No Arabic abstract
In order to evaluate and develop mission concepts for a search for Terrestrial Exoplanets, we have prepared a list of potential target systems. In this paper we present and discuss the criteria for selecting potential target stars suitable for the search for Earth like planets, with a special emphasis on the aspects of the habitable zone for these stellar systems. Planets found within these zones would be potentially able to host complex life forms. We derive a final target star sample of potential target stars, the Darwin All Sky Star Catalog (DASSC). The DASSC contains a sample of 2303 identified objects of which 284 are F, 464 G, 883 K, 615 M type stars and 57 stars without B-V index. Of these objects 949 objects are flagged in the DASSC as multiple systems, resulting in 1229 single main sequence stars of which 107 are F, 235 are G, 536 are K, and 351 are M type. We derive configuration dependent subcatalogs from the DASSC for two technical designs, the initial baseline design and the advanced Emma design as well as a catalog using an inner working angle cut off. We discuss the selection criteria, derived parameters and completeness of sample for different classes of stars.
The study of chemical abundances in stars with planets is an important ingredient for the models of formation and evolution of planetary systems. In order to determine accurate abundances, it is crucial to have a reliable set of atmospheric parameters. In this work, we describe the homogeneous determination of effective temperatures, surface gravities and iron abundances for a large sample of stars with planets as well as a control sample of stars without giant planets. Our results indicate that the metallicity distribution of the stars with planets is more metal rich by ~ 0.13 dex than the control sample stars.
We use data from the U.S. Naval Observatory fourth CCD Astrograph Catalog (UCAC4) in combination with photometry from the AAVSO Photometric All-Sky Survey (APASS) and Two Micron All-Sky Survey (2MASS) to identify stars within 25 pc of the Sun. A sample of nearby stars with accurate trigonometric parallaxes from the Research Consortium On Nearby Stars (RECONS) is used to generate a set of 16 new photometric color-$M_{K{_s}}$ relations that provide distance estimates with uncertainties of 15%. This work expands the available suites of well-calibrated photometric distance relations that can be used to identify nearby stellar systems. The distance relations are used with quality cuts to extract an initial sample of stars from the UCAC4 estimated to be within 25 pc. Color, proper motion and existing literature sources are then used to obtain a clean sample of red dwarfs, while limiting the amount of contamination from background giants, resulting in a sample of 1761 candidate nearby stars within 25 pc. Of these, 339 are new discoveries with no previously known published parallax or distance estimate, primarily with proper motions less than 0.2 arcsec/year. Five stars are estimated to be within 10 pc, with the nearest, TYC 3980 1081 1 with V$=$ 10.50, estimated to be at 5.93 pc. That several hundred new stars have been revealed so close to the Sun illustrates once again that there is considerable work yet to be done to map the solar neighborhood, and that additional nearby stars are likely still to be discovered.
The discovery of extra-solar planets is one of the greatest achievements of modern astronomy. The detection of planets with a wide range of masses demonstrates that extra-solar planets of low mass exist. In this paper we describe a mission, called Darwin, whose primary goal is the search for, and characterization of, terrestrial extrasolar planets and the search for life. Accomplishing the mission objectives will require collaborative science across disciplines including astrophysics, planetary sciences, chemistry and microbiology. Darwin is designed to detect and perform spectroscopic analysis of rocky planets similar to the Earth at mid-infrared wavelengths (6 - 20 micron), where an advantageous contrast ratio between star and planet occurs. The baseline mission lasts 5 years and consists of approximately 200 individual target stars. Among these, 25 to 50 planetary systems can be studied spectroscopically, searching for gases such as CO2, H2O, CH4 and O3. Many of the key technologies required for the construction of Darwin have already been demonstrated and the remainder are estimated to be mature in the near future. Darwin is a mission that will ignite intense interest in both the research community and the wider public.
Young nearby stars are good candidates in the search for planets with both radial velocity (RV) and direct imaging techniques. This, in turn, allows for the computation of the giant planet occurrence rates at all separations. The RV search around young stars is a challenge as they are generally faster rotators than older stars of similar spectral types and they exhibit signatures of magnetic activity (spots) or pulsation in their RV time series. Specific analyses are necessary to characterize, and possibly correct for, this activity. Our aim is to search for planets around young nearby stars and to estimate the giant planet (GP) occurrence rates for periods up to 1000 days. We used the HARPS spectrograph on the 3.6m telescope at La Silla Observatory to observe 89 A-M young (< 600 Myr) stars. We used our SAFIR (Spectroscopic data via Analysis of the Fourier Interspectrum Radial velocities ) software to compute the RV and other spectroscopic observables. Then, we computed the companion occurrence rates on this sample. We confirm the binary nature of HD177171, HD181321 and HD186704. We report the detection of a close low mass stellar companion for HIP36985. No planetary companion was detected. We obtain upper limits on the GP (< 13 MJup) and BD (13-80 MJup) occurrence rates based on 83 young stars for periods less than 1000 days, which are set, 2_-2^+3 % and 1_-1^+3 %.
We present a study of the stellar parameters and iron abundances of 18 giant stars in 6 open clusters. The analysis was based on high-resolution and high-S/N spectra obtained with the UVES spectrograph (VLT-UT2). The results complement our previous study where 13 clusters were already analyzed. The total sample of 18 clusters is part of a program to search for planets around giant stars. The results show that the 18 clusters cover a metallicity range between -0.23 and +0.23 dex. Together with the derivation of the stellar masses, these metallicities will allow the metallicity and mass effects to be disentangled when analyzing the frequency of planets as a function of these stellar parameters.