ArticlePDF Available

GJ 832c: A Super-Earth in the Habitable Zone

Authors:

Abstract and Figures

We report the detection of GJ 832c, a super-Earth orbiting near the inner edge of the habitable zone of GJ 832, an M dwarf previously known to host a Jupiter analog in a nearly-circular 9.4-year orbit. The combination of precise radial-velocity measurements from three telescopes reveals the presence of a planet with a period of 35.68+/-0.03 days and minimum mass (m sin i) of 5.4+/-1.0 Earth masses. GJ 832c moves on a low-eccentricity orbit (e=0.18+/-0.13) towards the inner edge of the habitable zone. However, given the large mass of the planet, it seems likely that it would possess a massive atmosphere, which may well render the planet inhospitable. Indeed, it is perhaps more likely that GJ 832c is a "super-Venus," featuring significant greenhouse forcing. With an outer giant planet and an interior, potentially rocky planet, the GJ 832 planetary system can be thought of as a miniature version of our own Solar system.
Content may be subject to copyright.
arXiv:1406.5587v1 [astro-ph.EP] 21 Jun 2014
GJ 832c: A super-earth in the habitable zone1
Robert A. Wittenmyer1,2,7, Mikko Tuomi3,4, R.P. Butler5, H.R.A. Jones3, Guillem
Anglada-Escud´e6, Jonathan Horner7,1,2, C.G. Tinney1,2, J.P. Marshall1,2, B.D. Carter7,
J. Bailey1,2, G.S. Salter1,2, S.J. O’Toole8, D. Wright1,2, J.D. Crane9, S.A. Schectman9,
P. Arriagada5, I. Thompson9, D. Minniti10,11, J.S. Jenkins12 & M. Diaz12
rob@phys.unsw.edu.au
ABSTRACT
We report the detection of GJ 832c, a super-Earth orbiting near the inner edge
of the habitable zone of GJ 832, an M dwarf previously known to host a Jupiter
analog in a nearly-circular 9.4-year orbit. The combination of precise radial-
velocity measurements from three telescopes reveals the presence of a planet
with a period of 35.68±0.03 days and minimum mass (m sin i) of 5.4±1.0 Earth
masses. GJ 832c moves on a low-eccentricity orbit (e= 0.18±0.13) towards the
1School of Physics, UNSW Australia, Sydney 2052, Australia
2Australian Centre for Astrobiology, UNSW Australia, Sydney 2052, Australia
3University of Hertfordshire, Centre for Astrophysics Research, Science and Technology Research Insti-
tute, College Lane, AL10 9AB, Hatfield, UK
4University of Turku, Tuorla Observatory, Department of Physics and Astronomy, V¨ais¨al¨antie 20, FI-
21500, Piikki¨o, Finland
5Department of Terrestrial Magnetism, Carnegie Institution of Washington, 5241 Broad Branch Road,
NW, Washington, DC 20015-1305, USA
6Astronomy Unit, School of Mathematical Sciences, Queen Mary, University of London. UK
7Computational Engineering and Science Research Centre, University of Southern Queensland,
Toowoomba, Queensland 4350, Australia
8Australian Astronomical Observatory, PO Box 915, North Ryde, NSW 1670, Australia
9The Observatories of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, 813 Santa Barbara Street, Pasadena, CA
91101, USA
10Institute of Astrophysics, Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile, Casilla 306, Santiago 22, Chile
11Vatican Observatory, V00120 Vatican City State, Italy
12Departamento de Astronom´ıa, Universidad de Chile, Camino el Observatorio 1515, Las Condes, Santiago,
Chile, Casilla 36-D
– 2 –
inner edge of the habitable zone. However, given the large mass of the planet, it
seems likely that it would possess a massive atmosphere, which may well render
the planet inhospitable. Indeed, it is perhaps more likely that GJ 832c is a “super-
Venus,” featuring significant greenhouse forcing. With an outer giant planet and
an interior, potentially rocky planet, the GJ 832 planetary system can be thought
of as a miniature version of our own Solar system.
Subject headings: planetary systems: individual (GJ 832) techniques: radial
velocities – astrobiology
1. Introduction
For hundreds of years, it was assumed that if planetary systems existed around other
stars, they would look substantially like our own Solar system (Kant 1755; Laplace & Young
1832). That is, they would feature giant outer planets and rocky inner planets, moving
on nearly-circular orbits. The discovery of hundreds of extrasolar planetary systems2over
the last 20 years have instead revealed a picture of planetary system diversity “far stranger
than we can imagine” (Haldane 1927). We now know that planetary systems containing
a “Jupiter analog” (a gas giant planet which has remained in a low-eccentricity orbit be-
yond the ice line after planetary migration) are relatively uncommon (Gould et al. 2010;
Wittenmyer et al. 2011a, 2014b), while results from the Kepler spacecraft (Borucki et al.
2010) have shown us that super-Earths in compact multiple systems are very common
(Howard et al. 2012; Batalha et al. 2013; Petigura et al. 2013). While Kepler has revo-
lutionized exoplanetary science and provided a first estimate of the frequency of Earth-
size planets in Earth-like orbits, long-term radial-velocity surveys (Wittenmyer et al. 2006;
Robertson et al. 2012a,b; Zechmeister et al. 2013) complement these data with measure-
ments of the frequency of Jupiter-like planets in Jupiter-like orbits. This in turn will reveal
how common Solar-system-like architectures are.
In addition to the finding that small, close-in planets are far more common than long-
period gas giants (Howard 2013), planet-search efforts are now expanding into new realms
of parameter space, seeking to understand how the detailed properties of planetary systems
1This paper includes data gathered with the 6.5 meter Magellan Telescopes located at Las Campanas
Observatory, Chile.
2The Exoplanet Orbit Database at http://exoplanets.org
– 3 –
depend on the properties of their host stars. In the early days of exoplanet observations, host
stars significantly more massive than our Sun were neglected, due to the difficulties in deter-
mining precise radial velocities. In recent years, however, several radial velocity surveys have
begun to take advantage of stellar evolution by observing such higher-mass stars once they
have evolved off the main sequence to become subgiants and giants. This approach has been
successfully used by several teams (e.g. Setiawan et al. 2003; Hatzes et al. 2005; Sato et al.
2005; Johnson et al. 2006; ollinger et al. 2007; Niedzielski et al. 2009; Wittenmyer et al.
2011b).
Meanwhile, at the low-mass end, M dwarfs are being targeted by a number of near-
infrared radial-velocity surveys searching for rocky and potentially habitable planets (e.g.
Quirrenbach et al. 2010; Bean et al. 2010; Mahadevan et al. 2012; Barnes et al. 2012; Bonfils et al.
2013a). Notable results from these M dwarf surveys are that small, rocky planets are com-
mon (Bonfils et al. 2013a), and close-in giant planets are rare (Endl et al. 2006); as yet there
are no robust statistics on the population of longer-period giant planets.
One example of an M dwarf known to host a long-period giant planet is GJ 832.
Bailey et al. (2009) reported the discovery by the Anglo-Australian Planet Search (AAPS) of
a 0.64MJup planet in a near-circular orbit with period 9.4±0.4 yr. The AAPS has been in op-
eration for 15 years, and has achieved a long-term radial-velocity precision of 3 m s1or better
since its inception, which is enabling the detection of long-period giant planets (Jones et al.
2010; Wittenmyer et al. 2012b, 2014b). GJ 832b is one of only a handful of such giant
planets known to orbit M dwarfs. The others are GJ 179b (Howard et al. 2010), GJ 849b
(Butler et al. 2006; Bonfils et al. 2013a), GJ 328b (Robertson et al. 2013), and OGLE-2006-
BLG-109Lb (Gaudi et al. 2008; Bennett et al. 2010). Of the long-period giant planets known
to orbit M dwarfs, GJ 328b is the one with the largest separation (a= 4.5±0.2 AU). GJ 832b,
which lies at a= 3.4±0.4 AU (Bailey et al. 2009), is clearly a Jupiter analog, and may well
play a similar dynamical role in the GJ 832 system to that played by Jupiter in our Solar
system (e.g. Horner & Jones 2008, 2009; Horner et al. 2010).
We report here a second, super-Earth mass planet in the GJ 832 system – with a semi-
major axis of a0.16 AU, the GJ 832 system can be considered a miniature Solar system
analog, with an interior potentially rocky and habitable planet, and a distant gas giant.
This paper is organized as follows: Section 2 briefly describes the three data sets and gives
the stellar parameters. Section 3 details the traditional and Bayesian orbit fitting proce-
dures, and gives the parameters of GJ 832c. In Section 4, we give a discussion on potential
habitability before drawing our final conclusions.
– 4 –
2. Observational Data
We have combined three high-precision radial-velocity data sets that span a variety of
baselines. The data covering the longest baseline (39 epochs over 15 years) were taken by
the Anglo-Australian Planet Search (AAPS) team, using the UCLES echelle spectrograph
(Diego et al. 1991). An iodine absorption cell provides wavelength calibration from 5000 to
6200 ˚
A. The spectrograph point-spread function (PSF) and wavelength calibration are de-
rived from the absorption lines embedded on the spectrum by the iodine cell (Valenti et al.
1995; Butler et al. 1996). The result is a precise Doppler velocity estimate for each epoch,
along with an internal uncertainty estimate, which includes the effects of photon-counting
uncertainties, residual errors in the spectrograph PSF model, and variation in the underlying
spectrum between the iodine-free template and epoch spectra observed through the iodine
cell. All velocities are measured relative to the zero-point defined by the template observa-
tion. GJ 832 has been observed on 39 epochs since (Table 1), with a total data span of 5465
d (15 yr). The mean internal velocity uncertainty for these data is 2.6 m s1.
GJ 832 has also been observed with the Planet Finder Spectrograph (PFS) (Crane et al.
2006, 2008, 2010) on the 6.5m Magellan II (Clay) telescope. The PFS is a high-resolution
(R80,000) echelle spectrograph optimised for high-precision radial-velocity measurements
(e.g. Albrecht et al. 2011, 2012; Anglada-Escud´e et al. 2012; Arriagada et al. 2013). The
PFS also uses the iodine cell method as descibed above. The 16 measurements of GJ 832 are
given in Table 3. The data span 818 days and have a mean internal uncertainty of 0.9 m s1.
A further 54 velocities were obtained from a HARPS-TERRA (Anglada-Escud´e & Butler
2012) reduction of the publicly available spectra and and are given in Table 2. The AAPS
data are critical for constraining the long-period outer planet, and the extremely precise
HARPS and PFS data are necessary for characterizing the inner planet.
To account for possible intrinsic correlations in the radial velocities, we used the same
statistical model as Tuomi (2014) that assumes that the deviation of the ith measurement of a
given instrument from the mean depends also on the deviation of the previous measurement.
In other words, these deviations are correlated with a correlation coefficient of φexp { −
(titi1)}that decreases exponentially as the gap between the two measurements (the
difference titi1) increases. We set the correlation time-scale such that τ= 4 days
(Baluev 2013; Tuomi et al. 2014). Parameter φ[1,1] is a free parameter in the model of
Tuomi et al. (2014). The maximum a posteriori estimates of these “nuisance parameters”
are given in Table 4. Only for the HARPS-TERRA data does the correlation coefficient
φdiffer significantly from zero. We thus consider an additional data set in our analysis,
“HARPS-CR,” which has been corrected for these intrinsic correlations. Those data are also
shown in Table 2.
– 5 –
3. Orbit Fitting and Planetary Parameters
GJ 832 (HD 204961, HIP 106440, LHS 3685) is a very nearby M1.5 dwarf, lying at 4.95
pc (van Leeuwen 2007). The parameters of the host star are summarized in Table 5. While
the original discovery paper for the giant planet (Bailey et al. 2009) did not note any residual
signals of interest, Bonfils et al. (2013a) combined AAT (N= 32) and HARPS (N= 54)
data to refine the planet’s orbital parameters and mentioned a potential 35-day residual
periodicity. They concluded that the data in hand did not yet warrant a secure detection
as the false-alarm probability (FAP) exceeded 1%. The AAT data published in Bailey et al.
(2009) contained 32 epochs spanning 3519 d (9.6 yr). Combining all available data, we
now have 109 epochs covering a 15-year baseline, enabling us to better characterize the
long-period planet, and increasing our sensitivity to any residual signals of interest.
3.1. Bayesian approach
We analysed the combined HARPS, PFS, and UCLES radial velocities in several stages.
First, we drew a sample from the posterior density of a model without Keplerian signals,
i.e. a model with k= 0, by using the adaptive Metropolis algorithm (Haario et al. 2001).
This is a generalization of the Metropolis-Hastings Markov chain Monte Carlo technique
(Metropolis et al. 1953; Hastings 1970) that adapts the proposal density to the informa-
tion gathered from the posterior. This baseline model enabled us to determine whether the
models with k= 1,2, ...n Keplerian signals were, statistically, significantly better descrip-
tions of the data by estimating the Bayesian evidence ratios of the different models (e.g.
Kass & Raftery 1995; Tuomi 2014; Tuomi et al. 2014). For this purpose, we used the simple
estimate described in Newton & Raftery (1994).
The search for periodic signals in the data was performed by using tempered sam-
plings (Tuomi & Anglada-Escud´e 2013; Tuomi 2014; Tuomi et al. 2014) such that a scaled
likelihood l(m|θ)βand a scaled prior density π(θ)β, where mis the measurements and θ
the parameter vector, instead of the common likelihood l(m|θ) and prior πθ. We choose
β(0,1) low enough such that the posterior probability density is scaled sufficiently to
enable the Markov chains to visit repeatedly all relevant areas in the parameter space, the
period space in particular. In this way, we can estimate the general shape of the posterior
density as a function of the period parameter to see which periods correspond to the highest
probability maxima. This is not necessarily possible with “normal” samplings (i.e. when
β= 1) because one or some of the maxima in the period space could be so high and sig-
nificant that the Markov chains fail to visit the whole period space efficiently due to the
samplings getting “stuck” in one of the corresponding maxima. This could happen because
– 6 –
the parameter space around some maximum is in practice so much less probable that any
proposed values outside the maximum are rejected in the MCMC sampling. The application
of such tempered samplings thus enables an efficient search for periodicities in the data.
We maximised parameter β(0,1) such that the period parameter visited all areas in
the period space between one day and the data baseline during these tempered samplings.
The results from this period search reveal the shape of the posterior probability density
as a function of period (see Figure 1). This enabled us to identify all relevant maxima in
the period space because such transformation artificially decreases the significances of the
maxima, while leaving their locations unchanged. To ensure that the Markov chains visited
all areas of high posterior probability in the parameter space, and especially through the
period space, we applied the delayed-rejection adaptive-Metropolis algorithm (Haario et al.
2006), where another proposed parameter vector from a narrower proposal density is tested
if the first proposed vector is rejected. This enables an efficient periodicity search because
the chains visit the narrow probability maxima in the period space. One such sampling is
shown in the middle panel of Figure 1 when searching for a second periodicity in the data.
The chain clearly identifies a global maximum at a period of 35.7 days.
After such tempered samplings, we started several “cold chains,” i.e. normal chains such
that β= 1, in the vicinity of the highest maxima to determine which of them were significant
according to the detection criteria discussed in Tuomi (2014) and Tuomi et al. (2014). The
statistical significance of a signal is quantified by the Bayesian evidence ratio B(k, k 1). We
required that the Bayesian evidence ratio be at least 104times greater for a model with k+ 1
than for a model with ksignals to state that there are k+ 1 signals present in the data. That
is, the model with the signal must be 10000 times more probable than the model without.
For the combination of the three data sets considered here, we obtain B(1,0) = 4.5×1060
(in favor of a one-planet model over zero planets). The 35-day signal is also significant with
respect to our detection threshold as it is detected with B(2,1) = 6.6×105. The maximum
a posteriori estimates of the model parameters, together with the corresponding Bayesian
99% credibility intervals, are listed in Table 6. The data and best-fit models are shown in
Figure 3 (GJ 832b) and Figure 4 (GJ 832c).
In addition to the velocities, various activity indices are also available for the epochs of
the GJ 832 HARPS observations (Bonfils et al. 2013a). Those metrics, derived from the
cross-correlation function (CCF) are the bisector inverse slope (BIS), described fully in
Queloz et al. (2001), and the CCF full width at half maximum (FWHM). We modelled
correlations of the HARPS-TERRA velocities with BIS, FWHM, and S-index by assuming
these correlations were linear that represents the first-order approximation for such depen-
dence. However, accounting for these correlations did not improve the model, which indicates
– 7 –
that such linear correlations were insignificant. Furthermore, when we computed the best-fit
estimates for such linear correlation parameters, they were all consistent with zero, as shown
in Table 7.
3.2. Traditional approach
The combination of three data sets with high precision and long observational baseline
yields evidence for a second, low-mass planet orbiting GJ 832. Given that we have used data
from every telescope which is able to achieve sufficient velocity precision for this Southern
M dwarf (δ=49.0o), independent confirmation of GJ 832c is problematic. It is prudent,
then, to employ an independent analysis to test the plausibility of the 35-day signal.
For this analysis, we use the HARPS data set which has been corrected for intrinsic
correlations as described above – labeled here as “HARPS-CR.” An instrumental noise term
was derived from the excess white noise parameter given in Table 4– HARPS-CR: 1.33m s1,
PFS: 1.45m s1, AAT: 4.66m s1. Before orbit fitting, that noise was added in quadrature to
the uncertainties of each data point. We repeated our analysis using the unaltered HARPS-
TERRA velocities, and found throughout that the HARPS-CR and HARPS-TERRA data
sets gave the same results.
First, we fit a single-planet model to the three data sets using the nonlinear least-
squares minimization routine GaussFit (Jefferys et al. 1988). The velocity offsets between
the three data sets were included as free parameters. The rms scatter about the three
data sets are as follows AAT: 5.72 m s1, HARPS-CR: 1.88 m s1, PFS: 1.74 m s1. We
performed a periodogram search on the residuals to the one-planet fit, using the generalized
Lomb-Scargle formalism of Zechmeister & K¨urster (2009). Unlike the classical Lomb-Scargle
periodogram (Lomb 1976; Scargle 1982), this technique accounts for the uncertainties on the
individual data points, which is critically important for the case of GJ 832 where we have
combined data sets with significantly different precisions. The periodogram of the 1-planet
fit is shown in Figure 2; the highest peak is at 35.67 days. The FAP was estimated using a
bootstrap randomization method (K¨urster et al. 1997). From 10,000 bootstrap realizations,
the 35.67-day peak is shown to be highly significant, with FAP=0.0004 (0.04%).
We then used a genetic algorithm to search a wide parameter space for two-planet
models, and to check that any candidate secondary signal is indeed the global best-fit.
Our group has used this approach extensively (e.g. Tinney et al. 2011; Wittenmyer et al.
2012a, 2014a) when the orbital parameters of a planet candidate are highly uncertain. We
allowed the genetic algorithm to fit 2-Keplerian models to the three data sets simultaneously,
– 8 –
searching secondary periods from 10 to 3000 days. It ran for 50,000 iterations, testing a total
of about 107possible 2-Keplerian configurations. The genetic algorithm converged on P235
days, giving confidence that this is the most likely period for a candidate second planet.
We then obtained a final 2-planet fit using GaussFit. Again, we performed the fit twice,
using the two versions of the HARPS velocities. The details of each fit are summarized in
Table 9. Both fits gave the same results, though the HARPS-CR set (“Fit 2”) gave a slightly
better rms and smaller uncertainties on the planetary parameters - hence, we adopt those
results in Table 8. These fits reveal a second planet, GJ832c, with P= 35.68±0.03 d and
m sin i= 5.40±0.95Mon a nearly-circular orbit. A periodogram of the residuals to the
2-planet fit is shown in Figure 5; the highest peak at 40.2 days has a bootstrap FAP of 0.0456
(4.6%).
4. Discussion and Conclusions
4.1. Testing the planet hypothesis
If the 35-day signal is real, adding data should result in a higher significance level, i.e.
a lower FAP determined by the bootstrap method described above (K¨urster et al. 1997).
We test this by performing one-planet fits on various combinations of the three data sets
considered here. In these fits, the parameters of the outer planet are started at the best-
fit values in Table 10, but are allowed to vary. For data combinations with insufficient
time baseline to adequately fit the outer planet, its parameters are instead fixed at their
best-fit values. After each fit, we removed the signal of the outer planet, examined the
periodogram (Zechmeister & urster 2009) of the residuals, and computed the FAP of the
highest remaining peak using 10,000 bootstrap randomizations. The results are summarized
in Table 10. The AAT data alone are not sufficiently precise to detect the K<
2m s1signal
of the candidate planet, nor did the addition of only 16 epochs from PFS enable the detection
of any significant residual signals. Nevertheless, we see in Table 10 that the addition of data
indeed strengthens the significance of the 35.6-day signal, adding confidence that the signal
is real and not an artifact of one particular instrument. Table 10 also indicates that the
HARPS data are necessary to pull out the signal of GJ 832c, and the AAT data, while noisy,
are necessary for constraining the outer planet.
The next obvious question to ask is whether the detected signal is intrinsic to the star.
As noted in Bonfils et al. (2013a) and in Section 3.1, the HARPS planet-search programs
use the additional diagnostics BIS and CCF-FWHM to check for star-induced variability.
Being contemporaneous with the velocity measurements, both of these measures can be
– 9 –
directly compared with the velocity derived from a given spectrum. If BIS or FWHM show
correlations with the velocities, a candidate radial-velocity signal can be considered suspect.
Figure 6 plots the HARPS velocities (after removing the outer planet) against the BIS (left
panel) and the CCF FWHM (right panel). No correlations are evident, and the highest
BIS periodogram peak at 179.6 days has a bootstrap FAP of 17%. For FWHM, the highest
periodogram peak at 6322 days has a bootstrap FAP<0.01%. For comparison, the outer
planet has a period of 3660 days, and the HARPS FWHM data only span 1719 days; for
these reasons, we maintain the conclusion of Bailey et al. (2009) that the long-period velocity
signal is due to an orbiting body. As shown in Table 7, none of these activity indicators
had correlations significantly different from zero. These results are further evidence that the
35.6-day signal is not intrinsic to the star.
4.2. GJ 832c: a habitable-zone super-Earth
In recent years, a growing number of super-Earths have been discovered that orbit their
host stars at a distance that may be compatible with the existence of liquid water somewhere
on the planet were it to have a surface (i.e. within the classical habitable zone). A list of these
planets is given in Table 11. Of those planets, perhaps the most interesting are those orbiting
GJ 581. In that system, a total of six planets have been claimed, although at least two of
these are still the subject of significant debate (e.g. Mayor et al. 2009, Vogt et al. 2010,
Tuomi 2011, von Braun et al. 2011, Tadeu dos Santos et al. 2012, Vogt et al. 2012, Baluev
2013). The proposed planetary system around GJ 581 displays an orbital architecture that is
strikingly similar to a miniature version of our own Solar system. The similarity to our own
Solar system has recently been enhanced by the results of the DEBRIS survey (Matthews et
al. 2010), which recently discovered and spatially resolved a disk of debris orbiting GJ 581
(Lestrade et al. 2012), analogous to the Solar system’s Edgeworth-Kuiper belt.
We can estimate the location of the classical habitable zone following the prescriptions
given in Selsis et al. (2007) and Kopparapu et al. (2014), using the stellar parameters
detailed in Table 5. In both cases, we find that GJ 832c lies just inside the inner edge of the
potentially habitable region - with the Selsis et al. prescription yielding a habitable zone that
stretches between 0.13 and 0.28 au, and the Kopparapu et al. prescription suggesting that
the conservative habitable zone for a 5Mplanet lies between 0.130 and 0.237 au, compared
to the measured a= 0.163±0.006 au for GJ 832c.
Although GJ 832c is sufficiently far from its host star that there is the potential for
liquid water to exist on its surface, this does not necessarily make that planet truly habitable.
Indeed, there is a vast number of factors that can contribute to the habitability of a given
– 10 –
exoplanet beyond the distance at which it orbits its host star (e.g. Horner & Jones 2010,
Horner 2014). Given the planet’s proximity to its host star, it seems likely that GJ 832 c
will be trapped in a spin-orbit resonance, though moderate orbital eccentricity may mean it
is not necessarily trapped in a resonance that causes one side of the planet to perpetually
face towards the Sun. In our own Solar system, the planet Mercury is trapped in such a
resonance: rotating three times on its axis in the time it takes to complete two full orbits of
the Sun. Mercury’s capture to that particular resonance is almost certainly the result of its
relatively eccentric orbit (e.g. Correia & Laskar 2009) - and so it is certainly feasible that
GJ 832 c, whilst tidally locked, is not trapped in 1:1 spin-orbit resonance. Even if the planet
is trapped in such a resonance, however, that might not be deleterious to the prospects for its
being habitable. For example, recent work by Yang et al. (2014), employing a 3-dimensional
general circulation model, suggests that planets with slower rotation rates would be able to
remain habitable at higher flux levels than for comparable, rapidly rotating planets.
Given the planet’s large mass, however, it is likely to be shrouded in a dense atmosphere
- which might in turn render it uninhabitable. In that scenario, the dense atmosphere would
provide a strong greenhouse effect, raising the surface temperature enough to cause any
oceans to boil away, as is thought to have happened to Venus early in the lifetime of the
Solar system, e.g. Kasting (1988). Kasting et al. (1993) proposed that tidally locked planets
around late-type stars might be rendered uninhabitable by atmospheric freeze-out if they
were locked in a 1:1 spin-orbit resonance. However, such a massive atmosphere would also
be able to prevent the freeze out of the planet’s atmosphere if it were trapped in a 1:1
spin-orbit resonance (Heath et al. 1999). A detailed review of the potential habitability of
planets around M dwarfs by Tarter et al. (2007) re-opened the possibility of habitability for
such planets. More recently, Kopparapu et al. (2014) have argued that the inner edge of the
habitable zone moves inward for more massive planets – a scenario which would operate in
favor of GJ 832c’s habitability.
Given the large mass of GJ 832c, and the high probability of it having a thick, dense
atmosphere, it is reasonable to assume that it is unlikely to be a habitable planet. However,
it is natural to ask whether it could host a giant satellite, which might itself be habitable.
Speculation about habitable exomoons is not a new thing, and in recent years, a number
of papers have been published discussing the prospects for such satellites orbiting a variety
of newly discovered planets – e.g. the gas giants HD 38283b (Tinney et al. 2011), and
HD 23079b (Cuntz et al. 2013), and the super-Earth Kepler-22b (Kipping et al. 2013), or
discussing the viability of such satellites as potential locations for life in a more general sense
(e.g. Heller 2012, Forgan & Kipping 2013, Heller & Barnes 2013). As such, it is interesting
to consider whether GJ 832c could host such a potentially-habitable satellite, although we
acknowledge that the detection of such a satellite is currently well beyond our means.
– 11 –
Within our Solar system, one planet (the Earth) and several of the minor bodies (such
as Pluto) are known to have giant satellites that are thought to have formed as a result of
giant impacts on their host object toward the end of planet formation (e.g. Benz et al. 1986,
Canup 2004, Canup 2005). In the case of the Pluto-Charon binary, the mass of Charon is
approximately 1/9th that of Pluto - were that extrapolated to the case of GJ 832c, it would
result in a moon somewhat greater than half of the mass of the Earth3. But could GJ 832c
retain such a satellite whilst orbiting so close to its host star?
The Hill sphere of an object is the region in which its gravitational pull on a satellite (or
passing object) would dominate over that from any other object. Typically, within our Solar
system, the regular satellites of the planets orbit their hosts well within their Hill sphere.
Our Moon, for example, orbits at approximately one-quarter of the Hill radius. For GJ 832c,
assuming a mass of 5.406 times that of the Earth, and a host-star mass of 0.45M, the Hill
radius would be just 0.00306 au - or 460,000 km. In and of itself, this result does not seem to
preclude the existence of a habitable exomoon orbiting GJ 832c. However, Cuntz et al.(2013)
found that, for the case of the gas giant planet HD 23079b, satellites on prograde orbits were
only stable out to a distance of approximately 0.3 Hill radii - a result that compares relatively
well to the orbital distance of the Moon, which currently orbits Earth at a distance of 0.25
Hill radii. Were the same true for the case of GJ 832c, this would reduce the region of
stability, requiring that a satellite orbiting that planet must remain within an orbital radius
of 138,000 km in order to remain bound on astronomically long timescales.
Heller & Barnes (2013) consider the possibility of habitable exomoons orbiting the super-
Earth Kepler-22b and the gas giant planet candidate KOI211.01. By considering the influence
of tidal heating on the potential satellites of these planets, they reach the conclusion that “If
either planet hosted a satellite at a distance greater than 10 planetary radii, then this could
indicate the presence of a habitable moon.” If we assume that GJ 832c is a predominantly
rocky/metallic object, then we can obtain a rough estimate of its radius by following Seager
et al. (2007). For a silicaceous composition, given a mass of approximately 5M, it seems
likely that GJ 832c would have a radius approximately fifty percent greater than that of the
Earth, or approximately 10,000 km. We can therefore determine a rough inner-edge to the
circum-planetary habitable zone for GJ 832c, at approximately 10 times this value. In other
words, for GJ 832c to host a habitable exomoon, potentially formed by means of a giant
collision during the latter stages of planet formation, such a satellite would most likely have
to orbit between 100,000 and 138,000 km - a very narrow range. Although the idea of
3We note that the m sin idetermined from radial velocity measurements would actually be the total mass
of the exoplanet in question, plus any moons it hosts. For example, if GJ 832c hosts a moon with 20% of its
own mass, then the planet mass would actually be only 0.8 times the m sin igiven in Table 8.
– 12 –
a habitable exomoon companion to GJ 832c is certainly interesting, the odds seem stacked
against the existence of such an object.
4.3. Conclusions
We have combined high-precision radial-velocity data from three telescopes to detect a
super-Earth (5.4±1.0 M) orbiting GJ 832 near the inner edge of the habitable zone. We
attribute this detection to two key differences from the Bonfils et al. (2013a) analysis. The
first is that our Bayesian techniques are better at picking out weak signals; this was powerfully
demonstrated by Tuomi & Anglada-Escud´e (2013), who used this approach for the GJ 163
system and obtained results consistent with Bonfils et al. (2013a) with only 35% of the
HARPS data used in the discovery work. The second is that the HARPS-TERRA velocities
are more sensitive to planet c than the velocities derived by the HARPS team in Bonfils et al.
(2013a); Anglada-Escud´e & Butler (2012) showed that HARPS-TERRA produces better
velocities for M dwarfs.
Given GJ 832’s close proximity it is bright enough for high contrast imaging (Salter et al.
2014), even though it is an M-dwarf. However, due to its likely old, though uncertain, age
even GJ 832b (0.63MJup ) would not be bright enough to be detected by the current state of
the art instruments such as the Gemini Planet Imager on Gemini South (Macintosh et al.
2008). With a rare Jupiter analog and a potentially rocky inner planet, the GJ 832 system
can be considered a scaled-down version of our Solar system. With this in mind, it would be
interesting to see if that analogy continues beyond the planetary members of the system to
the debris. There is a growing body of work, based on Spitzer and Herschel observations,
revealing correlations between the presence of debris disks and planets (Wyatt et al. 2012;
Maldonado et al. 2012; Bryden et al. 2013, e.g. ). As GJ 832 is very nearby (4.95 pc),
it is an ideal candidate for future imaging efforts to search for debris disks akin to our
own Edgeworth-Kuiper belt and main asteroid belt. Recent work by Marshall et al. (2014)
showed a correlation between low (sub-Solar) metallicity, low mass planets and an elevated
incidence of debris from Herchel data and radial-velocity results. As GJ 832 is quite metal-
poor ([F e/H ] = 0.3), it would thus appear to be a promising target for debris detection.
Future observations of GJ832 hold the promise to yield up further secrets from this intriguing
system.
Circumstellar debris discs around mature stars are the byproduct of a planetesimal
formation process, composed of icy and rocky bodies ranging from micron sized grains to
kilometre sized asteroids (see reviews by e.g. Wyatt 2008, Krivov 2010 and Moro-Martin
2013). The dust we actually observe is continually replenished in the disc through the colli-
– 13 –
sional grinding of planetesimals as the grains are much shorter lived than the age of the host
star, being removed by radiative processes and collisional destruction (Backman & Paresce
1993). Since planets are believed to be produced through the hierarchical growth of planetes-
imals from smaller bodies and dust grains are produced through their collisional destruction,
we expect the two phenomena to be linked. The solar system represents one outcome of the
planet formation process, comprising four telluric planets, four giant planets and two de-
bris belts - the inner, warm Asteroid belt at 3 AU (Backman et al. 1995) and the outer,
cold Edgeworth-Kuiper belt at 30 AU (Vitense et al. 2012). We detect thermal emission
from warm dust around 2±2% of sun-like stars (Trilling et al. 2008) and cold dust around
20±2% of sun-like stars (Eiroa et al. 2013); such measurements are limited by sensitivity
particularly for the warm dust. By comparison, the solar system’s debris disc is atypically
faint, expected to lie in the bottom few percent of disc systems (Greaves & Wyatt 2010) and
currently beyond the reach of direct detection by ground or satellite observatories. Around
other stars, many host infrared excesses with two characteristic temperatures, typically at
150 K and 50 K (Morales et al. 2011). Drawing an analogy to the solar system, discs
with two temperature components are interpreted as being the product of physically distinct
debris belts at different orbital radii. Due to the tendency of dust to migrate away from the
debris belt where it was created (Krivov et al. 2008), the presence of more or less narrow de-
bris rings around a star has been attributed to the existence of unseen planet(s) shepherding
the dust and confining its radial location through dynamical interaction, creating observable
warps, clumps, gaps and asymmetries in the disc (Moro-Martin et al. 2007, Morales et al.
2009). Several such cases of planets interacting with a debris disc have now been proposed,
with candidate planets identified through direct imaging searches around several of the stars
(e.g. Vega, Wyatt 2003; Beta Pic, Lagrange et al. 2010; HD 95086, Rameau et al. 2013).
Indeed, planet-disc interaction has been vital in the formation and evolution of life on Earth,
with minor body collisions providing both a late veneer of volatile material to the Earth’s
surface (O’Brien et al. 2006), the migration of Jupiter thought to be responsible for the late
heavy bombardment at 800 Myr (Gomes et al. 2005) and subsequent infrequent catas-
trophic bombardment drastically altering the climate during the history of the solar system
(Covey 1994; Toon et al. 1997; Feulner 2009). Therefore, any discussion of the potential
habitability of an exoplanet should consider the possibility of volatile material delivery to a
planet located in the habitable zone from remnant material located elsewhere in the system.
This research is supported by Australian Research Council grants DP0774000 and
DP130102695. Australian access to the Magellan Telescopes was supported through the
National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy of the Australian Federal Govern-
ment. This research has made use of NASA’s Astrophysics Data System (ADS), and the
– 14 –
SIMBAD database, operated at CDS, Strasbourg, France. This research has also made
use of the Exoplanet Orbit Database and the Exoplanet Data Explorer at exoplanets.org
(Wright et al. 2011).
REFERENCES
Albrecht, S., Winn, J. N., Johnson, J. A., et al. 2011, ApJ, 738, 50
Albrecht, S., Winn, J. N., Butler, R. P., et al. 2012, ApJ, 744, 189
Anglada-Escud´e, G., Arriagada, P., Vogt, S. S., et al. 2012, ApJ, 751, L16
Anglada-Escud´e, G., & Butler, R. P. 2012, ApJS, 200, 15
Anglada-Escud´e, G., Tuomi, M., Gerlach, E., et al. 2013, A&A, 556, A126
Arriagada, P., Anglada-Escud´e, G., Butler, R. P., et al. 2013, ApJ, 771, 42
Backman, D. E., Dasgupta, A., & Stencel, R. E. 1995, ApJ, 450, L35
Backman, D. E., & Paresce, F. 1993, Protostars and Planets III, 1253
Bailey, J., Butler, R. P., Tinney, C. G., et al. 2009, ApJ, 690, 743
Ballard, S., Charbonneau, D., Fressin, F., et al. 2013, ApJ, 773, 98
Baluev, R. V., 2013, MNRAS, 429, 2052
Barnes, J. R., Jenkins, J. S., Jones, H. R. A., et al. 2012, MNRAS, 424, 591
Batalha, N. M., Rowe, J. F., Bryson, S. T., et al. 2013, ApJS, 204, 24
Bean, J. L., Seifahrt, A., Hartman, H., et al. 2010, ApJ, 713, 410
Bennett, D. P., Rhie, S. H., Nikolaev, S., et al. 2010, ApJ, 713, 837
Benz, W., Slattery, W. L., & Cameron, A. G. W. 1986, Icarus, 66, 515
Bonfils, X., Delfosse, X., Udry, S., et al. 2013a, A&A, 549, A109
Bonfils, X., Lo Curto, G., Correia, A. C. M., et al. 2013b, A&A, 556, A110
Boyajian, T. S., von Braun, K., van Belle, G., et al. 2012, ApJ, 757, 112
Borucki, W. J., Koch, D., Basri, G., et al. 2010, Science, 327, 977
– 15 –
Borucki, W. J., Koch, D. G., Basri, G., et al. 2011, ApJ, 736, 19
Borucki, W. J., Koch, D. G., Batalha, N., et al. 2012, ApJ, 745, 120
Borucki, W. J., Agol, E., Fressin, F., et al. 2013, Science, 340, 587
Bryden, G., Krist, J. E., Stapelfeldt, K. R., et al. 2013, American Astronomical Society
Meeting Abstracts, 221, #144.24
Butler, R. P., Marcy, G. W., Williams, E., McCarthy, C., Dosanjh, P., & Vogt, S. S. 1996,
PASP, 108, 500
Butler, R. P., Johnson, J. A., Marcy, G. W., et al. 2006, PASP, 118, 1685
Canup, R. M. 2004, Icarus, 168, 433
Canup, R. M. 2005, Science, 307, 546
Casagrande, L., Flynn, C., & Bessell, M. 2008, MNRAS, 389, 585
Correia, A. C. M., & Laskar, J. 2009, Icarus, 201, 1
Covey, C. 1994, Global and Planetary Change, 9, 263
Crane, J. D., Shectman, S. A., & Butler, R. P. 2006, Proc. SPIE, 6269, 96
Crane, J. D., Shectman, S. A., Butler, R. P., Thompson, I. B., & Burley, G. S. 2008,
Proc. SPIE, 7014, 238
Crane, J. D., Shectman, S. A., Butler, R. P., et al. 2010, Proc. SPIE, 7735, 170
Cuntz, M., Quarles, B., Eberle, J., & Shukayr, A. 2013, PASA, 30, 33
Delfosse, X., Bonfils, X., Forveille, T., et al. 2013, A&A, 553, A8
Diego, F., Charalambous, A., Fish, A. C., & Walker, D. D. 1990, Proc. Soc. Photo-Opt.
Instr. Eng., 1235, 562
ollinger, M. P., Hatzes, A. P., Pasquini, L., et al. 2007, A&A, 472, 649
Eiroa, C., Marshall, J. P., Mora, A., et al. 2013, A&A, 555, A11
Endl, M., Cochran, W. D., K¨urster, M., et al. 2006, ApJ, 649, 436
Feulner, G. 2009, International Journal of Astrobiology, 8, 207
– 16 –
Forgan, D., & Kipping, D. 2013, MNRAS, 432, 2994
Gaudi, B. S., Bennett, D. P., Udalski, A., et al. 2008, Science, 319, 927
Gomes, R., Levison, H. F., Tsiganis, K., & Morbidelli, A. 2005, Nature, 435, 466
Gould, A., Dong, S., Gaudi, B. S., et al. 2010, ApJ, 720, 1073
Gray, R. O., Corbally, C. J., Garrison, R. F., et al. 2006, AJ, 132, 161
Greaves, J. S., & Wyatt, M. C. 2010, MNRAS, 404, 1944
Haario, H., Saksman, E., & Tamminen, J. 2001, Bernoulli, 7, 223
Haario, H., Laine, M., Mira, A., & Saksman, E. 2006, Statistics and Computing, 16, 339
Haldane, J. B. S. 1927, Possible worlds and other essays, p. 286.
Hastings, W. 1970, Biometrika 57, 97
Hatzes, A. P., Guenther, E. W., Endl, M., Cochran, W. D., D¨ollinger, M. P., & Bedalov, A.
2005, A&A, 437, 743
Heath, M. J., Doyle, L. R., Joshi, M. M., & Haberle, R. M. 1999, Origins of Life and
Evolution of the Biosphere, 29, 405
Heller, R. 2012, A&A, 545, L8
Heller, R., & Barnes, R. 2013, Astrobiology, 13, 18
Horner, J., & Jones, B. W. 2008, International Journal of Astrobiology, 7, 251
Horner, J., & Jones, B. W. 2009, International Journal of Astrobiology, 8, 75
Horner, J., & Jones, B. W. 2010, International Journal of Astrobiology, 9, 273
Horner, J., Jones, B. W., & Chambers, J. 2010, International Journal of Astrobiology, 9, 1
Howard, A. W. 2013, Science, 340, 572
Howard, A. W., Johnson, J. A., Marcy, G. W., et al. 2010, ApJ, 721, 1467
Howard, A. W., Marcy, G. W., Bryson, S. T., et al. 2012, ApJS, 201, 15
Jefferys, W. H., Fitzpatrick, M. J., & McArthur, B. E. 1988, Celestial Mechanics, 41, 39
Jenkins, J. S., Jones, H. R. A., Tinney, C. G., et al. 2006, MNRAS, 372, 163
– 17 –
Johnson, J. A., Marcy, G. W., Fischer, D. A., Henry, G. W., Wright, J. T., Isaacson, H., &
McCarthy, C. 2006, ApJ, 652, 1724
Jones, H. R. A., et al. 2010, MNRAS, 403, 1703
Kant, I. 1755, Allgemeine Naturgeschichte und Theorie des Himmels. Zeitz, Bei W. Webel,
1798. Neue aufl.,
Kass, R. E. & Raftery, A. E. 1995, J. Am. Stat. Ass., 430, 773
Kasting, J. F. 1988, Icarus, 74, 472
Kasting, J. F., Whitmire, D. P., & Reynolds, R. T. 1993, Icarus, 101, 108
Kipping, D. M., Forgan, D., Hartman, J., et al. 2013, ApJ, 777, 134
Kopparapu, R. K., Ramirez, R., Kasting, J. F., et al. 2013, ApJ, 765, 131
Kopparapu, R. K., Ramirez, R. M., SchottelKotte, J., et al. 2014, ApJ, 787, L29
Krivov, A. V. 2010, Research in Astronomy and Astrophysics, 10, 383
Krivov, A. V., uller, S., L¨ohne, T., & Mutschke, H. 2008, ApJ, 687, 608
urster, M., Schmitt, J. H. M. M., Cutispoto, G., & Dennerl, K. 1997, A&A, 320, 831
Lagrange, A.-M., Bonnefoy, M., Chauvin, G., et al. 2010, Science, 329, 57
Laplace, P. S., & Young, T. 1832, Elementary illustrations of the celestial mechanics of
Laplace., by Laplace, Pierre Simon;Young, Thomas. London : J. Murray, 1832.
Lestrade, J.-F., Matthews, B. C., Sibthorpe, B., et al. 2012, A&A, 548, A86
Lomb, N. R. 1976, Ap&SS, 39, 447
Macintosh, B. A., Graham, J. R., Palmer, D. W., et al. 2008, Proc. SPIE, 7015,
Mahadevan, S., Ramsey, L., Bender, C., et al. 2012, Proc. SPIE, 8446,
Maldonado, J., Eiroa, C., Villaver, E., Montesinos, B., & Mora, A. 2012, A&A, 541, A40
Matthews, B. C., Sibthorpe, B., Kennedy, G., et al. 2010, A&A, 518, L135
Makarov, V. V., & Berghea, C. 2014, ApJ, 780, 124
Marshall, J. P., Moro-Mart´ın, A., Eiroa, C., et al. 2014, A&A, 565, A15
– 18 –
Mayor, M., Bonfils, X., Forveille, T., et al. 2009, A&A, 507, 487
Metropolis, N., Rosenbluth, A. W., Rosenbluth, M. N., et al. 1953, J. Chem. Phys., 21, 1087
Morales, F. Y., Rieke, G. H., Werner, M. W., et al. 2011, ApJ, 730, L29
Morales, F. Y., Werner, M. W., Bryden, G., et al. 2009, ApJ, 699, 1067
Moro-Martin, A. 2013, Planets, Stars and Stellar Systems. Volume 3: Solar and Stellar
Planetary Systems, 431
Moro-Mart´ın, A., Carpenter, J. M., Meyer, M. R., et al. 2007, ApJ, 658, 1312
Neubauer, D., Vrtala, A., Leitner, J. J., Gertrude Firneis, M., & Hitzenberger, R. 2012,
Planet. Space Sci., 73, 397
Newton, M. A. & Raftery, A. E. 1994, JRSS B, 56, 3
Niedzielski, A., Go´zdziewski, K., Wolszczan, A., et al. 2009, ApJ, 693, 276
O’Brien, D. P., Greenberg, R., & Richardson, J. E. 2006, Icarus, 183, 79
Petigura, E. A., Howard, A. W., & Marcy, G. W. 2013, Proceedings of the National Academy
of Science, 110, 19273
Queloz, D., Henry, G. W., Sivan, J. P., et al. 2001, A&A, 379, 279
Quirrenbach, A., Amado, P. J., Mandel, H., et al. 2010, Proc. SPIE, 7735,
Rameau, J., Chauvin, G., Lagrange, A.-M., et al. 2013, ApJ, 772, L15
Robertson, P., Endl, M., Cochran, W. D., et al. 2012a, ApJ, 749, 39
Robertson, P., Horner, J., Wittenmyer, R. A., et al. 2012b, ApJ, 754, 50
Robertson, P., Endl, M., Cochran, W. D., MacQueen, P. J., & Boss, A. P. 2013, ApJ, 774,
147
Rowe, J. F., Bryson, S. T., Marcy, G. W., et al. 2014, ApJ, 784, 45
Salter, G. S., Tinney, C. G., Wittenmyer, R. A., et al. 2014, IAU Symposium, 299, 66
Sato, B., Kambe, E., Takeda, Y., Izumiura, H., Masuda, S., & Ando, H. 2005, PASJ, 57, 97
Scargle, J. D. 1982, ApJ, 263, 835
– 19 –
Schiavon, R. P., Barbuy, B., & Singh, P. D. 1997, ApJ, 484, 499
Seager, S., Kuchner, M., Hier-Majumder, C. A., & Militzer, B. 2007, ApJ, 669, 1279
Selsis, F., Kasting, J. F., Levrard, B., et al. 2007, A&A, 476, 1373
Setiawan, J., Pasquini, L., da Silva, L., von der L¨uhe, O., & Hatzes, A. 2003, A&A, 397,
1151
Tadeu dos Santos, M., Silva, G. G., Ferraz-Mello, S., & Michtchenko, T. A. 2012, Celestial
Mechanics and Dynamical Astronomy, 113, 49
Tarter, J. C., Backus, P. R., Mancinelli, R. L., et al. 2007, Astrobiology, 7, 30
Tinney, C. G., Wittenmyer, R. A., Butler, R. P., Jones, H. R. A., O’Toole, S. J., Bailey,
J. A., Carter, B. D., & Horner, J. 2011, ApJ, 732, 31
Toon, O. B., Zahnle, K., Morrison, D., Turco, R. P., & Covey, C. 1997, Reviews of Geo-
physics, 35, 41
Trilling, D. E., Bryden, G., Beichman, C. A., et al. 2008, ApJ, 674, 1086
Tuomi, M. 2011, A&A, 528, L5
Tuomi, M. 2014, MNRAS, L19
Tuomi, M. & Anglada-Escud´e 2013, A&A, 556, A111
Tuomi, M., Anglada-Escud´e, G., Gerlach, E., et al. 2013a, A&A, 549, A48
Tuomi, M., Jones, H. R. A., Jenkins, J. S., et al. 2013b, A&A, 551, A79
Tuomi, M., Jones, H. R. A., Barnes, J. R., Anglada-Escud´e, G., & Jenkins, J. S. 2014,
arXiv:1403.0430
Valenti, J. A., Butler, R. P. & Marcy, G. W. 1995, PASP, 107, 966.
van Leeuwen, F. 2007, A&A, 474, 653
Vitense, C., Krivov, A. V., Kobayashi, H., Lohne, T. 2012, A&A, 540, A30
Vogt, S. S., Butler, R. P., Rivera, E. J., et al. 2010, ApJ, 723, 954
Vogt, S. S., Butler, R. P., & Haghighipour, N. 2012, Astronomische Nachrichten, 333, 561
von Braun, K., Boyajian, T. S., Kane, S. R., et al. 2011, ApJ, 729, L26
– 20 –
Wittenmyer, R. A., Endl, M., Cochran, W. D., Hatzes, A. P., Walker, G. A. H., Yang,
S. L. S., & Paulson, D. B. 2006, AJ, 132, 177
Wittenmyer, R. A., Tinney, C. G., O’Toole, S. J., Jones, H. R. A., Butler, R. P., Carter,
B. D., & Bailey, J. 2011a, ApJ, 727, 102
Wittenmyer, R. A., Endl, M., Wang, L., et al. 2011b, ApJ, 743, 184
Wittenmyer, R. A., Horner, J., Marshall, J. P., Butters, O. W., & Tinney, C. G. 2012a,
MNRAS, 419, 3258
Wittenmyer, R. A., Horner, J., Tuomi, M., et al. 2012b, ApJ, 753, 169
Wittenmyer, R. A., Tan, X., Lee, M. H., et al. 2014a, ApJ, 780, 140
Wittenmyer, R. A., Horner, J., Tinney, C. G., et al. 2014b, ApJ, 783, 103
Wright, J. T., et al. 2011, PASP, 123, 412
Wyatt, M. C. 2003, ApJ, 598, 1321
Wyatt, M. C. 2008, ARA&A, 46, 339
Wyatt, M. C., Kennedy, G., Sibthorpe, B., et al. 2012, MNRAS, 424, 1206
Yang, J., Bou´e, G., Fabrycky, D. C., & Abbot, D. S. 2014, ApJ, 787, L2
Zechmeister, M., K¨urster, M. 2009, A&A, 496, 577
Zechmeister, M., K¨urster, M., Endl, M., et al. 2013, A&A, 552, A78
This preprint was prepared with the AAS L
A
T
E
X macros v5.2.
– 21 –
Table 1. AAT/UCLES Radial Velocities for GJ 832
JD-2400000 Velocity (m s1) Uncertainty (m s1)
51034.08733 7.5 2.2
51119.01595 14.6 6.0
51411.12220 11.4 3.3
51683.26276 18.0 2.8
51743.14564 19.0 2.7
51767.08125 25.0 2.3
52062.24434 19.8 2.2
52092.16771 9.0 2.5
52128.12730 2.2 4.0
52455.23394 0.5 1.6
52477.14549 10.0 2.6
52859.08771 -4.1 2.1
52943.03605 -5.4 2.7
52946.97093 0.5 1.9
53214.20683 -9.5 2.5
53217.21195 -13.9 2.4
53243.05806 -2.1 2.4
53245.15092 -15.4 2.5
53281.04691 -17.3 2.0
53485.30090 -13.1 2.0
53523.30055 -4.9 1.6
53576.14194 -11.5 1.6
53628.06985 -0.4 5.2
53629.05458 -15.2 2.1
53943.10723 -6.3 1.3
54009.03770 -10.4 1.6
54036.95562 -7.2 1.5
54254.19997 3.2 1.8
54371.06683 0.2 1.6
54375.04476 2.5 1.7
54552.29135 8.7 4.0
54553.30430 17.0 2.8
55102.99894 6.4 2.6
55376.26506 9.2 2.5
55430.16511 15.4 2.5
56087.23879 16.1 2.4
56139.24349 14.5 4.6
56467.24320 1.6 3.0
56499.09217 -6.3 4.0
– 22 –
Table 2. HARPS Radial Velocities for GJ 832
JD-2400000 HARPS-TERRA HARPS-CR
Velocity (m s1) Velocity (m s1) Uncertainty (m s1)
52985.51975 -5.1 -8.4 0.5
53158.90619 -3.1 -6.6 0.6
53205.74533 -5.4 -9.0 0.7
53217.74390 -8.7 -12.4 0.4
53218.70745 -9.3 -12.8 0.2
53229.72411 -6.7 -10.2 0.4
53342.54349 -9.6 -13.3 0.6
53490.92722 -12.1 -16.0 0.8
53491.91352 -7.7 -11.3 1.3
53492.92944 -8.4 -15.1 1.0
53551.85358 -7.8 -11.7 0.3
53573.80021 -11.2 -15.1 0.3
53574.73313 -12.1 -16.9 0.3
53575.73634 -10.4 -14.5 0.3
53576.78382 -11.1 -16.0 0.3
53577.79171 -11.0 -15.1 0.3
53578.74684 -11.9 -15.9 0.3
53579.72975 -11.3 -14.5 0.3
53580.76546 -10.4 -13.8 0.3
53950.81187 -8.6 -12.9 0.4
53974.63508 -6.6 -11.0 0.4
54055.52259 -4.0 -8.4 0.4
54227.91203 -1.2 -5.7 0.4
54228.91277 -1.2 -3.9 0.4
54230.88177 -0.3 -3.4 0.4
54233.92916 -0.1 -3.9 0.7
54234.92383 0.0 -4.0 0.4
54255.84319 1.7 -2.9 0.4
54257.88296 1.7 -3.4 0.4
54258.91849 0.8 -3.9 0.4
54291.81785 2.6 -2.0 0.5
54293.78153 3.4 -1.6 0.3
54295.82951 4.4 -0.5 0.4
54299.83521 6.9 2.0 0.7
54314.77282 2.4 -2.4 0.4
54316.60452 1.0 -4.5 0.2
54319.80379 0.7 -4.2 0.4
54339.64829 5.2 0.5 0.2
54341.76270 5.9 1.1 0.3
54342.67095 3.0 -2.7 0.1
54347.71453 0.0 -4.4 0.3
54349.72920 0.8 -2.6 0.4
54387.61499 4.0 -0.7 0.1
54393.60450 3.6 -1.3 0.4
54420.51798 2.4 -2.4 0.3
– 23 –
Table 2—Continued
JD-2400000 HARPS-TERRA HARPS-CR
Velocity (m s1) Velocity (m s1) Uncertainty (m s1)
54426.51760 3.4 -1.0 0.3
54446.53786 9.5 4.7 0.5
54451.53099 9.5 4.5 0.5
54453.53428 7.1 1.1 0.2
54464.53844 6.2 1.3 0.5
54639.91552 10.7 5.7 0.3
54658.87484 15.7 10.7 0.6
54662.86973 14.5 9.3 0.2
54704.70377 11.6 6.5 0.5
Table 3. Magellan/PFS Radial Velocities for GJ 832
JD-2400000 Velocity (m s1) Uncertainty (m s1)
55785.64157 0.0 0.9
55787.61821 0.0 0.8
55790.61508 0.3 0.8
55793.63258 0.8 0.9
55795.70095 1.2 0.8
55796.71462 2.5 0.9
55804.66221 0.2 0.9
55844.60440 3.1 0.9
55851.62322 -0.5 0.9
56085.87962 -1.4 0.9
56141.67188 -7.3 0.8
56504.79755 -12.1 1.1
56506.76826 -13.7 1.0
56550.60574 -14.8 0.9
56556.65127 -18.3 1.0
56603.55010 -18.7 0.9
Table 4. Maximum a posteriori estimates and 99% credibility intervals for the nuisance
parameters: reference velocities with respect to the data mean (γ), excess white noise (σ),
and intrinsic correlation (φ).
Parameter HARPS PFS UCLES
γ4.56 [-1.83, 11.63] -6.64 [-17.20, 3.91] 1.14 [-5.52, 7.80]
σ1.33 [0.90, 1.91] 1.45 [0.44, 2.99] 4.66 [3.13, 6.15]
φ0.90 [0.25, 1] 0.77 [-1,1] 0.11 [-0.30, 0.57]
– 24 –
Table 5. Stellar Parameters for GJ 832
Parameter Value Reference
Spec. Type M1.5 Gray et al. (2006)
M1V Jenkins et al. (2006)
Mass (M) 0.45 Bonfils et al. (2013a)
0.45±0.05 Bailey et al. (2009)
Distance (pc) 4.95±0.03 van Leeuwen (2007)
logR
HK -5.10 Jenkins et al. (2006)
[F e/H] -0.3±0.2 Bonfils et al. (2013a)
-0.7 Schiavon et al. (1997)
Teff (K) 3472 Casagrande et al. (2008)
Luminosity (L) 0.020 Boyajian et al. (2012)
0.026 Bonfils et al. (2013a)
log g4.7 Schiavon et al. (1997)
– 25 –
Fig. 1.— Estimated posterior density of the period of the Keplerian signals based on MCMC
sampling. The red arrow indicates the global maximum identified by the chain and the hor-
izontal lines denote the 10% (dotted), 1% (dashed), and 0.1% (solid) probability thresholds
with respect to the maximum. Top panel: GJ 832b. Middle panel: GJ 832c. Bottom panel:
Residuals to two-planet fit; this periodicity did not meet our criteria for a significant detec-
tion.
– 26 –
Table 6. Maximum a posteriori estimates and 99% credibility intervals of the Keplerian
parameters and the linear trend ˙γ.
Parameter GJ 832b GJ 832c
P[days] 3660 [3400, 3970] 35.67 [35.55, 35.82]
K[ms1] 15.51 [13.47, 17.36] 1.62 [0.70, 2.56]
e0.08 [0, 0.17] 0.03 [0, 0.25]
ω[deg] 246 [149, 304] 80 [0, 360]
Mean anomalya[deg] 40 [315, 109] 246 [0, 360]
a[AU] 3.60 [3.18, 3.96] 0.162 [0.145, 0.179]
msin i[M] 219 [168, 270] 5.0 [1.9, 8.1]
˙γ[ms1year1] 0.18 [-0.46, 0.69]
γHARP S 4.56 [-1.83, 11.63]
γP F S -6.64 [-17.20, 3.91]
γAAT 1.14 [-5.52, 7.80]
aComputed for epoch JD=2450000.0
Table 7. Correlations of GJ 832 velocities with activity indicators
Indicator MAP estimate 99% confidence interval
BIS -0.21 [-0.66,0.14]
FWHM -0.04 [-0.10,0.04]
S-index (m/s/dex) 1.5 [-8.2,11.0]
Table 8. Least-squares Keplerian orbital solutions for the GJ 832 planetary system.
Uncertainties are given as a ±1σrange.
Parameter GJ 832b GJ 832c
P[days] 3657 [3553, 3761] 35.68 [35.65, 35.71]
K[ms1] 15.4 [14.7, 16.1] 1.79 [1.52, 2.06]
e0.08 [0.02, 0.10] 0.18 [0.05, 0.31]
ω[deg] 246 [224, 268] 10 [323, 57]
Mean anomalya[deg] 307 [285,330] 165 [112,218]
a[AU] 3.56 [3.28, 3.84] 0.163 [0.157, 0.169]
msin i[M] 216 [188, 245] 5.40 [4.45, 6.35]
˙γ[ms1year1] 0.0 (fixed)
γHARP S 1.05 [0.27, 1.83]
γP F S -9.35 [-11.07, -7.63]
γAAT 3.08 [2.19, 3.96]
aComputed for epoch JD=2450000.0
– 27 –
Fig. 2.— Generalized Lomb-Scargle periodogram of the residuals to a single-planet fit for
GJ 832. A strong peak at 35.67 days is present, with a bootstrap FAP of 0.04%.
– 28 –
Table 9. Characteristics of 2-planet fits for GJ 832
AAT rms HARPS-TERRA rms HARPS-CR rms PFS rms Total rms χ2
ν
m s1m s1m s1m s1m s1
Fit 1 5.66 1.53 · · · 1.60 3.57 1.206
Fit 2 5.63 · · · 1.40 1.55 3.53 1.080
Fig. 3.— Radial velocities and fit for GJ 832b; the signal of the second planet has been
removed. AAT – green, HARPS – red, PFS – blue.
Table 10. FAP of residual signal after removing GJ 832b
Data Used NPeriod FAP Data Used NPeriod FAP
(days) (days)
AAT 39 2.77 0.1481
AAT + PFS 55 15.38 0.7279
HARPS-TERRAa54 40.5 0.0066 HARPS-CRa54 35.6 0.0017
HARPS-TERRA + PFSa70 35.66 0.0331 HARPS-CR + PFSa70 35.66 <0.0001
AAT + HARPS-TERRA 93 35.6 0.0461 AAT + HARPS-CR 93 35.7 0.0014
AAT + HARPS-TERRA + PFS 109 35.7 0.0164 AAT + HARPS-CR + PFS 109 35.7 0.0004
aParameters of GJ 832b held fixed at best-fit values in Table 8
– 29 –
Fig. 4.— Top: Radial velocities and fit for GJ 832c; the signal of the outer planet has been
removed. AAT – green, HARPS – red, PFS – blue. Bottom: Same, but the AAT data have
been omitted from the plot to more clearly show the low-amplitude signal.
– 30 –
Fig. 5.— Generalized Lomb-Scargle periodogram of the residuals to the two-planet fit for
GJ 832. All three datasets are included. The peak at 40 days has a bootstrap FAP of 4.56%,
100 times less significant than the peak due to the inner planet (Figure 2).
– 31 –
Fig. 6.— HARPS radial velocities (after removing the signal of GJ 832b) versus the bisector
inverse slope (BIS: left panel) and the FWHM of the cross-correlation function (CCF FWHM:
right panel). No correlations are evident, supporting the hypothesis that the 35.6-day signal
is due to an orbiting planet.
– 32 –
Table 11. Candidate habitable-zone exoplanets
PlanetaMassb(M) Semimajor axis (AU) HZ rangec(AU) Eccentricity Referencesd
GJ 163c 6.8±0.9 0.1254±0.0001 0.134-0.237 0.099±0.086 1,2
GJ 581ge2.242±0.644 0.13386±0.00173 0.095-0.168 0.0 3,4,5,6,7,8,9
GJ 581d 5.94±1.05 0.21778±0.00198 0.095-0.168 0.0 8
GJ 667Cc 3.8 [2.6,6.3] 0.125 [0.112,0.137] 0.118-0.231 0.02 [0,0.17] 10,11,12,13
GJ 667Cf 2.7 [1.5,4.1] 0.156 [0.139,0.170] 0.118-0.231 0.03 [0,0.19]
GJ 667Ce 2.7 [1.3,4.3] 0.213 [0.191,0.232] 0.118-0.231 0.02 [0,0.24]
GJ 832c 5.406±0.954 0.163±0.006 0.130-0.237 0.18±0.13 This work
HD 40307g 7.1 [4.5,9.7] 0.600 [0.567,0.634] 0.476-0.863 0.29 [0,0.60] 14
Kepler-22b <36 (1σ) 0.849+0.018
0.017 0.858-1.524 ··· 15,16
Kepler-61b ··· 0.2575±0.005 0.295-0.561 0.0+0.25
0.017,18
Kepler-62e <36 (95%) 0.427±0.004 0.457-0.833 0.13±0.112 17,19
Kepler-62f <35 (95%) 0.718±0.007 0.457-0.833 0.0944±0.021
Kepler-174d ··· 0.677 · · · 0.431-0.786 20
Kepler-296f ··· 0.263 · · · 0.143-0.277 20
Kepler-298d ··· 0.305 · · · 0.351-0.65 20
Kepler-309c ··· 0.401 · · · 0.228-0.434 20
aPlanet data from the Habitable Exoplanets Catalog at http://phl.upr.edu/hec.
bUncertainties given in square brackets refer to the 99% credibility intervals on the value in question,
whilst those given as ±refer to the 1σuncertainty.
cConservative habitable-zone limits computed after Kopparapu et al. (2014) and
http://www3.geosc.psu.edu/ruk15/planets/
dReferences in the table are as follows: [1] Bonfils et al. 2013, [2] Tuomi & Anglada-Escud´e 2014, [3]
Mayor et al. 2009; [4] Vogt et al. 2010; [5] Tuomi 2011; [6] von Braun et al. 2011; [7] Tadeu dos Santos et
al. 2012; [8] Vogt et al. 2012, [9] Lestrade et al. 2012; [10] Anglada-Escud´e et al. 2012; [11] Anglada-Escud´e
et al. 2013; [12] Delfosse et al. 2013; [13] Makarov & Berghea 2014; [14] Tuomi et al. 2013a; [15] Borucki
et al. 2012; [16] Neubauer et al. 2012; [17] Borucki et al. 2011; [18] Ballard et al. 2013; [19] Borucki et al.
2013; [20] Rowe et al. 2014; [21] Tuomi et al. 2013b.
eFor the purposes of this table, we list the cirular 5-planet model for GJ 581 given in Vogt et al. (2012).
... The dashed line shows a detection limit of S/N=4. mass of ∼0.68 M J at an orbital distance of ∼3.56 au (Wittenmyer et al. 2014). The planet GJ832 b was discovered through radial velocity measurements taken over a 10 yr period and is not known to transit its host star. ...
Article
The upcoming launch of the James Webb Space Telescope ( JWST ) will dramatically increase our understanding of exoplanets, particularly through direct imaging. Microlensing and radial velocity surveys indicate that some M dwarfs host long-period giant planets. Some of these planets will likely be just a few parsecs away and a few astronomical units from their host stars, a parameter space that cannot be probed by existing high-contrast imagers. We studied whether the coronagraphs on the Mid-infrared Instrument on JWST can detect Jovian-type planets around nearby M dwarfs. For a sample of 27 very nearby M dwarfs, we simulated a sample of Saturn–Jupiter-mass planets with three atmospheric configurations and three orbital separations, observed in three different filters. We found that the f1550c 15.5 μ m filter is best suited for detecting Jupiter-like planets. Jupiter-like planets with patchy cloud cover, 2 au from their star, are detectable at 15.5 μ m around 14 stars in our sample, while Jupiters with clearer atmospheres are detectable around all stars in the sample. Saturns were most detectable at 10.65 and 11.4 μ m (f1065c and f1140c filters), but only with cloud-free atmospheres and within 3 pc (six stars). Surveying all 27 stars would take <170 hr of JWST integration time, or just a few hours for a shorter survey of the most favorable targets. There is one potentially detectable known planet in our sample: GJ 832 b. Observations aimed at detecting this planet should occur in 2024–2026, when the planet is maximally separated from the star.
Article
Full-text available
A complete accounting of nearby objects—from the highest-mass white dwarf progenitors down to low-mass brown dwarfs—is now possible, thanks to an almost complete set of trigonometric parallax determinations from Gaia, ground-based surveys, and Spitzer follow-up. We create a census of objects within a Sun-centered sphere of 20 pc radius and check published literature to decompose each binary or higher-order system into its separate components. The result is a volume-limited census of ∼3600 individual star formation products useful in measuring the initial mass function across the stellar (<8 M ⊙ ) and substellar (≳5 M Jup ) regimes. Comparing our resulting initial mass function to previous measurements shows good agreement above 0.8 M ⊙ and a divergence at lower masses. Our 20 pc space densities are best fit with a quadripartite power law, ξ ( M ) = dN / dM ∝ M − α , with long-established values of α = 2.3 at high masses (0.55 < M < 8.00 M ⊙ ), and α = 1.3 at intermediate masses (0.22 < M < 0.55 M ⊙ ), but at lower masses, we find α = 0.25 for 0.05 < M < 0.22 M ⊙ , and α = 0.6 for 0.01 < M < 0.05 M ⊙ . This implies that the rate of production as a function of decreasing mass diminishes in the low-mass star/high-mass brown dwarf regime before increasing again in the low-mass brown dwarf regime. Correcting for completeness, we find a star to brown dwarf number ratio of, currently, 4:1, and an average mass per object of 0.41 M ⊙ .
Article
Full-text available
Aims . The detection of the first exoplanet around a solar-type star revealed the existence of close-in planets. Several of these close-in planets are part of multi-planet systems. For systems detected via the radial velocity (RV) method, we lack information on the mutual inclination of the orbital planes. The aim of this work is to study the long-term stability of RV-detected two-planet systems with close-in planets and identify possible three-dimensional configurations for these systems that are compatible with observations. To do so, we focused on the protective mechanism of the Lidov-Kozai (LK) secular resonance and studied the effects of general relativity (GR) on long-term evolution. Methods . By means of an analytical study based on a high-order secular Hamiltonian expansion in the eccentricities and inclinations, we first identified ranges of values for the orbital and mutual inclinations that are compatible with the presence of the LK resonance in the purely gravitational case. Then, adding the secular contribution of the relativistic corrections exerted by the central star on the inner planet, namely the advance of its pericenter precession, we analysed the outcomes of the two sets of simulations. We compared our results to analytical estimates to determine the importance of GR effects. Results . We find that for the majority of the systems considered, GR strongly affects the dynamics of the system and, most of the time, voids the LK resonance, as observed for GJ 649, GJ 832, HD 187123, HD 190360, HD 217107, and HD 47186. The long-term stability of these systems is then possible whatever the mutual inclination of the orbits. On the contrary, for GJ 682, HD 11964, HD 147018, and HD 9446, the LK resonant region in the parameter space of the orbital and mutual inclinations is left (almost) unchanged when GR effects are considered, and consequently their long-term stability is only possible if the mutual inclination of the orbits is low or if the systems are in the LK regime with a high mutual inclination.
Article
Full-text available
Context. The discovery of planets orbiting at less than 1 au from their host star and less massive than Saturn in various exoplanetary systems revolutionized our theories of planetary formation. The fundamental question is whether these close-in low-mass planets could have formed in the inner disk interior to 1 au, or whether they formed further out in the planet-forming disk and migrated inward. Exploring the role of additional giant planet(s) in these systems may help us to pinpoint their global formation and evolution. Aims. We searched for additional substellar companions by using direct imaging in systems known to host close-in small planets. The use of direct imaging complemented by radial velocity and astrometric detection limits enabled us to explore the giant planet and brown dwarf demographics around these hosts to investigate the potential connection between both populations. Methods. We carried out a direct imaging survey with SPHERE at VLT to look for outer giant planets and brown dwarf companions in 27 systems hosting close-in low-mass planets discovered by radial velocity. Our sample is composed of very nearby (<20 pc) planetary systems, orbiting G-, K-, and M-type mature (0.5–10 Gyr) stellar hosts. We performed homogeneous direct imaging data reduction and analysis to search for and characterize point sources, and derived robust statistical detection limits. The final direct imaging detection performances were globally considered together with radial velocity and astrometric sensitivity. Results. Of 337 point-source detections, we do not find any new bound companions. We recovered the emblematic very cool T-type brown dwarf GJ 229 B. Our typical sensitivities in direct imaging range from 5 to 30 M Jup beyond 2 au. The non-detection of massive companions is consistent with predictions based on models of planet formation by core accretion. Our pilot study opens the way to a multi-technique approach for the exploration of very nearby exoplanetary systems with future ground-based and space observatories.
Article
Full-text available
Context. Although more than one thousand substellar companions have already been detected with the radial velocity (RV) method, many new companions remain to be detected in the public RV archives. Aims. We wish to use the archival data obtained with the ESO/HARPS spectrograph to search for substellar companions. Methods. We used the astronomic acceleration measurements of stars obtained with the H IPPARCOS and Gaia satellites to identify anomalies that could be explained by the presence of a companion. Once hints for a companion were found, we combined the RV data with absolute astrometry data and, when available, relative astrometry data, using a Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithm to determine the orbital parameters and mass of the companion. Results. We find and characterize three new brown dwarfs (GJ 660.1 C, HD 73256 B, and HD 165131 B) and six new planets (HD 75302 b, HD 108202 b, HD 135625 b, HD 185283 b, HIP 10337 b, and HIP 54597 b) with separations between 1 and 6 au and masses between 0.6 and 100 M Jup . We also constrain the orbital inclination of ten known substellar companions and determine their true mass. Finally, we identify twelve new stellar companions. This shows that the analysis of proper motion anomalies enables the optimization of the RV search for substellar companions and their characterization.
Article
Full-text available
The magnetic processes associated with the nonthermal broadening of optically thin emission lines appear to carry enough energy to heat the corona and accelerate the solar wind. We investigate whether nonthermal motions in cool stars exhibit the same behavior as on the Sun by analyzing archival stellar spectra taken by the Hubble Space Telescope, and full-disk Solar spectra taken by the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph. We determined the nonthermal velocities by measuring the excess broadening in optically thin emission lines formed in the stellar atmosphere; the chromosphere, the transition region, and the corona. Assuming the nonthermal broadening is caused by the presence of Alfvén waves, we also determined the associated wave energy densities. Our results show that with a nonthermal velocity of ∼23 km s ⁻¹ the Sun-as-a-star results are in very good agreement with values obtained from spatially resolved solar observations. The nonthermal broadening in our sample shows a correlation to stellar rotation, with the strength of the nonthermal velocity decreasing with decreasing rotation rate. Finally, the nonthermal velocity in cool Sun-like stars varies with atmospheric height or temperature of the emission lines, and peaks at transition region temperatures. This points toward a solar-like Alfvén wave-driven heating in stellar atmospheres. However, the peak is at a lower temperature in some cool stars suggesting that other magnetic processes such as flaring events could also dominate.
Article
Being one of the most fundamental physical parameter of astronomical objects, mass plays a vital role in the study of exoplanets, including their temperature structure, chemical composition, formation, and evolution. However, nearly a quarter of the known confirmed exoplanets lack measurements of their masses. This is particularly severe for those discovered via the radial-velocity (RV) technique, which alone could only yield the minimum mass of planets. In this study, we use published RV data combined with astrometric data from a cross-calibrated Hipparcos-Gaia Catalog of Accelerations (HGCA) to jointly constrain the masses of 115 RV-detected substellar companions, by conducting full orbital fits using the public tool \texttt{orvara}. Among them, 9 exoplanets with $M_{\rm p}\,{\rm sin}\,i<13.5\ M_{\rm Jup}$ are reclassified to the brown dwarf (BD) regime, and 16 BD candidates ($13.5\leqslant M_{\rm p}\,{\rm sin}\,i<80\,M_{\rm Jup}$) turn out to be low-mass M dwarfs. We point out the presence of a transition in the BD regime as seen in the distributions of host star metallicity and orbital eccentricity with respect to planet masses. We confirm the previous findings that companions with masses below $42.5\ M_{\rm Jup}$ might primarily form in the protoplanetary disc through core accretion or disc gravitational instability, while those with masses above $42.5\ M_{\rm Jup}$ formed through the gravitational instability of molecular cloud like stars. Selection effects and detection biases which may affect our analysis to some extent, are discussed.
Article
M-dwarfs are thought to be hostile environments for exoplanets. Stellar events are very common on such stars. These events might cause the atmospheres of exoplanets to change significantly over time. It is not only the major stellar flare events that contribute to this disequilibrium, but the smaller flares might also affect the atmospheres in an accumulating manner. In this study, we aim to investigate the effects of time-dependent stellar activity on the atmospheres of known exoplanets. We simulate the chemistry of GJ 876c, GJ 581c, and GJ 832c that go from H2-dominated to N2-dominated atmospheres using observed stellar spectra from the MUSCLES collaboration. We make use of the chemical kinetics code vulcan and implement a flaring routine that stochastically generates synthetic flares based on observed flare statistics. Using the radiative transfer code petitradtrans, we also simulate the evolution of emission and transmission spectra. We investigate the effect of recurring flares for a total of 11 d covering 515 flares. Results show a significant change in abundance for some relevant species such as H, OH, and CH4, with factors going up to three orders of magnitude difference with respect to the pre-flare abundances. We find a maximum change of ∼12 ppm for CH4 in transmission spectra on GJ 876c. These changes in the spectra remain too small to observe. We also find that the change in abundance and spectra of the planets accumulates throughout time, causing permanent changes in the chemistry. We conclude that this small but gradual change in chemistry arises due to the recurring flares.
Article
Full-text available
We present the discovery of TOI-5205b, a transiting Jovian planet orbiting a solar metallicity M4V star, which was discovered using Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite photometry and then confirmed using a combination of precise radial velocities, ground-based photometry, spectra, and speckle imaging. TOI-5205b has one of the highest mass ratios for M-dwarf planets, with a mass ratio of almost 0.3%, as it orbits a host star that is just 0.392 ± 0.015 M ⊙ . Its planetary radius is 1.03 ± 0.03 R J , while the mass is 1.08 ± 0.06 M J . Additionally, the large size of the planet orbiting a small star results in a transit depth of ∼7%, making it one of the deepest transits of a confirmed exoplanet orbiting a main-sequence star. The large transit depth makes TOI-5205b a compelling target to probe its atmospheric properties, as a means of tracing the potential formation pathways. While there have been radial-velocity-only discoveries of giant planets around mid-M dwarfs, this is the first transiting Jupiter with a mass measurement discovered around such a low-mass host star. The high mass of TOI-5205b stretches conventional theories of planet formation and disk scaling relations that cannot easily recreate the conditions required to form such planets.
Article
Full-text available
Context. Gliese-832 (GJ 832) is an M2V star hosting a massive planet on a decade-long orbit, GJ 832b, discovered by radial velocity (RV). Later, a super Earth or mini-Neptune orbiting within the stellar habitable zone was reported (GJ 832c). The recently determined stellar rotation period (45.7 ± 9.3 days) is close to the orbital period of putative planet c (35.68 ± 0.03 days). Aims. We aim to confirm or dismiss the planetary nature of the RV signature attributed to GJ 832c, by adding 119 new RV data points, new photometric data, and an analysis of the spectroscopic stellar activity indicators. Additionally, we update the orbital parameters of the planetary system and search for additional signals. Methods. We performed a frequency content analysis of the RVs to search for periodic and stable signals. Radial velocity time series were modelled with Keplerians and Gaussian process (GP) regressions alongside activity indicators to subsequently compare them within a Bayesian framework. Results. We updated the stellar rotational period of GJ 832 from activity indicators, obtaining 37.5 +1.4 -1.5 days, improving the precision by a factor of 6. The new photometric data are in agreement with this value. We detected an RV signal near 18 days (FAP < 4.6%), which is half of the stellar rotation period. Two Keplerians alone fail at modelling GJ 832b and a second planet with a 35-day orbital period. Moreover, the Bayesian evidence from the GP analysis of the RV data with simultaneous activity indices prefers a model without a second Keplerian, therefore negating the existence of planet c.
Article
Full-text available
The ongoing discoveries of extra-solar planets are unveiling a wide range of terrestrial mass (size) planets around their host stars. In this Letter, we present estimates of habitable zones (HZs) around stars with stellar effective temperatures in the range 2600 K-7200 K, for planetary masses between 0.1 M ⊕ and 5 M ⊕. Assuming H2O-(inner HZ) and CO2-(outer HZ) dominated atmospheres, and scaling the background N2 atmospheric pressure with the radius of the planet, our results indicate that larger planets have wider HZs than do smaller ones. Specifically, with the assumption that smaller planets will have less dense atmospheres, the inner edge of the HZ (runaway greenhouse limit) moves outward (~10% lower than Earth flux) for low mass planets due to larger greenhouse effect arising from the increased H2O column depth. For larger planets, the H2O column depth is smaller, and higher temperatures are needed before water vapor completely dominates the outgoing longwave radiation. Hence the inner edge moves inward (~7% higher than Earth's flux). The outer HZ changes little due to the competing effects of the greenhouse effect and an increase in albedo. New, three-dimensional climate model results from other groups are also summarized, and we argue that further, independent studies are needed to verify their predictions. Combined with our previous work, the results presented here provide refined estimates of HZs around main-sequence stars and provide a step toward a more comprehensive analysis of HZs.
Article
Full-text available
The $\textit{Herschel}$ DEBRIS, DUNES and GT programmes observed 37 exoplanet host stars within 25 pc at 70, 100 and 160 $\mu$m with the sensitivity to detect far-infrared excess emission at flux density levels only an order of magnitude greater than that of the Solar system's Edgeworth-Kuiper belt. Here we present an analysis of that sample, using it to more accurately determine the (possible) level of dust emission from these exoplanet host stars and thereafter determine the links between the various components of these exoplanetary systems through statistical analysis. We have fitted the flux densities measured from recent \textit{Herschel} observations with a simple two parameter ($T_{d}$, $L_{\rm IR}/L_{\star}$) black body model (or to the 3-$\sigma$ upper limits at 100 $\mu$m). From this uniform approach we calculate the fractional luminosity, radial extent, dust temperature and disc mass. We then plotted the calculated dust luminosity or upper limits against the stellar properties, e.g. effective temperature, metallicity, age, and identified correlations between these parameters. A total of eleven debris discs are identified around the 37 stars in the sample. An incidence of ten cool debris discs around the Sun-like exoplanet host stars (29 $\pm$ 9 %) is consistent with the detection rate found by DUNES (20.2 $\pm$ 2.0 %). For the debris disc systems, the dust temperatures range from 20 to 80 K, and fractional luminosities ($L_{\rm IR}/L_{\star}$) between 2.4 $\times$10$^{-6}$ and 4.1 $\times$10$^{-4}$. In the case of non-detections, we calculated typical 3-$\sigma$ upper limits to the dust fractional luminosities of a few $\times10^{-6}$. We recover the previously identified correlation between stellar metallicity and hot Jupiter planets in our data set. We find a correlation between the increased presence of dust, lower planet masses and lower stellar metallicities. (abridged)
Article
Full-text available
Due to their higher planet-star mass-ratios, M dwarfs are the easiest targets for detection of low-mass planets orbiting nearby stars using Doppler spectroscopy. Furthermore, because of their low masses and luminosities, Doppler measurements enable the detection of low-mass planets in their habitable zones that correspond to closer orbits than for Solar-type stars. We re-analyse literature UVES radial velocities of 41 nearby M dwarfs in a combination with new velocities obtained from publicly available spectra from the HARPS-ESO spectrograph of these stars in an attempt to constrain any low-amplitude Keplerian signals. We apply Bayesian signal detection criteria, together with posterior sampling techniques, in combination with noise models that take into account correlations in the data and obtain estimates for the number of planet candidates in the sample. More generally, we use the estimated detection probability function to calculate the occurrence rate of low-mass planets around nearby M dwarfs. We report eight new planet candidates in the sample (orbiting GJ 27.1, GJ 160.2, GJ 180, GJ 229, GJ 422, and GJ 682), including two new multiplanet systems, and confirm two previously known candidates in the GJ 433 system based on detections of Keplerian signals in the combined UVES and HARPS radial velocity data that cannot be explained by periodic and/or quasiperiodic phenomena related to stellar activities. Finally, we use the estimated detection probability function to calculate the occurrence rate of low-mass planets around nearby M dwarfs. According to our results, M dwarfs are hosts to an abundance of low-mass planets and the occurrence rate of planets less massive than 10 M$_{\oplus}$ is of the order of one planet per star, possibly even greater. ...
Article
Full-text available
The Kepler mission has discovered over 2500 exoplanet candidates in the first two years of spacecraft data, with approximately 40% of them in candidate multi-planet systems. The high rate of multiplicity combined with the low rate of identified false-positives indicates that the multiplanet systems contain very few false-positive signals due to other systems not gravitationally bound to the target star (Lissauer, J. J., et al., 2012, ApJ 750, 131). False positives in the multi- planet systems are identified and removed, leaving behind a residual population of candidate multi-planet transiting systems expected to have a false-positive rate less than 1%. We present a sample of 340 planetary systems that contain 851 planets that are validated to substantially better than the 99% confidence level; the vast majority of these have not been previously verified as planets. We expect ~2 unidentified false-positives making our sample of planet very reliable. We present fundamental planetary properties of our sample based on a comprehensive analysis of Kepler light curves and ground-based spectroscopy and high-resolution imaging. Since we do not require spectroscopy or high-resolution imaging for validation, some of our derived parameters for a planetary system may be systematically incorrect due to dilution from light due to additional stars in the photometric aperture. None the less, our result nearly doubles the number of verified exoplanets.
Conference Paper
CARMENES (Calar Alto high-Resolution search for M dwarfs with Exo-earths with Near-infrared and optical Echelle Spectrographs) is a next-generation instrument to be built for the 3.5m telescope at the Calar Alto Observatory by a consortium of Spanish and German institutions. Conducting a five-year exoplanet survey targeting similar to 300 M stars with the completed instrument is an integral part of the project. The CARMENES instrument consists of two separate spectrographs covering the wavelength range from 0.52 to 1.7 mu m at a spectral resolution of R = 85, 000, fed by fibers from the Cassegrain focus of the telescope. The spectrographs are housed in a temperature-stabilized environment in vacuum tanks, to enable a 1m/s radial velocity precision employing a simultaneous ThAr calibration.
Article
A one-dimensional climate model is used to estimate the width of the habitable zone (HZ) around our Sun and around other main sequence stars. Our basic premise is that we are dealing with Earth-like planets with CO2/H2O/N2 atmospheres and that habitability requires the presence of liquid water on the planet's surface. The inner edge of the HZ is determined in our model by loss of water via photolysis and hydrogen escape. The outer edge of the HZ is determined by the formation of CO2 clouds, which cool a planet's surface by increasing its albedo and by lowering the convective lapse rate. Conservative estimates for these distances in our own Solar System are 0.95 and 1.37 AU, respectively; the actual width of the present HZ could be much greater. Between these two limits, climate stability is ensured by a feedback mechanism in which atmospheric CO2 concentrations vary inversely with planetary surface temperature. The width of the HZ is slightly greater for planets that are larger than Earth and for planets which have higher N2 partial pressures. The HZ evolves outward in time because the Sun increases in luminosity as it ages. A conservative estimate for the width of the 4.6-Gyr continuously habitable zone (CHZ) is 0.95 to 1.15 AU.
Article
In a 1935 paper and in his book Theory of Probability, Jeffreys developed a methodology for quantifying the evidence in favor of a scientific theory. The centerpiece was a number, now called the Bayes factor, which is the posterior odds of the null hypothesis when the prior probability on the null is one-half. Although there has been much discussion of Bayesian hypothesis testing in the context of criticism of P-values, less attention has been given to the Bayes factor as a practical tool of applied statistics. In this article we review and discuss the uses of Bayes factors in the context of five scientific applications in genetics, sports, ecology, sociology, and psychology. We emphasize the following points:
Article
Planetary rotation rate is a key parameter in determining atmospheric circulation and hence the spatial pattern of clouds. Since clouds can exert a dominant control on planetary radiation balance, rotation rate could be critical for determining mean planetary climate. Here we investigate this idea using a three-dimensional general circulation model with a sophisticated cloud scheme. We find that slowly rotating planets (like Venus) can maintain an Earth-like climate at nearly twice the stellar flux as rapidly rotating planets (like Earth). This suggests that many exoplanets previously believed to be too hot may actually be habitable, depending on their rotation rate. The explanation for this behavior is that slowly rotating planets have a weak Coriolis force and long daytime illumination, which promotes strong convergence and convection in the substellar region. This produces a large area of optically thick clouds, which greatly increases the planetary albedo. In contrast, on rapidly rotating planets a much narrower belt of clouds form in the deep tropics, leading to a relatively low albedo. A particularly striking example of the importance of rotation rate suggested by our simulations is that a planet with modern Earth's atmosphere, in Venus' orbit, and with modern Venus' (slow) rotation rate would be habitable. This would imply that if Venus went through a runaway greenhouse, it had a higher rotation rate at that time.
Article
Among Type Ia supernovae (SNe~Ia) exist a class of overluminous objects whose ejecta mass is inferred to be larger than the canonical Chandrasekhar mass. We present and discuss the UV/optical photometric light curves, colors, absolute magnitudes, and spectra of three candidate Super-Chandrasekhar mass SNe--2009dc, 2011aa, and 2012dn--observed with the Swift Ultraviolet/Optical Telescope. The light curves are at the broad end for SNe Ia, with the light curves of SN~2011aa being amongst the broadest ever observed. We find all three to have very blue colors which may provide a means of excluding these overluminous SNe from cosmological analysis, though there is some overlap with the bluest of "normal" SNe Ia. All three are overluminous in their UV absolute magnitudes compared to normal and broad SNe Ia, but SNe 2011aa and 2012dn are not optically overluminous compared to normal SNe Ia. The integrated luminosity curves of SNe 2011aa and 2012dn in the UVOT range (1600-6000 Angstroms) are only half as bright as SN~2009dc, implying a smaller 56Ni yield. While not enough to strongly affect the bolometric flux, the early time mid-UV flux makes a significant contribution at early times. The strong spectral features in the mid-UV spectra of SNe 2009dc and 2012dn suggest a higher temperature and lower opacity to be the cause of the UV excess rather than a hot, smooth blackbody from shock interaction. Further work is needed to determine the ejecta and 56Ni masses of SNe 2011aa and 2012dn and fully explain their high UV luminosities.