No Arabic abstract
For the past six years we have carried out a search for massive planets around main sequence and evolved stars in the open cluster (OC) M67, using radial velocity (RV) measurements obtained with HARPS at ESO (La Silla), SOPHIE at OHP and HRS at HET. Additional RV data come from CORALIE at the Euler Swiss Telescope. We aim to perform a long-term study on giant planet formation in open clusters and determine how it depends on stellar mass and chemical composition. We report the detection of three new extrasolar planets: two in orbit around the two G dwarfs YBP1194 and YBP1514, and one around the evolved star S364. The orbital solution for YBP1194 yields a period of 6.9 days, an eccentricity of 0.24, and a minimum mass of 0.34 Mj. YBP1514 shows periodic RV variations of 5.1 days, a minimum mass of 0.40 Mj, and an eccentricity of 0.39. The best Keplerian solution for S364 yields a period of 121.7 days, an eccentricity of 0.35 and a minimum mass of 1.54 Mj. An analysis of H_alpha core flux measurements as well as of the line bisectors spans revealed no correlation with the RV periods, indicating that the RV variations are best explained by the presence of a planetary companion. Remarkably, YBP1194 is one of the best solar twins identified so far, and YBP1194b is the first planet found around a solar twin that belongs to a stellar cluster. In contrast with early reports and in agreement with recent findings, our results show that massive planets around stars of open clusters are as frequent as those around field stars.
Multiplicity is a fundamental property that is set early during stellar lifetimes, and it is a stringent probe of the physics of star formation. The distribution of close companions around young stars is still poorly constrained by observations. We present an analysis of stellar multiplicity derived from APOGEE-2 spectra obtained in targeted observations of nearby star-forming regions. This is the largest homogeneously observed sample of high-resolution spectra of young stars. We developed an autonomous method to identify double lined spectroscopic binaries (SB2s). Out of 5007 sources spanning the mass range of $sim$0.05--1.5 msun, we find 399 binaries, including both RV variables and SB2s. The mass ratio distribution of SB2s is consistent with a uniform for $q<0.95$ with an excess of twins with $q>0.95$. The period distribution is consistent with what has been observed in close binaries ($<10$ AU) in the evolved populations. Three systems are found to have $qsim$0.1, with a companion located within the brown dwarf desert. There are not any strong trends in the multiplicity fraction (MF) as a function of cluster age from 1 to 100 Myr. There is a weak dependence on stellar density, with companions being most numerous at $Sigma_*sim30$ stars/pc$^{-2}$, and decreasing in more diffuse regions. Finally, disk-bearing sources are deficient in SB2s (but not RV variables) by a factor of $sim$2; this deficit is recovered by the systems without disks. This may indicate a quick dispersal of disk material in short-period equal mass systems that is less effective in binaries with lower $q$.
We investigate the old open cluster M67 using ultraviolet photometric data of Ultra-Violet Imaging Telescope in multi-filter far-UV bands. M67, well known for the presence of several blue straggler stars (BSS), has been put to detailed tests to understand their formation pathways. Currently, there are three accepted formation channels: mass transfer due to Roche-lobe overflow in binary systems, stellar mergers either due to dynamical collisions or through coalescence of close binaries. So far, there had not been any confirmed detection of a white dwarf (WD) companion to any of the BSSs in this cluster. Here, we present the detection of WD companions to 5 bright BSSs in M67. The multiwavelength spectral energy distributions covering 0.12 -11.5 $mu$m range, were found to require binary spectral fits for 5 BSSs, consisting of a cool (BSS) and a hot companion. The parameters (Luminosity, Temperature, Radius and Mass) of the hot companions suggest them to be WDs with mass in the range 0.2 - 0.35 M$_{odot}$ with T$_{eff}$ $sim$ 11000 - 24000 K.
Cool debris discs are a relic of the planetesimal formation process around their host star, analogous to the solar systems Edgeworth-Kuiper belt. As such, they can be used as a proxy to probe the origin and formation of planetary systems like our own. The Herschel Open Time Key Programmes DUst around NEarby Stars (DUNES) and Disc Emission via a Bias-free Reconnaissance in the Infrared/Submillimetre (DEBRIS) observed many nearby, sun-like stars at far-infrared wavelengths seeking to detect and characterize the emission from their circumstellar dust. Excess emission attributable to the presence of dust was identified from around $sim$ 20% of stars. Herschels high angular resolution ($sim$ 7 FWHM at 100 $mu$m) provided the capacity for resolving debris belts around nearby stars with radial extents comparable to the solar system (50 to 100 au). As part of the DUNES and DEBRIS surveys, we obtained observations of three debris disc stars, HIP 22263 (HD 30495), HIP 62207 (HD 110897), and HIP 72848 (HD 131511), at far-infrared wavelengths with the Herschel PACS instrument. Combining these new images and photometry with ancilliary data from the literature, we undertook simultaneous multi-wavelength modelling of the discs radial profiles and spectral energy distributions using three different methodologies: single annulus, modified black body, and a radiative transfer code. We present the first far-infrared spatially resolved images of these discs and new single-component debris disc models. We characterize the capacity of the models to reproduce the disc parameters based on marginally resolved emission through analysis of two sets of simulated systems (based on the HIP 22263 and HIP 62207 data) with the noise levels typical of the Herschel images. We find that the input parameter values are recovered well at noise levels attained in the observations presented here.
Direct imaging observations have revealed spiral structures in protoplanetary disks. Previous studies have suggested that planet-induced spiral arms cannot explain some of these spiral patterns, due to the large pitch angle and high contrast of the spiral arms in observations. We have carried out three dimensional (3-D) hydrodynamical simulations to study spiral wakes/shocks excited by young planets. We find that, in contrast with linear theory, the pitch angle of spiral arms does depend on the planet mass, which can be explained by the non-linear density wave theory. A secondary (or even a tertiary) spiral arm, especially for inner arms, is also excited by a massive planet. With a more massive planet in the disk, the excited spiral arms have larger pitch angle and the separation between the primary and secondary arms in the azimuthal direction is also larger. We also find that although the arms in the outer disk do not exhibit much vertical motion, the inner arms have significant vertical motion, which boosts the density perturbation at the disk atmosphere. Combining hydrodynamical models with Monte-Carlo radiative transfer calculations, we find that the inner spiral arms are considerably more prominent in synthetic near-IR images using full 3-D hydrodynamical models than images based on 2-D models assuming vertical hydrostatic equilibrium, indicating the need to model observations with full 3-D hydrodynamics. Overall, companion-induced spiral arms not only pinpoint the companions position but also provide three independent ways (pitch angle, separation between two arms, and contrast of arms) to constrain the companions mass.
The photospheres of some white dwarfs are polluted by accretion of material from their surrounding planetary debris. White dwarfs with dust disks are often heavily polluted and high-resolution spectroscopic observations of these systems can be used to infer the chemical compositions of extrasolar planetary material. Here, we report spectroscopic observation and analysis of 19 white dwarfs with dust disks or candidate disks. The overall abundance pattern very much resembles that of bulk Earth and we are starting to build a large enough sample to probe a wide range of planetary compositions. We found evidence for accretion of Fe-rich material onto two white dwarfs as well as O-rich but H-poor planetary debris onto one white dwarf. In addition, there is a spread in Mg/Ca and Si/Ca ratios and it cannot be explained by differential settling or igneous differentiation. The ratios appear to follow an evaporation sequence. In this scenario, we can constrain the mass and number of evaporating bodies surrounding polluted white dwarfs.