Context. Planetary companions of a fixed mass induce larger amplitude reflex motions around lower-mass stars, which helps make M dwarfs excellent targets for extra-solar planet searches. State of the art velocimeters with $sim$1m/s stability can dete
ct very low-mass planets out to the habitable zone of these stars. Low-mass, small, planets are abundant around M dwarfs, and most known potentially habitable planets orbit one of these cool stars. Aims. Our M-dwarf radial velocity monitoring with HARPS on the ESO 3.6m telescope at La Silla observatory makes a major contribution to this sample. Methods. We present here dense radial velocity (RV) time series for three M dwarfs observed over $sim5$ years: GJ 3293 (0.42M$_odot$), GJ 3341 (0.47M$_odot$), and GJ 3543 (0.45M$_odot$). We extract those RVs through minimum $chi^2$ matching of each spectrum against a high S/N ratio stack of all observed spectra for the same star. We then vet potential orbital signals against several stellar activity indicators, to disentangle the Keplerian variations induced by planets from the spurious signals which result from rotational modulation of stellar surface inhomogeneities and from activity cycles. Results. Two Neptune-mass planets - $msin(i)=1.4pm0.1$ and $1.3pm0.1M_{nept}$ - orbit GJ 3293 with periods $P=30.60pm0.02$ d and $P=123.98pm0.38$ d, possibly together with a super-Earth - $msin(i)sim7.9pm1.4M_oplus$ - with period $P=48.14pm0.12;d$. A super-Earth - $msin(i)sim6.1M_oplus$ - orbits GJ 3341 with $P=14.207pm0.007;d$. The RV variations of GJ 3543, on the other hand, reflect its stellar activity rather than planetary signals.
SPIRou is a near-infrared (nIR) spectropolarimeter / velocimeter proposed as a new-generation instrument for CFHT. SPIRou aims in particular at becoming world-leader on two forefront science topics, (i) the quest for habitable Earth-like planets arou
nd very- low-mass stars, and (ii) the study of low-mass star and planet formation in the presence of magnetic fields. In addition to these two main goals, SPIRou will be able to tackle many key programs, from weather patterns on brown dwarf to solar-system planet atmospheres, to dynamo processes in fully-convective bodies and planet habitability. The science programs that SPIRou proposes to tackle are forefront (identified as first priorities by most research agencies worldwide), ambitious (competitive and complementary with science programs carried out on much larger facilities, such as ALMA and JWST) and timely (ideally phased with complementary space missions like TESS and CHEOPS). SPIRou is designed to carry out its science mission with maximum efficiency and optimum precision. More specifically, SPIRou will be able to cover a very wide single-shot nIR spectral domain (0.98-2.35 mu m) at a resolving power of 73.5K, providing unpolarized and polarized spectra of low-mass stars with a ~15% average throughput and a radial velocity (RV) precision of 1 m/s.
Near-IR atomic and molecular transitions are powerful tools to trace the warm and hot gas in the circumstellar environment of young stars. Ro-vibrational transitions of H2 and H2O, and overtone transitions of CO at 2 micron centered at the stellar ve
locity trace hot (T~1500 K) gas in the inner few AU of protoplanetary disks. H2 near-IR lines displaying a blueshift of a few km/s probe molecular disk winds. H2 lines presenting blueshifts of hundreds of km/s reveal hot shocked gas in jets. Atomic lines such as the HeI line at 10830 A and the Hydrogen Paschen beta and Brakett gamma lines trace emission from accretion funnel flows and atomic disk winds. Bright forbidden atomic lines in the near-IR of species such as [Fe II], [N I], [S I], [S II], and [C I] trace atomic and ionized material in jets. The new near-IR high resolution spectrograph SPIROU planned for the Canada France Hawaii Telescope will offer the unique capability of combining high-spectral resolution (R~75000) with a large wavelength coverage (0.98 to 2.35 micron) in one single exposure. This will provide us with the means of probing accretion funnel flows, winds, jets, and hot gas in the inner disk simultaneously. This opens the exiting possibility of investigating their combined behavior in time by the means of monitoring observations and systematic surveys. SPIROU will be a powerful tool to progress our understanding of the connexion between the accretion/ejection process, disk evolution, and planet formation.
(Abridged) Searching for planets around stars with different masses probes the outcome of planetary formation for different initial conditions. This drives observations of a sample of 102 southern nearby M dwarfs, using a fraction of our guaranteed t
ime on the ESO/HARPS spectrograph (Feb. 11th, 2003 to Apr. 1st 2009). This paper makes available the samples time series, presents their precision and variability. We apply systematic searches and diagnostics to discriminate whether the observed Doppler shifts are caused by stellar surface inhomogeneities or by the radial pull of orbiting planets. We recover the planetary signals corresponding to 9 planets already announced by our group (Gl176b, Gl581b, c, d & e, Gl674b, Gl433b, Gl 667Cb and c). We present radial velocities that confirm GJ 849 hosts a Jupiter-mass planet, plus a long-term radial-velocity variation. We also present RVs that precise the planetary mass and period of Gl 832b. We detect long-term RV changes for Gl 367, Gl 680 and Gl 880 betraying yet unknown long-period companions. We identify candidate signals in the radial-velocity time series and demonstrate they are most probably caused by stellar surface inhomogeneities. Finally, we derive a first estimate of the occurrence of M-dwarf planets as a function of their minimum mass and orbital period. In particular, we find that giant planets (m sin i = 100-1,000 Mearth) have a low frequency (e.g. f<1% for P=1-10 d and f=0.02^{+0.03}_{-0.01} for P=10-100 d), whereas super-Earths (m sin i = 1-10 Mearth) are likely very abundant (f=0.36^{+0.25}_{-0.10} for P=1-10 d and f=0.35^{+0.45}_{-0.11} for P=10-100 d). We also obtained eta_earth=0.41^{+0.54}_{-0.13}, the frequency of habitable planets orbiting M dwarfs (1<m sin i<10 Mearth). For the first time, eta_earth is a direct measure and not a number extrapolated from the statistic of more massive and/or shorter-period planets.
The Canada-France Brown Dwarf Survey is a wide eld survey for cool brown dwarfs conducted with the MegaCam camera on the CFHT telescope. Our objectives are to nd ultracool brown dwarfs and to constrain the eld brown dwarf mass function from a large a
nd homogeneous sample of L and T dwarfs. We identify candidates in CFHT/Megacam i and z images and follow them up with pointed NIR imaging on several telescopes. Our survey has to date found 50 T dwarfs candidates and 170 L or late M dwarf candidates drawn from a larger sample of 1300 candidates with typical ultracool dwarfs i-z colours, found in 900 square degrees. We currently have completed the NIR follow-up on a large part of the survey for all candidates from the latest T dwarfs known to the late L color range. This allows us to build on a complete and well de ned sample of ultracool dwarfs to investigate the luminosity function of eld L and T dwarfs.
This Letter reports on the detection of two super-Earth planets in the Gl581 system, already known to harbour a hot Neptune. One of the planets has a mass of 5 M_Earth and resides at the ``warm edge of the habitable zone of the star. It is thus the k
nown exoplanet which most resembles our own Earth. The other planet has a 7.7 M_Earth mass and orbits at 0.25 AU from the star, close to the ``cold edge of the habitable zone. These two new light planets around an M3 dwarf further confirm the formerly tentative statistical trend for i) many more very low-mass planets being found around M dwarfs than around solar-type stars and ii) low-mass planets outnumbering Jovian planets around M dwarfs.
Context: How planet properties depend on stellar mass is a key diagnostic of planetary formation mechanisms. Aims: This motivates planet searches around stars which are significantly more massive or less massive than the Sun, and in particular our ra
dial velocity search for planets around very-low mass stars. Methods: As part of that program, we obtained measurements of GJ 674, an M2.5 dwarf at d=4.5 pc, which have a dispersion much in excess of their internal errors. An intensive observing campaign demonstrates that the excess dispersion is due to two superimposed coherent signals, with periods of 4.69 and 35 days. Results: These data are well described by a 2-planet Keplerian model where each planet has a ~11 Mearth minimum mass. A careful analysis of the (low level) magnetic activity of GJ 674 however demonstrates that the 35-day period coincides with the stellar rotation period. This signal therefore originates in a spot inhomogeneity modulated by stellar rotation. The 4.69-day signal on the other hand is caused by a bona-fide planet, GJ 674b. Conclusion: Its detection adds to the growing number of Neptune-mass planets around M-dwarfs, and reinforces the emerging conclusion that this mass domain is much more populated than the jovian mass range. We discuss the metallicity distributions of M dwarf with and without planets and find a low 11% probability that they are drawn from the same parent distribution. Moreover, we find tentative evidence that the host star metallicity correlates with the total mass of their planetary system.
