No Arabic abstract
Even though tens of directly imaged companions have been discovered in the past decades, the number of directly confirmed multiplanet systems is still small. Dynamical analysis of these systems imposes important constraints on formation mechanisms of these wide-orbit companions. As part of the Young Suns Exoplanet Survey (YSES) we report the detection of a second planetary-mass companion around the 17 Myr-old, solar-type star TYC 8998-760-1 that is located in the Lower Centaurus Crux subgroup of the Scorpius-Centaurus association. The companion has a projected physical separation of 320 au and several individual photometric measurements from 1.1 to 3.8 microns constrain a companion mass of $6pm1,M_mathrm{Jup}$, which is equivalent to a mass ratio of $q=0.57pm0.10%$ with respect to the primary. With the previously detected $14pm3,M_mathrm{Jup}$ companion that is orbiting the primary at 160 au, TYC 8998-760-1 is the first directly imaged multiplanet system that is detected around a young, solar analog. We show that circular orbits are stable, but that mildly eccentric orbits for either/both components ($e > 0.1$) are chaotic on Gyr timescales, implying in-situ formation or a very specific ejection by an unseen third companion. Due to the wide separations of the companions TYC 8998-760-1 is an excellent system for spectroscopic and photometric follow-up with space-based observatories such as the James Webb Space Telescope.
Directly imaged planets are self-luminous companions of pre-main sequence and young main sequence stars. They reside in wider orbits ($sim10mathrm{s}-1000mathrm{s}$~AU) and generally are more massive compared to the close-in ($lesssim 10$~AU) planets. Determining the host star properties of these outstretched planetary systems is important to understand and discern various planet formation and evolution scenarios. We present the stellar parameters and metallicity ([Fe/H]) for a subsample of 18 stars known to host planets discovered by the direct imaging technique. We retrieved the high-resolution spectra for these stars from public archives and used the synthetic spectral fitting technique and Bayesian analysis to determine the stellar properties in a uniform and consistent way. For eight sources, the metallicities are reported for the first time, while the results are consistent with the previous estimates for the other sources. Our analysis shows that metallicities of stars hosting directly imaged planets are close to solar with a mean [Fe/H] = $-0.04pm0.27$~dex. The large scatter in metallicity suggests that a metal-rich environment may not be necessary to form massive planets at large orbital distances. We also find that the planet mass-host star metallicity relation for the directly imaged massive planets in wide-orbits is very similar to that found for the well studied population of short period ($lesssim 1$~yr) super-Jupiters and brown-dwarfs around main-sequence stars.
Abbreviated. By selecting stars with similar ages and masses, the Young Suns Exoplanet Survey (YSES) aims to detect and characterize planetary-mass companions to solar-type host stars in the Scorpius-Centaurus association. Our survey is carried out with VLT/SPHERE with short exposure sequences on the order of 5 min per star per filter. The subtraction of the stellar point spread function (PSF) is based on reference star differential imaging (RDI) using the other targets in the survey in combination with principal component analysis. We report the discovery of YSES 2b, a planetary-mass companion to the K1 star YSES 2 (TYC 8984-2245-1). The primary has a Gaia EDR3 distance of 110 pc, and we derive a revised mass of $1.1,M_odot$ and an age of approximately 14 Myr. We detect the companion in two observing epochs southwest of the star at a position angle of 205$^circ$ and with a separation of $sim1.05$, which translates to a minimum physical separation of 115 au at the distance of the system. We derive a photometric planet mass of $6.3^{+1.6}_{-0.9},M_mathrm{Jup}$ using AMES-COND and AMES-dusty evolutionary models; this mass corresponds to a mass ratio of $q=(0.5pm0.1)$% with the primary. This is the lowest mass ratio of a direct imaging planet around a solar-type star to date. We discuss potential formation mechanisms and find that the current position of the planet is compatible with formation by disk gravitational instability, but its mass is lower than expected from numerical simulations. Formation via core accretion must have occurred closer to the star, yet we do not find evidence that supports the required outward migration, such as via scattering off another undiscovered companion in the system. YSES 2b is an ideal target for follow-up observations to further the understanding of the physical and chemical formation mechanisms of wide-orbit Jovian planets.
Exoplanets orbiting pre-main sequence stars are laboratories for studying planet evolution processes, including atmospheric loss, orbital migration, and radiative cooling. V1298 Tau, a young solar analog with an age of 23 $pm$ 4 Myr, is one such laboratory. The star is already known to host a Jupiter-sized planet on a 24 day orbit. Here, we report the discovery of three additional planets --- all between the size of Neptune and Saturn --- based on our analysis of K2 Campaign 4 photometry. Planets c and d have sizes of 5.6 and 6.4 $R_oplus$, respectively and with orbital periods of 8.25 and 12.40 days reside 0.25% outside of the nominal 3:2 mean-motion resonance. Planet e is 8.7 $R_oplus$ in size but only transited once in the K2 time series and thus has a period longer than 36 days, but likely shorter than 223 days. The V1298 Tau system may be a precursor to the compact multiplanet systems found to be common by the Kepler mission. However, the large planet sizes stand in sharp contrast to the vast majority of Kepler multis which have planets smaller than 3 $R_oplus$. Simple dynamical arguments suggest total masses of $<$28 $M_oplus$ and $<$120 $M_oplus$ for the c-d and d-b planet pairs, respectively. The implied low masses suggest that the planets may still be radiatively cooling and contracting, and perhaps losing atmosphere. The V1298 Tau system offers rich prospects for further follow-up including atmospheric characterization by transmission or eclipse spectroscopy, dynamical characterization through transit-timing variations, and measurements of planet masses and obliquities by radial velocities.
Fewer giants planets are found around M dwarfs than around more massive stars, and this dependence of planetary characteristics on the mass of the central star is an important observational diagnostic of planetary formation theories. In part to improve on those statistics, we are monitoring the radial velocities of nearby M dwarfs with the HARPS spectrograph on the ESO 3.6 m telescope. We present here the detection of giant planets around two nearby M0 dwarfs: planets, with minimum masses of respectively 5 Jupiter masses and 1 Saturn mass, orbit around Gl 676A and HIP 12961. The latter is, by over a factor of two, the most massive planet found by radial velocity monitoring of an M dwarf, but its being found around an early M-dwarf is in approximate line with the upper envelope of the planetary vs stellar mass diagram. HIP 12961 ([Fe/H]=-0.07) is slightly more metal-rich than the average solar neighborhood ([Fe/H]=-0.17), and Gl 676A ([Fe/H=0.18) significantly so. The two stars together therefore reinforce the growing trend for giant planets being more frequent around more metal-rich M dwarfs, and the 5~Jupiter mass Gl 676Ab being found around a metal-rich star is consistent with the expectation that the most massive planets preferentially form in disks with large condensate masses.
HIP 65426 b is a recently discovered exoplanet imaged during the course of the SPHERE-SHINE survey. Here we present new $L$ and $M$ observations of the planet from the NACO instrument at the VLT from the NACO-ISPY survey, as well as a new $Y-H$ spectrum and $K$-band photometry from SPHERE-SHINE. Using these data, we confirm the nature of the companion as a warm, dusty planet with a mid-L spectral type. From comparison of its SED with the BT-Settl atmospheric models, we derive a best-fit effective temperature of $T_{text{eff}}=1618pm7$ K, surface gravity $log g=3.78^{+0.04}_{-0.03}$ and radius $R=1.17pm0.04$ $R_{text{J}}$ (statistical uncertainties only). Using the DUSTY and COND isochrones we estimate a mass of $8pm1$ $M_{text{J}}$. Combining the astrometric measurements from our new datasets and from the literature, we show the first indications of orbital motion of the companion (2.6$sigma$ significance) and derive preliminary orbital constraints. We find a highly inclined orbit ($i=107^{+13}_{-10}$ deg) with an orbital period of $800^{+1200}_{-400}$ yr. We also report SPHERE sparse aperture masking observations that investigate the possibility that HIP 65426 b was scattered onto its current orbit by an additional companion at a smaller orbital separation. From this data we rule out the presence of brown dwarf companions with masses greater than 16 $M_{text{J}}$ at separations larger than 3 AU, significantly narrowing the parameter space for such a companion.