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Register a new userSpeckle Observations of TESS Exoplanet Host Stars. II. Stellar Companions at 1-1000 AU and Implications for Small Planet Detection
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We present high angular resolution imaging observations of 517 host stars of TESS exoplanet candidates using the `Alopeke and Zorro speckle cameras at Gemini North and South. The sample consists mainly of bright F, G, K stars at distances of less than 500 pc. Our speckle observations span angular resolutions of ~20 mas out to 1.2 arcsec, yielding spatial resolutions of <10 to 500 AU for most stars, and our contrast limits can detect companion stars 5-9 magnitudes fainter than the primary at optical wavelengths. We detect 102 close stellar companions and determine the separation, magnitude difference, mass ratio, and estimated orbital period for each system. Our observations of exoplanet host star binaries reveal that they have wider separations than field binaries, with a mean orbital semi-major axis near 100 AU. Other imaging studies have suggested this dearth of very closely separated binaries in systems which host exoplanets, but incompleteness at small separations makes it difficult to disentangle unobserved companions from a true lack of companions. With our improved angular resolution and sensitivity, we confirm that this lack of close exoplanet host binaries is indeed real. We also search for a correlation between planetary orbital radii vs. binary star separation, but given the very short orbital periods of the TESS planets, we do not find any clear trend. We do note that in exoplanet systems containing binary host stars, there is an observational bias against detecting Earth-size planet transits due to transit depth dilution caused by the companion star.
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Given the frequency of stellar multiplicity in the solar neighborhood, it is important to study the impacts this can have on exoplanet properties and orbital dynamics. There have been numerous imaging survey projects established to detect possible low-mass stellar companions to exoplanet host stars. Here we provide the results from a systematic speckle imaging survey of known exoplanet host stars. In total, 71 stars were observed at 692~nm and 880~nm bands using the Differential Speckle Survey Instrument (DSSI) at the Gemini-North Observatory. Our results show that all but 2 of the stars included in this sample have no evidence of stellar companions with luminosities down to the detection and projected separation limits of our instrumentation. The mass-luminosity relationship is used to estimate the maximum mass a stellar companion can have without being detected. These results are used to discuss the potential for further radial velocity follow-up and interpretation of companion signals.
We present an in-depth analysis of stellar activity and its effects on radial velocity (RV) for the M2 dwarf GJ 176 based on spectra taken over 10 years from the High Resolution Spectrograph on the Hobby-Eberly Telescope. These data are supplemented with spectra from previous observations with the HIRES and HARPS spectrographs, and V- and R-band photometry taken over 6 years at the Dyer and Fairborn observatories. Previous studies of GJ 176 revealed a super-Earth exoplanet in an 8.8-day orbit. However, the velocities of this star are also known to be contaminated by activity, particularly at the 39-day stellar rotation period. We have examined the magnetic activity of GJ 176 using the sodium I D lines, which have been shown to be a sensitive activity tracer in cool stars. In addition to rotational modulation, we see evidence of a long-term trend in our Na I D index, which may be part of a long-period activity cycle. The sodium index is well correlated with our RVs, and we show that this activity trend drives a corresponding slope in RV. Interestingly, the rotation signal remains in phase in photometry, but not in the spectral activity indicators. We interpret this phenomenon as the result of one or more large spot complexes or active regions which dominate the photometric variability, while the spectral indices are driven by the overall magnetic activity across the stellar surface. In light of these results, we discuss the potential for correcting activity signals in the RVs of M dwarfs.
The vast majority of extrasolar planets are detected by indirect detection methods such as transit monitoring and radial velocity measurements. While these methods are very successful in detecting short-periodic planets, they are mostly blind to wide sub-stellar or even stellar companions on long orbits. In our study we present high resolution imaging observations of 63 exoplanet hosts carried out with the lucky imaging instrument AstraLux at the Calar Alto 2.2m telescope as well as with the new SPHERE high resolution adaptive optics imager at the ESO/VLT in the case of a known companion of specific interest. Our goal is to study the influence of stellar multiplicity on the planet formation process. We detected and confirmed 4 previously unknown stellar companions to the exoplanet hosts HD197037, HD217786, Kepler-21 and Kepler-68. In addition, we detected 11 new low-mass stellar companion candidates which must still be confirmed as bound companions. We also provide new astrometric and photometric data points for the recently discovered very close binary systems WASP-76 and HD2638. Furthermore, we show for the first time that the previously detected stellar companion to the HD185269 system is a very low mass binary. Finally we provide precise constraints on additional companions for all observed stars in our sample.
In this work we quantify the effect of an unresolved companion star on the derived stellar parameters of the primary star if a blended spectrum is fit assuming the star is single. Fitting tools that determine stellar parameters from spectra typically fit for a single star, but we know that up to half of all exoplanet host stars may have one or more companion stars. We use high-resolution spectra of planet host stars in the Kepler field from the California-Kepler Survey to create simulated binaries; we select 8 stellar pairs and vary the contribution of the secondary star, then determine stellar parameters with SpecMatch-Emp and compare them to the parameters derived for the primary star alone. We find that in most cases the effective temperature, surface gravity, metallicity, and stellar radius derived from the composite spectrum are within 2-3 $sigma$ of the values determined from the unblended spectrum, but the deviations depend on the properties of the two stars. Relatively bright companion stars that are similar to the primary star have the largest effect on the derived parameters; in these cases the stellar radii can be overestimated by up to 60%. We find that metallicities are generally underestimated, with values up to 8 times smaller than the typical uncertainty in [Fe/H]. Our study shows that follow-up observations are necessary to detect or set limits on stellar companions of planetary host stars so that stellar (and planet) parameters are as accurate as possible.
The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) is an all-sky survey mission aiming to search for exoplanets that transit bright stars. The high-quality photometric data of TESS are excellent for the asteroseismic study of solar-like stars. In this work, we present an asteroseismic analysis of the red-giant star HD~222076 hosting a long-period (2.4 yr) giant planet discovered through radial velocities. Solar-like oscillations of HD~222076 are detected around $203 , mu$Hz by TESS for the first time. Asteroseismic modeling, using global asteroseismic parameters as input, yields a determination of the stellar mass ($M_star = 1.12 pm 0.12, M_odot$), radius ($R_star = 4.34 pm 0.21,R_odot$), and age ($7.4 pm 2.7,$Gyr), with precisions greatly improved from previous studies. The period spacing of the dipolar mixed modes extracted from the observed power spectrum reveals that the star is on the red-giant branch burning hydrogen in a shell surrounding the core. We find that the planet will not escape the tidal pull of the star and be engulfed into it within about $800,$Myr, before the tip of the red-giant branch is reached.
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