No Arabic abstract
To understand the formation and evolution of solar-type stars and planets in the solar neighborhood, we need to obtain their stellar parameters with high precision. We present a catalog of precise stellar parameters for low-activity FGK single stars in a volume-limited sample followed by the HARPS spectrograph in the quest to identify extra-solar planets. The spectroscopic analysis was completed assuming LTE with a grid of Kurucz atmosphere models and using the ARES code to perform an automatic measurement of the line equivalent widths. The results are compared with different independent methods and also with other values found in the literature for common stars. Both comparisons are consistent and illustrate the homogeneity of the parameters derived by our team. The derived metallicities of this sample reveal a somewhat different distribution for the present planet hosts, but still indicates the already known higher frequency of planets observed for the more metal-rich stars. We combine the results derived in this sample with the one from the CORALIE survey to present the largest homogeneous spectroscopic study of the metallicity-giant-planet relation using a total of 1830 stars.
Stellar metallicity strongly correlates with the presence of planets and their properties. To check for new correlations between stars and the existence of an orbiting planet, we determine precise stellar parameters for a sample of metal-poor solar-type stars. This sample was observed with the HARPS spectrograph and is part of a program to search for new extrasolar planets. The stellar parameters were determined using an LTE analysis based on equivalent widths (EW) of iron lines and by imposing excitation and ionization equilibrium. The ARES code was used to allow automatic and systematic derivation of the stellar parameters. Precise stellar parameters and metallicities were obtained for 97 low metal-content stars. We also present the derived masses, luminosities, and new parallaxes estimations based on the derived parameters, and compare our spectroscopic parameters with an infra-red flux method calibration to check the consistency of our method in metal poor stars. Both methods seems to give the same effective temperature scale. Finally we present a new calibration for the temperature as a function of textit{B-V} and [Fe/H]. This was obtained by adding these new metal poor stars in order to increase the range in metallicity for the calibration. The standard deviation of this new calibration is $sim$ 50 K.
The vast diversity of planetary systems detected to date is defying our capability of understanding their formation and evolution. Well-defined volume-limited surveys are the best tool at our disposal to tackle the problem, via the acquisition of robust statistics of the orbital elements. We are using the HARPS spectrograph to conduct our survey of ~850 nearby solar-type stars, and in the course of the past nine years we have monitored the radial velocity of HD103774, HD109271, and BD-061339. In this work we present the detection of five planets orbiting these stars, with m*sin(i) between 0.6 and 7 Neptune masses, four of which are in two multiple systems, comprising one super-Earth and one planet within the habitable zone of a late-type dwarf. Although for strategic reasons we chose efficiency over precision in this survey, we have the capability to detect planets down to the Neptune and super-Earth mass range, as well as multiple systems, provided that enough data points are made available.
Ariel has been selected as the next ESA M4 science mission and it is expected to be launched in 2028. During its 4-year mission, Ariel will observe the atmospheres of a large and diversified population of transiting exoplanets. A key factor for the achievement of the scientific goal of Ariel is the selection strategy for the definition of the input target list. A meaningful choice of the targets requires an accurate knowledge of the planet hosting star properties and this is necessary to be obtained well before the launch. In this work, we present the results of a bench-marking analysis between three different spectroscopic techniques used to determine stellar parameters for a selected number of targets belonging to the Ariel reference sample. We aim to consolidate a method that will be used to homogeneously determine the stellar parameters of the complete Ariel reference sample. Homogeneous, accurate and precise derivation of stellar parameters is crucial for characterizing exoplanet-host stars and in turn is a key factor for the accuracy of the planet properties.
We present a comprehensive analysis of 10 years of HARPS radial velocities of the K2V dwarf star HD 13808, which has previously been reported to host two unconfirmed planet candidates. We use the state-of-the-art nested sampling algorithm PolyChord to compare a wide variety of stellar activity models, including simple models exploiting linear correlations between RVs and stellar activity indicators, harmonic models for the activity signals, and a more sophisticated Gaussian process regression model. We show that the use of overly-simplistic stellar activity models that are not well-motivated physically can lead to spurious `detections of planetary signals that are almost certainly not real. We also reveal some difficulties inherent in parameter and model inference in cases where multiple planetary signals may be present. Our study thus underlines the importance both of exploring a variety of competing models and of understanding the limitations and precision settings of ones sampling algorithm. We also show that at least in the case of HD 13808, we always arrive at consistent conclusions about two particular signals present in the RV, regardless of the stellar activity model we adopt; these two signals correspond to the previously-reported though unconfirmed planet candidate signals. Given the robustness and precision with which we can characterize these two signals, we deem them secure planet detections. In particular, we find two planets orbiting HD 13808 at distances of 0.11, 0.26 AU with periods of 14.2, 53.8 d, and minimum masses of 11, 10 Earth masses.
[ABRIDGED]We study the carbon abundances with a twofold objective. On the one hand, we want to evaluate the behaviour of carbon in the context of Galactic chemical evolution. On the other hand, we focus on the possible dependence of carbon abundances on the presence of planets and on the impact of various factors (such as different oxygen lines) on the determination of C/O elemental ratios. We derived chemical abundances of carbon from two atomic lines for 757 FGK stars in the HARPS-GTO sample. The abundances were derived with the code MOOG using automatically measured EWs and a grid of Kurucz ATLAS9 atmospheres. Oxygen abundances, derived using different lines, were taken from previous papers in this series and updated with the new stellar parameters. We find that thick- and thin-disk stars are chemically disjunct for [C/Fe] across the full metallicity range that they have in common. Moreover, the population of high-$alpha$ metal-rich stars also presents higher and clearly separated [C/Fe] ratios than thin-disk stars up to [Fe/H],$sim$,0.2,dex. The [C/O] ratios present a general flat trend as a function of [O/H] but this trend becomes negative when considering stars of similar metallicity. We find tentative evidence that stars with low-mass planets at lower metallicities have higher [C/Fe] ratios than stars without planets at the same metallicity, in the same way as has previously been found for $alpha$ elements. Finally, the elemental C/O ratios for the vast majority of our stars are below 0.8 when using the oxygen line at 6158A however, the forbidden oxygen line at 6300A provides systematically higher C/O values. Moreover, by using different atmosphere models the C/O ratios can have a non negligible difference for cool stars. Therefore, C/O ratios should be scaled to a common solar reference in order to correctly evaluate its behaviour.