No Arabic abstract
Strongly irradiated giant planets are observed to have radii larger than thermal evolution models predict. Although these inflated planets have been known for over fifteen years, it is unclear whether their inflation is caused by deposition of energy from the host star, or inhibited cooling of the planet. These processes can be distinguished if the planet becomes highly irradiated only when the host star evolves onto the red giant branch. We report the discovery of K2-97b, a 1.31 $pm$ 0.11 R$_mathrm{J}$, 1.10 $pm$ 0.11 M$_mathrm{J}$ planet orbiting a 4.20 $pm$ 0.14 R$_odot$, 1.16 $pm$ 0.12 M$_odot$ red giant star with an orbital period of 8.4 days. We precisely constrained stellar and planetary parameters by combining asteroseismology, spectroscopy, and granulation noise modeling along with transit and radial velocity measurements. The uncertainty in planet radius is dominated by systematic differences in transit depth, which we measure to be up to 30% between different lightcurve reduction methods. Our calculations indicate the incident flux on this planet was 170$^{+140}_{-60}$ times the incident flux on Earth while the star was on the main sequence. Previous studies suggest that this incident flux is insufficient to delay planetary cooling enough to explain the present planet radius. This system thus provides the first evidence that planets may be inflated directly by incident stellar radiation rather than by delayed loss of heat from formation. Further studies of planets around red giant branch stars will confirm or contradict this hypothesis, and may reveal a new class of re-inflated planets.
We report on the discovery and characterization of the transiting planet K2-39b (EPIC 206247743b). With an orbital period of 4.6 days, it is the shortest-period planet orbiting a subgiant star known to date. Such planets are rare, with only a handful of known cases. The reason for this is poorly understood, but may reflect differences in planet occurrence around the relatively high-mass stars that have been surveyed, or may be the result of tidal destruction of such planets. K2-39 is an evolved star with a spectroscopically derived stellar radius and mass of $3.88^{+0.48}_{-0.42}~mathrm{R_odot}$ and $1.53^{+0.13}_{-0.12}~mathrm{M_odot}$, respectively, and a very close-in transiting planet, with $a/R_star = 3.4$. Radial velocity (RV) follow-up using the HARPS, FIES and PFS instruments leads to a planetary mass of $50.3^{+9.7}_{-9.4}~mathrm{M_oplus}$. In combination with a radius measurement of $8.3 pm 1.1~mathrm{R_oplus}$, this results in a mean planetary density of $0.50^{+0.29}_{-0.17}$ g~cm$^{-3}$. We furthermore discover a long-term RV trend, which may be caused by a long-period planet or stellar companion. Because K2-39b has a short orbital period, its existence makes it seem unlikely that tidal destruction is wholly responsible for the differences in planet populations around subgiant and main-sequence stars. Future monitoring of the transits of this system may enable the detection of period decay and constrain the tidal dissipation rates of subgiant stars.
We present the discovery of WASP-39b, a highly inflated transiting Saturn-mass planet orbiting a late G-type dwarf star with a period of $4.055259 pm 0.000008$,d, Transit Epoch T$_{0}=2455342.9688pm0.0002$,(HJD), of duration $0.1168 pm 0.0008$,d. A combined analysis of the WASP photometry, high-precision follow-up transit photometry, and radial velocities yield a planetary mass of $mpl=0.28pm0.03,mj$ and a radius of $rpl=1.27pm0.04,rj$, resulting in a mean density of $0.14 pm 0.02,rhoj$. The stellar parameters are mass $mstar = 0.93 pm 0.03,msun$, radius $rstar = 0.895pm 0.23,rsun$, and age $9^{+3}_{-4}$,Gyr. Only WASP-17b and WASP-31b have lower densities than WASP-39b, although they are slightly more massive and highly irradiated planets. From our spectral analysis, the metallicity of WASP-39 is measured to be feh,$= -0.12pm0.1$,dex, and we find the planet to have an equilibrium temperature of $1116^{+33}_{-32}$,K,. Both values strengthen the observed empirical correlation between these parameters and the planetary radius for the known transiting Saturn-mass planets.
Statistical analyses from exoplanet surveys around low-mass stars indicate that super-Earth and Neptune-mass planets are more frequent than gas giants around such stars, in agreement with core accretion theory of planet formation. Using precise radial velocities derived from visual and near-infrared spectra, we report the discovery of a giant planet with a minimum mass of 0.46 Jupiter masses in an eccentric 204-day orbit around the very low-mass star GJ 3512. Dynamical models show that the high eccentricity of the orbit is most likely explained from planet-planet interactions. The reported planetary system challenges current formation theories and puts stringent constraints on the accretion and migration rates of planet formation and evolution models, indicating that disc instability may be more efficient in forming planets than previously thought.
We report the discovery of a gas giant planet orbiting a low-mass host star in the microlensing event MOA-bin-29 that occurred in 2006. We find five degenerate solutions with the planet/host-star mass ratio of $q sim 10^{-2}$. The Einstein radius crossing time of all models are relatively short ($sim 4-7$ days), which indicates that the mass of host star is likely low. The measured lens-source proper motion is $5-9$ ${rm mas} {rm yr}^{-1}$ depending on the models. Since only finite source effects are detected, we conduct a Bayesian analysis in order to obtain the posterior probability distribution of the lens physical properties. As a result, we find the lens system is likely to be a gas giant orbiting a brown dwarf or a very late M-dwarf in the Galactic bulge. The probability distributions of the physical parameters for the five degenerate models are consistent within the range of error. By combining these probability distributions, we conclude that the lens system is a gas giant with a mass of $M_{rm p} = 0.63^{+1.13}_{-0.39} M_{rm Jup}$ orbiting a brown dwarf with a mass of $M_{rm h} = 0.06^{+0.11}_{-0.04} M_odot$ at a projected star-planet separation of $r_perp = 0.53^{+0.89}_{-0.18} {rm au}$. The lens distance is $D_{rm L} = 6.89^{+1.19}_{-1.19} {rm kpc}$, i.e., likely within the Galactic bulge.
We report the discovery of a new transiting planet from the WASP survey. WASP-135b is a hot Jupiter with a radius of 1.30 pm 0.09 Rjup, a mass of 1.90 pm 0.08 Mjup and an orbital period of 1.401 days. Its host is a Sun-like star, with a G5 spectral type and a mass and radius of 0.98 pm 0.06 Msun and 0.96 pm 0.05 Rsun respectively. The proximity of the planet to its host means that WASP-135b receives high levels of insolation, which may be the cause of its inflated radius. Additionally, we find weak evidence of a transfer of angular momentum from the planet to its star.