ALBERT

Description: We present the results of a search for planetary companions orbiting near hot Jupiter planet candidates (Jupiter-size candidates with orbital periods near 3 d) identified in the Kepler data through its sixth quarter of science operations. Special emphasis is given to companions between the 2∶1 interior and exterior mean-motion resonances. A photometric transit search excludes companions with sizes ranging from roughly two-thirds to five times the size of the Earth, depending upon the noise properties of the target star. A search for dynamically induced deviations from a constant period (transit timing variations) also shows no significant signals. In contrast, comparison studies of warm Jupiters (with slightly larger orbits) and hot Neptune-size candidates do exhibit signatures of additional companions with these same tests. These differences between hot Jupiters and other planetary systems denote a distinctly different formation or dynamical history.

Description: We present the detection of five planets--Kepler-62b, c, d, e, and f--of size 1.31, 0.54, 1.95, 1.61 and 1.41 Earth radii (R plus sign in circle), orbiting a K2V star at periods of 5.7, 12.4, 18.2, 122.4, and 267.3 days, respectively. The outermost planets, Kepler-62e and -62f, are super-Earth-size (1.25 R plus sign in circle 〈 planet radius 〈/= 2.0 R plus sign in circle) planets in the habitable zone of their host star, respectively receiving 1.2 +/- 0.2 times and 0.41 +/- 0.05 times the solar flux at Earth's orbit. Theoretical models of Kepler-62e and -62f for a stellar age of ~7 billion years suggest that both planets could be solid, either with a rocky composition or composed of mostly solid water in their bulk.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Borucki, William J -- Agol, Eric -- Fressin, Francois -- Kaltenegger, Lisa -- Rowe, Jason -- Isaacson, Howard -- Fischer, Debra -- Batalha, Natalie -- Lissauer, Jack J -- Marcy, Geoffrey W -- Fabrycky, Daniel -- Desert, Jean-Michel -- Bryson, Stephen T -- Barclay, Thomas -- Bastien, Fabienne -- Boss, Alan -- Brugamyer, Erik -- Buchhave, Lars A -- Burke, Chris -- Caldwell, Douglas A -- Carter, Josh -- Charbonneau, David -- Crepp, Justin R -- Christensen-Dalsgaard, Jorgen -- Christiansen, Jessie L -- Ciardi, David -- Cochran, William D -- DeVore, Edna -- Doyle, Laurance -- Dupree, Andrea K -- Endl, Michael -- Everett, Mark E -- Ford, Eric B -- Fortney, Jonathan -- Gautier, Thomas N 3rd -- Geary, John C -- Gould, Alan -- Haas, Michael -- Henze, Christopher -- Howard, Andrew W -- Howell, Steve B -- Huber, Daniel -- Jenkins, Jon M -- Kjeldsen, Hans -- Kolbl, Rea -- Kolodziejczak, Jeffery -- Latham, David W -- Lee, Brian L -- Lopez, Eric -- Mullally, Fergal -- Orosz, Jerome A -- Prsa, Andrej -- Quintana, Elisa V -- Sanchis-Ojeda, Roberto -- Sasselov, Dimitar -- Seader, Shawn -- Shporer, Avi -- Steffen, Jason H -- Still, Martin -- Tenenbaum, Peter -- Thompson, Susan E -- Torres, Guillermo -- Twicken, Joseph D -- Welsh, William F -- Winn, Joshua N -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2013 May 3;340(6132):587-90. doi: 10.1126/science.1234702. Epub 2013 Apr 18.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA. william.j.borucki@nasa.gov〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23599262" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Directly detecting thermal emission from young extrasolar planets allows measurement of their atmospheric compositions and luminosities, which are influenced by their formation mechanisms. Using the Gemini Planet Imager, we discovered a planet orbiting the ~20-million-year-old star 51 Eridani at a projected separation of 13 astronomical units. Near-infrared observations show a spectrum with strong methane and water-vapor absorption. Modeling of the spectra and photometry yields a luminosity (normalized by the luminosity of the Sun) of 1.6 to 4.0 x 10(-6) and an effective temperature of 600 to 750 kelvin. For this age and luminosity, "hot-start" formation models indicate a mass twice that of Jupiter. This planet also has a sufficiently low luminosity to be consistent with the "cold-start" core-accretion process that may have formed Jupiter.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Macintosh, B -- Graham, J R -- Barman, T -- De Rosa, R J -- Konopacky, Q -- Marley, M S -- Marois, C -- Nielsen, E L -- Pueyo, L -- Rajan, A -- Rameau, J -- Saumon, D -- Wang, J J -- Patience, J -- Ammons, M -- Arriaga, P -- Artigau, E -- Beckwith, S -- Brewster, J -- Bruzzone, S -- Bulger, J -- Burningham, B -- Burrows, A S -- Chen, C -- Chiang, E -- Chilcote, J K -- Dawson, R I -- Dong, R -- Doyon, R -- Draper, Z H -- Duchene, G -- Esposito, T M -- Fabrycky, D -- Fitzgerald, M P -- Follette, K B -- Fortney, J J -- Gerard, B -- Goodsell, S -- Greenbaum, A Z -- Hibon, P -- Hinkley, S -- Cotten, T H -- Hung, L-W -- Ingraham, P -- Johnson-Groh, M -- Kalas, P -- Lafreniere, D -- Larkin, J E -- Lee, J -- Line, M -- Long, D -- Maire, J -- Marchis, F -- Matthews, B C -- Max, C E -- Metchev, S -- Millar-Blanchaer, M A -- Mittal, T -- Morley, C V -- Morzinski, K M -- Murray-Clay, R -- Oppenheimer, R -- Palmer, D W -- Patel, R -- Perrin, M D -- Poyneer, L A -- Rafikov, R R -- Rantakyro, F T -- Rice, E L -- Rojo, P -- Rudy, A R -- Ruffio, J-B -- Ruiz, M T -- Sadakuni, N -- Saddlemyer, L -- Salama, M -- Savransky, D -- Schneider, A C -- Sivaramakrishnan, A -- Song, I -- Soummer, R -- Thomas, S -- Vasisht, G -- Wallace, J K -- Ward-Duong, K -- Wiktorowicz, S J -- Wolff, S G -- Zuckerman, B -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2015 Oct 2;350(6256):64-7. doi: 10.1126/science.aac5891. Epub 2015 Aug 13.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, 7000 East Avenue, Livermore, CA 94040, USA. bmacintosh@stanford.edu. ; Department of Astronomy, University of California-Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA. ; Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA. ; Center for Astrophysics and Space Sciences, University of California-San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA. ; NASA Ames Research Center, MS 245-3, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA. ; National Research Council of Canada, Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics, 5071 West Saanich Road, Victoria, British Columbia V9E 2E7, Canada. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Victoria, 3800 Finnerty Road, Victoria, British Columbia V8P 5C2, Canada. ; Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Institute, Carl Sagan Center, 189 Bernardo Avenue, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA. Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA. ; Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA. ; School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University, Post Office Box 871404, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA. ; Institut de Recherche sur les Exoplanetes, Department de Physique, Universite de Montreal, Montreal, Quebec H3C 3J7, Canada. ; Los Alamos National Laboratory, Post Office Box 1663, MS F663, Los Alamos, NM 87545, USA. ; Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, 7000 East Avenue, Livermore, CA 94040, USA. ; Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California-Los Angeles, 430 Portola Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA. ; Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Institute, Carl Sagan Center, 189 Bernardo Avenue, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA. ; Department of Physics and Astronomy, Centre for Planetary Science and Exploration, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario N6A 3K7, Canada. ; School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University, Post Office Box 871404, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA. Subaru Telescope, 650 North A'ohoku Place, Hilo, HI 96720, USA. ; NASA Ames Research Center, MS 245-3, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA. Science and Technology Research Institute, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield AL10 9AB, UK. ; Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA. ; Dunlap Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Toronto, 50 St. George Street, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3H4, Canada. ; Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Victoria, 3800 Finnerty Road, Victoria, British Columbia V8P 5C2, Canada. National Research Council of Canada, Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics, 5071 West Saanich Road, Victoria, British Columbia V9E 2E7, Canada. ; Department of Astronomy, University of California-Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA. Institut de Planetologie et d'Astrophysique de Grenoble, Universite Grenoble Alpes, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, 38000 Grenoble, France. ; Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Chicago, 5640 South Ellis Avenue, Chicago, IL 60637, USA. ; Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA. ; Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California-Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA. ; Department of Physics, Durham University, Stockton Road, Durham DH1, UK. Gemini Observatory, Casilla 603, La Serena, Chile. ; Department of Physics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University, 3600 North Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA. Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA. ; Gemini Observatory, Casilla 603, La Serena, Chile. ; University of Exeter, Astrophysics Group, Physics Building, Stocker Road, Exeter EX4 4QL, UK. ; Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA. ; Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, 950 North Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85719, USA. ; Department of Astronomy, University of California-Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA. Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Institute, Carl Sagan Center, 189 Bernardo Avenue, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA. ; Department of Physics and Astronomy, Centre for Planetary Science and Exploration, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario N6A 3K7, Canada. Department of Physics and Astronomy, Stony Brook University, 100 Nicolls Road, Stony Brook, NY 11794-3800, USA. ; Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3H4, Canada. ; Steward Observatory, 933 North Cherry Avenue, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA. ; Department of Physics, University of California-Santa Barbara, Broida Hall, Santa Barbara, CA 93106-9530, USA. ; Department of Astrophysics, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY 10024, USA. ; Department of Physics and Astronomy, Stony Brook University, 100 Nicolls Road, Stony Brook, NY 11794-3800, USA. ; Department of Engineering Science and Physics, College of Staten Island, City University of New York, Staten Island, NY 10314, USA. Department of Astrophysics, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY 10024, USA. ; Departamento de Astronomia, Universidad de Chile, Camino El Observatorio 1515, Casilla 36-D, Las Condes, Santiago, Chile. ; Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA. Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Institute, Carl Sagan Center, 189 Bernardo Avenue, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA. ; Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, Universities Space Research Association, NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center, 2825 East Avenue P, Palmdale, CA 93550, USA. Gemini Observatory, Casilla 603, La Serena, Chile. ; National Research Council of Canada, Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics, 5071 West Saanich Road, Victoria, British Columbia V9E 2E7, Canada. ; Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA. ; Physics and Astronomy, University of Toledo, 2801 West Bancroft Street, Toledo, OH 43606, USA. ; Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26272904" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: The Kepler mission has yielded the discovery of eight circumbinary systems, all found around eclipsing binaries with periods greater than 7 d. This is longer than the typical eclipsing binary period found by Kepler , and hence there is a dearth of planets around the closest binaries. In this paper, we suggest how this dearth may be explained by the presence of a distant stellar tertiary companion, which shrunk the inner binary orbit by the process of Kozai cycles and tidal friction, a mechanism that has been implicated for producing most binaries with periods below 7 d. We show that the geometry and orbital dynamics of these evolving triple star systems are highly restrictive for a circumbinary planet, which is subject itself to Kozai modulation, on one hand, and can shield the two inner stars from their Kozai cycle and subsequent shrinking, on the other hand. Only small planets on wide and inclined orbits may form, survive and allow for the inner binary shrinkage. Those are difficult to detect.

Description: The Kepler mission has yielded the discovery of eight circumbinary systems, all found around eclipsing binaries with periods greater than 7 d. This is longer than the typical eclipsing binary period found by Kepler , and hence there is a dearth of planets around the closest binaries. In this paper, we suggest how this dearth may be explained by the presence of a distant stellar tertiary companion, which shrunk the inner binary orbit by the process of Kozai cycles and tidal friction, a mechanism that has been implicated for producing most binaries with periods below 7 d. We show that the geometry and orbital dynamics of these evolving triple star systems are highly restrictive for a circumbinary planet, which is subject itself to Kozai modulation, on one hand, and can shield the two inner stars from their Kozai cycle and subsequent shrinking, on the other hand. Only small planets on wide and inclined orbits may form, survive and allow for the inner binary shrinkage. Those are difficult to detect.

Description: Over the duration of the Kepler mission, KIC 8462852 was observed to undergo irregularly shaped, aperiodic dips in flux of up to ~20 per cent. The dipping activity can last for between 5 and 80 d. We characterize the object with high-resolution spectroscopy, spectral energy distribution fitting, radial velocity measurements, high-resolution imaging, and Fourier analyses of the Kepler light curve. We determine that KIC 8462852 is a typical main-sequence F3 V star that exhibits no significant IR excess, and has no very close interacting companions. In this paper, we describe various scenarios to explain the dipping events observed in the Kepler light curve. We confirm that the dipping signals in the data are not caused by any instrumental or data processing artefact, and thus are astrophysical in origin. We construct scenario-independent constraints on the size and location of a body in the system that are needed to reproduce the observations. We deliberate over several assorted stellar and circumstellar astrophysical scenarios, most of which have problems explaining the data in hand. By considering the observational constraints on dust clumps in orbit around a normal main-sequence star, we conclude that the scenario most consistent with the data in hand is the passage of a family of exocomet or planetesimal fragments, all of which are associated with a single previous break-up event, possibly caused by tidal disruption or thermal processing. The minimum total mass associated with these fragments likely exceeds 10 –6 M , corresponding to an original rocky body of 〉100 km in diameter. We discuss the necessity of future observations to help interpret the system.

Description: Chaotic dynamics are expected during and after planet formation, and a leading mechanism to explain large eccentricities of gas giant exoplanets is planet–planet gravitational scattering. The same scattering has been invoked to explain misalignments of planetary orbital planes with respect to their host star's spin. However, an observational puzzle is presented by Kepler-56, which has two inner planets (b and c) that are nearly coplanar with each other, yet are more than 45° inclined to their star's equator. Thus, the spin–orbit misalignment might be primordial. Instead, we further develop the hypothesis in the discovery paper, that planets on wider orbits generated misalignment through scattering, and as a result gently torqued the inner planets away from the equator plane of the star. We integrated the equations of motion for Kepler-56 b and c along with an unstable outer system initialized with either two or three Jupiter-mass planets. We address here whether the violent scattering that generates large mutual inclinations can leave the inner system intact, tilting it gently . In almost all of the cases initially with two outer planets, either the inner planets remain nearly coplanar with each other in the star's equator plane, or they are scattered violently to high mutual inclination and high spin–orbit misalignment. On the contrary, of the systems with three unstable outer planets, a spin–orbit misalignment large enough to explain the observations is generated 28 per cent of the time for coplanar inner planets, which is consistent with the observed frequency of this phenomenon reported so far. We conclude that multiple-planet scattering in the outer parts of the system may account for this new population of coplanar planets hosted by oblique stars.

Description: During its four years of photometric observations, the Kepler space telescope detected thousands of exoplanets and exoplanet candidates. One of Kepler’s greatest heritages has been the confirmation and characterization of hundreds of multi-planet systems via transit timing variations (TTVs). However, there are many interesting candidate systems displaying TTVs on such long timescales that the existing Kepler observations are of insufficient length to confirm and characterize them by means of this technique. To continue with Kepler’s unique work, we have organized the “Kepler Object of Interest Network” (KOINet), a multi-site network formed of several telescopes located throughout America, Europe, and Asia. The goals of KOINet are to complete the TTV curves of systems where Kepler did not cover the interaction timescales well, to dynamically prove that some candidates are true planets (or not), to dynamically measure the masses and bulk densities of some planets, to find evidence for non-transiting planets in some of the systems, to extend Kepler’s baseline adding new data with the main purpose of improving current models of TTVs, and to build a platform that can observe almost anywhere on the northern hemisphere, at almost any time. KOINet has been operational since March 2014. Here we show some promising first results obtained from analyzing seven primary transits of KOI-0410.01, KOI-0525.01, KOI-0760.01, and KOI-0902.01, in addition to the Kepler data acquired during the first and second observing seasons of KOINet. While carefully choosing the targets we set demanding constraints on timing precision (at least 1 min) and photometric precision (as good as one part per thousand) that were achieved by means of our observing strategies and data analysis techniques. For KOI-0410.01, new transit data revealed a turnover of its TTVs. We carried out an in-depth study of the system, which is identified in the NASA Data Validation Report as a false positive. Among others, we investigated a gravitationally bound hierarchical triple star system and a planet–star system. While the simultaneous transit fitting of ground- andspace-based data allowed for a planet solution, we could not fully reject the three-star scenario. New data, already scheduled in the upcoming 2018 observing season, will set tighter constraints on the nature of the system.