No Arabic abstract
We report the first discovery of a thick-disk planet, LHS 1815b (TOI-704b, TIC 260004324), detected in the TESS survey. LHS 1815b transits a bright (V = 12.19 mag, K = 7.99 mag) and quiet M dwarf located $ 29.87pm0.02 pc$ away with a mass of $0.502pm0.015 M_{odot}$ and a radius of $0.501pm0.030 R_{odot}$. We validate the planet by combining space and ground-based photometry, spectroscopy, and imaging. The planet has a radius of $1.088pm 0.064 R_{oplus}$ with a $3 sigma$ mass upper-limit of $8.7 M_{oplus}$. We analyze the galactic kinematics and orbit of the host star LHS1815 and find that it has a large probability ($P_{thick}/P_{thin} = 6482$) to be in the thick disk with a much higher expected maximal height ($Z_{max} = 1.8 kpc$) above the Galactic plane compared with other TESS planet host stars. Future studies of the interior structure and atmospheric properties of planets in such systems using for example the upcoming James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), can investigate the differences in formation efficiency and evolution for planetary systems between different Galactic components (thick and thin disks, and halo).
We report the discovery of TOI-561, a multi-planet system in the galactic thick disk that contains a rocky, ultra-short period planet (USP). This bright ($V=10.2$) star hosts three small transiting planets identified in photometry from the NASA TESS mission: TOI-561 b (TOI-561.02, P=0.44 days, $R_b = 1.45pm0.11,R_oplus$), c (TOI-561.01, P=10.8 days, $R_c=2.90pm0.13,R_oplus$), and d (TOI-561.03, P=16.3 days, $R_d=2.32pm0.16,R_oplus$). The star is chemically ([Fe/H]$=-0.41pm0.05$, [$alpha$/H]$=+0.23pm0.05$) and kinematically consistent with the galactic thick disk population, making TOI-561 one of the oldest ($10pm3,$Gyr) and most metal-poor planetary systems discovered yet. We dynamically confirm planets b and c with radial velocities from the W. M. Keck Observatory High Resolution Echelle Spectrometer. Planet b has a mass and density of $3.2pm0.8,M_oplus$ and $5.5^{+2.0}_{-1.6},$g$,$cm$^{-3}$, consistent with a rocky composition. Its lower-than-average density is consistent with an iron-poor composition, although an Earth-like iron-to-silicates ratio is not ruled out. Planet c is $7.0pm2.3,M_oplus$ and $1.6pm0.6,$g$,$cm$^{-3}$, consistent with an interior rocky core overlaid with a low-mass volatile envelope. Several attributes of the photometry for planet d (which we did not detect dynamically) complicate the analysis, but we vet the planet with high-contrast imaging, ground-based photometric follow-up and radial velocities. TOI-561 b is the first rocky world around a galactic thick-disk star confirmed with radial velocities and one of the best rocky planets for thermal emission studies.
We present the results from the first two years of the Planet Hunters TESS citizen science project, which identifies planet candidates in the TESS data by engaging members of the general public. Over 22,000 citizen scientists from around the world visually inspected the first 26 Sectors of TESS data in order to help identify transit-like signals. We use a clustering algorithm to combine these classifications into a ranked list of events for each sector, the top 500 of which are then visually vetted by the science team. We assess the detection efficiency of this methodology by comparing our results to the list of TESS Objects of Interest (TOIs) and show that we recover 85 % of the TOIs with radii greater than 4 Earth radii and 51 % of those with radii between 3 and 4 Earth radii. Additionally, we present our 90 most promising planet candidates that had not previously been identified by other teams, 73 of which exhibit only a single transit event in the TESS light curve, and outline our efforts to follow these candidates up using ground-based observatories. Finally, we present noteworthy stellar systems that were identified through the Planet Hunters TESS project.
We present $Spitzer$ 4.5$mu$m observations of the transit of TOI-700 d, a habitable zone Earth-sized planet in a multiplanet system transiting a nearby M-dwarf star (TIC 150428135, 2MASS J06282325-6534456). TOI-700 d has a radius of $1.144^{+0.062}_{-0.061}R_oplus$ and orbits within its host stars conservative habitable zone with a period of 37.42 days ($T_mathrm{eq} sim 269$K). TOI-700 also hosts two small inner planets (R$_b$=$1.037^{+0.065}_{-0.064}R_oplus$ & R$_c$=$2.65^{+0.16}_{-0.15}R_oplus$) with periods of 9.98 and 16.05 days, respectively. Our $Spitzer$ observations confirm the TESS detection of TOI-700 d and remove any remaining doubt that it is a genuine planet. We analyze the $Spitzer$ light curve combined with the 11 sectors of TESS observations and a transit of TOI-700 c from the LCOGT network to determine the full system parameters. Although studying the atmosphere of TOI-700 d is not likely feasible with upcoming facilities, it may be possible to measure the mass of TOI-700 d using state-of-the-art radial velocity instruments (expected RV semi-amplitude of $sim$70 cm/s).
Sulphur-bearing volatiles are observed to be significantly depleted in interstellar and circumstellar regions. This missing sulphur is postulated to be mostly locked up in refractory form. With ALMA we have detected sulphur monoxide (SO), a known shock tracer, in the HD 100546 protoplanetary disk. Two rotational transitions: $J=7_{7}-6_{6}$ (301.286 GHz) and $J=7_8-6_7$ (304.078 GHz) are detected in their respective integrated intensity maps. The stacking of these transitions results in a clear 5$sigma$ detection in the stacked line profile. The emission is compact but is spectrally resolved and the line profile has two components. One component peaks at the source velocity and the other is blue-shifted by 5 km s$^{-1}$. The kinematics and spatial distribution of the SO emission are not consistent with that expected from a purely Keplerian disk. We detect additional blue-shifted emission that we attribute to a disk wind. The disk component was simulated using LIME and a physical disk structure. The disk emission is asymmetric and best fit by a wedge of emission in the north east region of the disk coincident with a `hot-spot observed in the CO $J=3-2$ line. The favoured hypothesis is that a possible inner disk warp (seen in CO emission) directly exposes the north-east side of the disk to heating by the central star, creating locally the conditions to launch a disk wind. Chemical models of a disk wind will help to elucidate why the wind is particularly highlighted in SO emission and whether a refractory source of sulphur is needed. An alternative explanation is that the SO is tracing an accretion shock from a circumplanetary disk associated with the proposed protoplanet embedded in the disk at 50 au. We also report a non-detection of SO in the protoplanetary disk around HD 97048.
We analyze the highest-resolution millimeter continuum and near-infrared (NIR) scattered-light images presented to date of the circumbinary disk orbiting V4046 Sgr, a ~20 Myr old actively accreting, close binary T Tauri star system located a mere 72.4 pc from Earth. We observed the disk with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) at 870-micron during Cycle 4, and we analyze these data in conjunction with archival NIR (H band) polarimetric images obtained with SPHERE/IRDIS on the ESO Very Large Telescope. At 0.3 (20 au) resolution, the 870-micron image reveals a marginally resolved ring that peaks at ~32 au and has an extension of ~ 90 au. We infer a lower limit on dust mass of ~ 60.0 M_earth within the 870-micron ring, and confirm that the ring is well aligned with the larger-scale gaseous disk. A second, inner dust ring is also tentatively detected in the ALMA observations; its position appears coincident with the inner (~14 au radius) ring detected in scattered light. Using synthetic 870 micron and H-band images obtained from disk-planet interaction simulations, we attempt to constrain the mass of the putative planet orbiting at 20 au. Our trials suggest that a circumbinary Jovian-mass planet may be responsible for generating the dust ring and gap structures detected within the disk. We discuss the longevity of the gas-rich disk orbiting V4046 Sgr in the context of the binary nature of the system.