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Register a new userTrapping low-mass planets at the inner edge of the protostellar disc
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The formation of multiple close-in low-mass exoplanets is still a mystery. The challenge is to build a system wherein the outermost planet is beyond 0.2 AU from the star. Here we investigate how the prescription for type I planet migration affects the ability to trap multiple planets in a resonant chain near the inner edge of the protostellar disc. A sharp edge modelled as a hyperbolic tangent function coupled with supersonic corrections to the classical type I migration torques results in the innermost planets being pushed inside the cavity through resonant interaction with farther planets because migration is starward at slightly supersonic eccentricities. Planets below a few Earth masses are generally trapped in a resonant chain with the outermost planet near the disc edge, but long-term stability is not guaranteed. For more massive planets the migration is so fast that the eccentricity of the innermost resonant pair is excited to highly supersonic levels due to decreased damping on the innermost planet as it is pushed inside the cavity; collisions frequently occur and the system consists one or two intermediate-mass planets residing closer to the star than the discs inner edge. We found a neat pileup of resonant planets outside the disc edge only if the corotation torque does not rapidly diminish at high eccentricity. We call for detailed studies on planet migration near the discs inner edge, which is still uncertain, and for an improved understanding of eccentricity damping and disc torques in the supersonic regime.
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I discuss the role that disc fragmentation plays in the formation of gas giant and terrestrial planets, and how this relates to the formation of brown dwarfs and low-mass stars, and ultimately to the process of star formation. Protostellar discs may fragment, if they are massive enough and can cool fast enough, but most of the objects that form by fragmentation are brown dwarfs. It may be possible that planets also form, if the mass growth of a proto-fragment is stopped (e.g. if this fragment is ejected from the disc), or suppressed and even reversed (e.g by tidal stripping). I will discuss if it is possible to distinguish whether a planet has formed by disc fragmentation or core accretion, and mention of a few examples of observed exoplanets that are suggestive of formation by disc fragmentation .
We report the discovery of two new transiting extrasolar planets orbiting moderately bright (V = 10.7 and 12.2 mag) F stars (masses of 1.39 Msun and 1.10 Msun, respectively). The planets have periods of P = 4.7322 d and 4.4087 d, and masses of 0.21 MJ and 0.17 MJ which are almost half-way between those of Neptune and Saturn. With radii of 1.31 RJ and 1.13 RJ, these very low density planets are the two lowest mass planets with radii in excess that of Jupiter. Comparing with other recent planet discoveries, we find that sub-Saturns (0.18MJ < Mp < 0.3MJ) and super-Neptunes (0.05MJ < Mp < 0.18MJ) exhibit a wide range of radii, and their radii exhibit a weaker correlation with irradiation than higher mass planets. The two planets are both suitable for measuring the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect and for atmospheric characterization. Measuring the former effect would allow an interesting test of the theory that star-planet tidal interactions are responsible for the tendency of close-in giant planets around convective envelope stars to be on low obliquity orbits. Both planets fall on the edge of the short period Neptunian desert in the semi-major axis-mass plane.
As planets grow the exchange of angular momentum with the gaseous component of the protoplanetary disc produces a net torque resulting in a variation of the semi-major axis of the planet. For low-mass planets not able to open a gap in the gaseous disc this regime is known as type I migration. Pioneer works studied this mechanism in isothermal discs finding fast inward type I migration rates that were unable to reproduce the observed properties of extrasolar planets. In the last years, several improvements have been made in order to extend the study of type I migration rates to non-isothermal discs. Moreover, it was recently shown that if the planets luminosity due to solid accretion is taken into account, inward migration could be slowed down and even reversed. In this work, we study the planet formation process incorporating, and comparing, updated type I migration rates for non-isothermal discs and the role of planets luminosity over such rates. We find that the latter can have important effects on planetary evolution, producing a significant outward migration for the growing planets.
Giant exoplanets on wide orbits have been directly imaged around young stars. If the thermal background in the mid-infrared can be mitigated, then exoplanets with lower masses can also be imaged. Here we present a ground-based mid-infrared observing approach that enables imaging low-mass temperate exoplanets around nearby stars, and in particular within the closest stellar system, Alpha Centauri. Based on 75-80% of the best quality images from 100 hours of cumulative observations, we demonstrate sensitivity to warm sub-Neptune-sized planets throughout much of the habitable zone of Alpha Centauri A. This is an order of magnitude more sensitive than state-of-the-art exoplanet imaging mass detection limits. We also discuss a possible exoplanet or exozodiacal disk detection around Alpha Centauri A. However, an instrumental artifact of unknown origin cannot be ruled out. These results demonstrate the feasibility of imaging rocky habitable-zone exoplanets with current and upcoming telescopes.
Short-period super-Earths and Neptunes are now known to be very frequent around solar-type stars. Improving our understanding of these mysterious planets requires the detection of a significant sample of objects suitable for detailed characterization. Searching for the transits of the low-mass planets detected by Doppler surveys is a straightforward way to achieve this goal. Indeed, Doppler surveys target the most nearby main-sequence stars, they regularly detect close-in low-mass planets with significant transit probability, and their radial velocity data constrain strongly the ephemeris of possible transits. In this context, we initiated in 2010 an ambitious Spitzer multi-Cycle transit search project that targeted 25 low-mass planets detected by radial velocity, focusing mainly on the shortest-period planets detected by the HARPS spectrograph. We report here null results for 19 targets of the project. For 16 planets out of 19, a transiting configuration is strongly disfavored or firmly rejected by our data for most planetary compositions. We derive a posterior probability of 83% that none of the probed 19 planets transits (for a prior probability of 22%), which still leaves a significant probability of 17% that at least one of them does transit. Globally, our Spitzer project revealed or confirmed transits for three of its 25 targeted planets, and discarded or disfavored the transiting nature of 20 of them. Our light curves demonstrate for Warm Spitzer excellent photometric precisions: for 14 targets out of 19, we were able to reach standard deviations that were better than 50ppm per 30 min intervals. Combined with its Earth-trailing orbit, which makes it capable of pointing any star in the sky and to monitor it continuously for days, this work confirms Spitzer as an optimal instrument to detect sub-mmag-deep transits on the bright nearby stars targeted by Doppler surveys.
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