exist, if one spot dominates the light curve the signal of differential rotation may not be detectable from the periodogram alone. Starspot modeling is applicable to stars with a wider range of rotation rates than other surface imaging techniques (such as Doppler imaging), allows subtle signatures of differential rotation to be measured, and may provide valuable information on the distribution of stellar spots. However, given the inherent degeneracies and uncertainty present in starspot models, caution should be exercised in their interpretation.

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DOE OSTI2013

MODULES FOR EXPERIMENTS IN STELLAR ASTROPHYSICS (MESA): PLANETS, OSCILLATIONS, ROTATION, AND MASSIVE STARS

We substantially update the capabilities of the open source software package Modules for Experiments in Stellar Astrophysics (MESA), and its one-dimensional stellar evolution module, MESA star. Improvements in MESA star's ability to model the evolution of giant planets now extends its applicability down to masses as low as one-tenth that of Jupiter. The dramatic improvement in asteroseismology enabled by the space-based Kepler and CoRoT missions motivates our full coupling of the ADIPLS adiabatic pulsation code with MESA star. This also motivates a numerical recasting of the Ledoux criterion that is more easily implemented when many nuclei are present at non-negligible abundances. This impacts the way in which MESA star calculates semi-convective and thermohaline mixing. We exhibit the evolution of 3-8 M{sub Sun} stars through the end of core He burning, the onset of He thermal pulses, and arrival on the white dwarf cooling sequence. We implement diffusion of angular momentum and chemical abundances that enable calculations of rotating-star models, which we compare thoroughly with earlier work. We introduce a new treatment of radiation-dominated envelopes that allows the uninterrupted evolution of massive stars to core collapse. This enables the generation of new sets of supernovae, long gamma-ray burst, and pair-instability progenitor models. We substantially modify the way in which MESA star solves the fully coupled stellar structure and composition equations, and we show how this has improved the scaling of MESA's calculational speed on multi-core processors. Updates to the modules for equation of state, opacity, nuclear reaction rates, and atmospheric boundary conditions are also provided. We describe the MESA Software Development Kit that packages all the required components needed to form a unified, maintained, and well-validated build environment for MESA. We also highlight a few tools developed by the community for rapid visualization of MESA star results.

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DOE OSTI2013

TRANSIT TIMING VARIATION OF NEAR-RESONANCE PLANETARY PAIRS: CONFIRMATION OF 12 MULTIPLE-PLANET SYSTEMS

We extract transit timing variation (TTV) signals for 12 pairs of transiting planet candidates that are near first-order mean motion resonances (MMR), using publicly available Kepler light curves (Q0-Q14). These pairs show significant sinusoidal TTVs with theoretically predicted periods, which demonstrate these planet candidates are orbiting and interacting in the same system. Although individual masses cannot be accurately extracted based only on TTVs because of the well-known degeneracy between mass and eccentricity, TTV phases and amplitudes can still place upper limits on the masses of the candidates, confirming their planetary nature. Furthermore, the mass ratios of these planet pairs can be relatively tightly constrained using these TTVs. The planetary pair in KOI 880 seems to have particularly high mass and density ratios, which might indicate very different internal compositions of these two planets. Some of these newly confirmed planets are also near MMR with other candidates in the system, forming unique resonance chains (e.g., KOI 500)

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2017

ZODIACAL EXOPLANETS IN TIME (ZEIT). IV. SEVEN TRANSITING PLANETS IN THE PRAESEPE CLUSTER

Open clusters and young stellar associations are attractive sites to search for planets and to test theories of planet formation, migration, and evolution. We present our search for, and characterization of, transiting planets in the 800 Myr old Praesepe (Beehive, M44) Cluster from K2 light curves. We identify seven planet candidates, six of which we statistically validate to be real planets, the last of which requires more data. For each host star, we obtain high-resolution NIR spectra to measure its projected rotational broadening and radial velocity, the latter of which we use to confirm cluster membership. We combine low-resolution spectra with the known cluster distance and metallicity to provide precise temperatures, masses, radii, and luminosities for the host stars. Combining our measurements of rotational broadening, rotation periods, and our derived stellar radii, we show that all planetary orbits are consistent with alignment to their host star’s rotation. We fit the K2 light curves, including priors on stellar density to put constraints on the planetary eccentricities, all of which are consistent with zero. The difference between the number of planets found in Praesepe and Hyades (8 planets, ≃800 Myr) and a similar data set for Pleiades (0 planets, ≃125 Myr) suggests a trend with age, but may be due to incompleteness of current search pipelines for younger, faster-rotating stars. We see increasing evidence that some planets continue to lose atmosphere past 800 Myr, as now two planets at this age have radii significantly larger than their older counterparts from Kepler.

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