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Register a new userALMA observations of the nearby AGB star L2 Puppis - I. Mass of the central star and detection of a candidate planet
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Six billion years from now, while evolving on the asymptotic giant branch (AGB), the Sun will metamorphose from a red giant into a beautiful planetary nebula. This spectacular evolution will impact the Solar System planets, but observational confirmations of the predictions of evolution models are still elusive as no planet orbiting an AGB star has yet been discovered. The nearby AGB red giant L2 Puppis (d = 64 pc) is surrounded by an almost edge-on circumstellar dust disk. We report new observations with ALMA at very high angular resolution (18 x 15 mas) in band 7 (f ~ 350 GHz) that allow us to resolve the velocity profile of the molecular disk. We establish that the gas velocity profile is Keplerian within the central cavity of the dust disk, allowing us to derive the mass of the central star L2 Pup A, mA = 0.659 +/- 0.011 +/- 0.041 Msun (+/- 6.6%). From evolutionary models, we determine that L2 Pup A had a near-solar main sequence mass, and is therefore a close analog of the future Sun in 5 to 6 Gyr. The continuum map reveals the presence of a secondary source (B) at a radius of 2 AU contributing fB/ fA = 1.3 +/- 0.1% of the flux of the AGB star. L2 Pup B is also detected in CO emission lines at a radial velocity of vB = 12.2 +/- 1.0 km/s. The close coincidence of the center of rotation of the gaseous disk with the position of the continuum emission from the AGB star allows us to constrain the mass of the companion to mB = 12 +/- 16 MJup. L2 Pup B is most likely a planet or low mass brown dwarf with an orbital period around 5 years. Its continuum brightness and molecular emission suggest that it may be surrounded by an extended molecular atmosphere or an accretion disk. L2 Pup therefore emerges as a promising vantage point on the distant future of our Solar System.
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The circumstellar environment of L2 Pup, an oxygen-rich semiregular variable, was observed to understand the evolution of mass loss and the shaping of ejecta in the late stages of stellar evolution. High-angular resolution observations from a single 8 m telescope were obtained using aperture masking in the near-infrared (1.64, 2.30 and 3.74 $rmmu m$) on the NACO/VLT, both in imaging and polarimetric modes. The aperture-masking images of L2 Pup at 2.30 $rmmu m$ show a resolved structure that resembles a toroidal structure with a major axis of ~140 milliarcseconds (mas) and an east-west orientation. Two clumps can be seen on either side of the star, ~65 mas from the star, beyond the edge of the circumstellar envelope (estimated diameter is ~27 mas), while a faint, hook-like structure appear toward the northeast. The patterns are visible both in the imaging and polarimetric mode, although the latter was only used to measure the total intensity (Stokes I). The overall shape of the structure is similar at the 3.74 $rmmu m$ pseudo-continuum (dust emission), where the clumps appear to be embedded within a dark, dusty lane. The faint, hook-like patterns are also seen at this wavelength, extending northeast and southwest with the central, dark lane being an apparent axis of symmetry. We interpret the structure as a circumstellar torus with inner radius of 4.2 au. With a rotation velocity of 10 km s$^{-1}$ as suggested by the SiO maser profile, we estimate a stellar mass of 0.7 M$_odot$.}
We measured the chromospheric activity of the four hot Jupiter hosts WASP-43, WASP-51/HAT-P-30, WASP-72 & WASP-103 to search for anomalous values caused by the close-in companions. The Mount Wilson Ca II H&K S-index was calculated for each star using observations taken with the Robert Stobie Spectrograph at the Southern African Large Telescope. The activity level of WASP-43 is anomalously high relative to its age and falls among the highest values of all known main sequence stars. We found marginal evidence that the activity of WASP-103 is also higher than expected from the system age. We suggest that for WASP-43 and WASP-103 star-planet interactions (SPI) may enhance the Ca II H&K core emission. The activity levels of WASP-51/HAT-P-30 and WASP-72 are anomalously low, with the latter falling below the basal envelope for both main sequence and evolved stars. This can be attributed to circumstellar absorption due to planetary mass loss, though absorption in the ISM may contribute. A quarter of known short period planet hosts exhibit anomalously low activity levels, including systems with hot Jupiters and low mass companions. Since SPI can elevate and absorption can suppress the observed chromospheric activity of stars with close-in planets, their Ca II H&K activity levels are an unreliable age indicator. Systems where the activity is depressed by absorption from planetary mass loss are key targets for examining planet compositions through transmission spectroscopy.
We study the sub-Keplerian rotation and dust content of the circumstellar material around the asymptotic giant branch (AGB) star L$_2$ Puppis. We find that the thermal pressure gradient alone cannot explain the observed rotation profile. We find that there is a family of possible dust populations for which radiation pressure can drive the observed sub-Keplerian rotation. This set of solutions is further constrained by the spectral energy distribution (SED) of the system, and we find that a dust-to-gas mass ratio of $sim10^{-3}$ and a maximum grain size that decreases radially outwards can satisfy both the rotation curve and SED. These dust populations are dynamically tightly coupled to the gas azimuthally. However grains larger than $sim0.5mu$m are driven outward radially by radiation pressure at velocities $sim5$kms$^{-1}$, which implies a dust replenishment rate of $sim3times10^{-9}$M$_odot$yr$^{-1}$. This replenishment rate is consistent with observational estimates to within uncertainties. Coupling between the radial motion of the dust and gas is weak and hence the gas does not share in this rapid outward motion. Overall we conclude that radiation pressure is a capable and necessary mechanism to explain the observed rotation profile of L$_2$ Pup, and offers other additional constraints on the dust properties.
Aims. The carbon-rich asymptotic giant branch (AGB) star TX Piscium (TX Psc) has been observed multiple times during multiple epochs and at different wavelengths and resolutions, showing a complex molecular CO line profile and a ring-like structure in thermal dust emission. We investigate the molecular counterpart in high resolution, aiming to resolve the ring-like structure and identify its origin. Methods. Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) observations have been carried out to map the circumstellar envelope (CSE) of TX Psc in CO(2-1) emission and investigate the counterpart to the ring-like dust structure. Results. We report the detection of a thin, irregular, and elliptical detached molecular shell around TX Psc, which coincides with the dust emission. This is the first discovery of a non-spherically symmetric detached shell, raising questions about the shaping of detached shells. Conclusions. We investigate possible shaping mechanisms for elliptical detached shells and find that in the case of TX Psc, stellar rotation of 2 km/s can lead to a non-uniform mass-loss rate and velocity distribution from stellar pole to equator, recreating the elliptical CSE. We discuss the possible scenarios for increased stellar momentum, enabling the rotation rates needed to reproduce the ellipticity of our observations, and come to the conclusion that momentum transfer of an orbiting object with the mass of a brown dwarf would be sufficient.
M-dwarf stars -- hydrogen-burning stars that are smaller than 60 per cent of the size of the Sun -- are the most common class of star in our Galaxy and outnumber Sun-like stars by a ratio of 12:1. Recent results have shown that M dwarfs host Earth-sized planets in great numbers: the average number of M-dwarf planets that are between 0.5 to 1.5 times the size of Earth is at least 1.4 per star. The nearest such planets known to transit their star are 39 parsecs away, too distant for detailed follow-up observations to measure the planetary masses or to study their atmospheres. Here we report observations of GJ 1132b, a planet with a size of 1.2 Earth radii that is transiting a small star 12 parsecs away. Our Doppler mass measurement of GJ 1132b yields a density consistent with an Earth-like bulk composition, similar to the compositions of the six known exoplanets with masses less than six times that of the Earth and precisely measured densities. Receiving 19 times more stellar radiation than the Earth, the planet is too hot to be habitable but is cool enough to support a substantial atmosphere, one that has probably been considerably depleted of hydrogen. Because the host star is nearby and only 21 per cent the radius of the Sun, existing and upcoming telescopes will be able to observe the composition and dynamics of the planetary atmosphere.
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