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Espinoza-Retamal, J. I., Brahm, R., Petrovich, C., Jordán, A., Stefánsson, G., Sedaghati, E., et al. (2023). The Aligned Orbit of the Eccentric Proto Hot Jupiter TOI-3362b. Astrophys. J. Lett., 958(2), L20.
Abstract: High-eccentricity tidal migration predicts the existence of highly eccentric proto hot Jupiters on the “tidal circularization track,” meaning that they might eventually become hot Jupiters, but that their migratory journey remains incomplete. Having experienced moderate amounts of tidal evolution of their orbital elements, proto hot Jupiter systems can be powerful test beds for the underlying mechanisms of eccentricity growth. Notably, they may be used for discriminating between variants of high-eccentricity migration, each predicting a distinct evolution of misalignment between the star and the planet's orbit. We constrain the spin-orbit misalignment of the proto hot Jupiter TOI-3362b with high-precision radial-velocity observations using ESPRESSO at Very Large Telescope. The observations reveal a sky-projected obliquity lambda=1.2+2.8(degrees)/-2.7 and constrain the orbital eccentricity to e = 0.720 +/- 0.016, making it one of the most eccentric gas giants for which the obliquity has been measured. Although the large eccentricity and the striking orbit alignment of the planet are puzzling, we suggest that ongoing coplanar high-eccentricity migration driven by a distant companion is a possible explanation for the system's architecture. This distant companion would need to reside beyond 5 au at 95% confidence to be compatible with the available radial-velocity observations.
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Hobson, M. J., Trifonov, T., Henning, T., Jordan, A., Rojas, F., Espinoza, N., et al. (2023). Alert Results TOI-199 b: A Well-characterized 100 day Transiting Warm Giant Planet with TTVs Seen from Antarctica 41 of 41 TOI-199 b: A Well-characterized 100 day Transiting Warm Giant Planet with TTVs Seen from Antarctica. Astron. J., 166(5), 201.
Abstract: We present the spectroscopic confirmation and precise mass measurement of the warm giant planet TOI-199 b. This planet was first identified in TESS photometry and confirmed using ground-based photometry from ASTEP in Antarctica including a full 6.5 hr long transit, PEST, Hazelwood, and LCO; space photometry from NEOSSat; and radial velocities (RVs) from FEROS, HARPS, CORALIE, and CHIRON. Orbiting a late G-type star, TOI-199 b has a 104.854-0.002+0.001day period, a mass of 0.17 +/- 0.02 M J, and a radius of 0.810 +/- 0.005 R J. It is the first warm exo-Saturn with a precisely determined mass and radius. The TESS and ASTEP transits show strong transit timing variations (TTVs), pointing to the existence of a second planet in the system. The joint analysis of the RVs and TTVs provides a unique solution for the nontransiting companion TOI-199 c, which has a period of 273.69-0.22+0.26days and an estimated mass of 0.28-0.01+0.02MJ . This period places it within the conservative habitable zone.
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Jordan, A., Hartman, J. D., Bayliss, D., Bakos, G. A., Brahm, R., Bryant, E. M., et al. (2022). HATS-74Ab, HATS-75b, HATS-76b, and HATS-77b: Four Transiting Giant Planets Around K and M Dwarfs. Astron. J., 163(3), 125.
Abstract: The relative rarity of giant planets around low-mass stars compared with solar-type stars is a key prediction from the core-accretion planet formation theory. In this paper we report on the discovery of four gas giant planets that transit low-mass late K and early M dwarfs. The planets HATS-74Ab (TOI737b), HATS-75b (TOI552b), HATS-76b (TOI555b), and HATS-77b (TOI730b) were all discovered from the HATSouth photometric survey and follow-up using TESS and other photometric facilities. We use the new ESPRESSO facility at the VLT to confirm systems and measure their masses. We find that these planets have masses of 1.46 +/- 0.14 MJ, 0.491 +/- 0.039 MJ, 2.629 +/- 0.089 MJ, and 1.374(-0.074)(+0.100) MJ, respectively, and radii of 1.032 +/- 0.021 RJ, 0.884 +/- 0.013 RJ, 1.079 +/- 0.031 RJ, and 1.165 +/- 0.021 RJ, respectively. The planets all orbit close to their host stars with periods ranging from 1.7319 days to 3.0876 days. With further work, we aim to test core-accretion theory by using these and further discoveries to quantify the occurrence rate of giant planets around low-mass host stars.
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Ko, Y., Peng, E. W., Cote, P., Ferrarese, L., Liu, C. Z., Longobardi, A., et al. (2022). The Next Generation Virgo Cluster Survey. XXXIII. Stellar Population Gradients in the Virgo Cluster Core Globular Cluster System. Astrophys. J., 931(2), 120.
Abstract: We present a study of the stellar populations of globular clusters (GCs) in the Virgo Cluster core with a homogeneous spectroscopic catalog of 692 GCs within a major-axis distance R (maj) = 840 kpc from M87. We investigate radial and azimuthal variations in the mean age, total metallicity, [Fe/H], and alpha-element abundance of blue (metal-poor) and red (metal-rich) GCs using their co-added spectra. We find that the blue GCs have a steep radial gradient in [Z/H] within R (maj) = 165 kpc, with roughly equal contributions from [Fe/H] and [alpha/Fe], and flat gradients beyond. By contrast, the red GCs show a much shallower gradient in [Z/H], which is entirely driven by [Fe/H]. We use GC-tagged Illustris simulations to demonstrate an accretion scenario where more massive satellites (with more metal- and alpha-rich GCs) sink further into the central galaxy than less massive ones, and where the gradient flattening occurs because of the low GC occupation fraction of low-mass dwarfs disrupted at larger distances. The dense environment around M87 may also cause the steep [alpha/Fe] gradient of the blue GCs, mirroring what is seen in the dwarf galaxy population. The progenitors of red GCs have a narrower mass range than those of blue GCs, which makes their gradients shallower. We also explore spatial inhomogeneity in GC abundances, finding that the red GCs to the northwest of M87 are slightly more metal-rich. Future observations of GC stellar population gradients will be useful diagnostics of halo merger histories.
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Yee, S. W., Winn, J. N., Hartman, J. D., Rodriguez, J. E., Zhou, G., Quinn, S. N., et al. (2022). The TESS Grand Unified Hot Jupiter Survey. I. Ten TESS Planets. Astron. J., 164(2), 70.
Abstract: Hot Jupiters-short-period giant planets-were the first extrasolar planets to be discovered, but many questions about their origin remain. NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), an all-sky search for transiting planets, presents an opportunity to address these questions by constructing a uniform sample of hot Jupiters for demographic study through new detections and unifying the work of previous ground-based transit surveys. As the first results of an effort to build this large sample of planets, we report here the discovery of 10 new hot Jupiters (TOI-2193A b, TOI-2207b, TOI-2236b, TOI-2421b, TOI-2567b, TOI-2570b, TOI-3331b, TOI-3540A b, TOI-3693b, TOI-4137b). All of the planets were identified as planet candidates based on periodic flux dips observed by TESS, and were subsequently confirmed using ground-based time-series photometry, high-angular-resolution imaging, and high-resolution spectroscopy coordinated with the TESS Follow-up Observing Program. The 10 newly discovered planets orbit relatively bright F and G stars (G < 12.5, T (eff) between 4800 and 6200 K). The planets' orbital periods range from 2 to 10 days, and their masses range from 0.2 to 2.2 Jupiter masses. TOI-2421b is notable for being a Saturn-mass planet and TOI-2567b for being a “sub-Saturn,” with masses of 0.322 +/- 0.073 and 0.195 +/- 0.030 Jupiter masses, respectively. We also measured a detectably eccentric orbit (e = 0.17 +/- 0.05) for TOI-2207b, a planet on an 8 day orbit, while placing an upper limit of e < 0.052 for TOI-3693b, which has a 9 day orbital period. The 10 planets described here represent an important step toward using TESS to create a large and statistically useful sample of hot Jupiters.
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