DSpace Angular :: Browsing by Author "Petrovich, Cristobal"

Browsing by Author "Petrovich, Cristobal"

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A Gap-sharing Planet Pair Shaping the Crescent in HD 163296: A Disk Sculpted by a Resonant Chain
(2023) Garrido-Deutelmoser, Juan; Petrovich, Cristobal; Charalambous, Carolina; Guzman, Viviana V.; Zhang, Ke
The Atacama Large Millimeter Array observations of the disk around HD 163296 have resolved a crescent-shape substructure at around 55 au, inside and off-center from a gap in the dust that extends from 38 to 62 au. In this work we propose that both the crescent and the dust rings are caused by a compact pair (period ratio similar or equal to 4:3) of sub-Saturn-mass planets inside the gap, with the crescent corresponding to dust trapped at the L (5) Lagrange point of the outer planet. This interpretation also reproduces well the gap in the gas recently measured from the CO observations, which is shallower than what is expected in a model where the gap is carved by a single planet. Building on previous works arguing for outer planets at approximate to 86 and approximate to 137 au, we provide a global model of the disk that best reproduces the data and shows that all four planets may fall into a long resonant chain, with the outer three planets in a 1:2:4 Laplace resonance. We show that this configuration is not only an expected outcome from disk-planet interaction in this system, but it can also help constrain the radial and angular position of the planet candidates using three-body resonances.
An ultrahot Neptune in the Neptune desert
(2020) Jenkins, James S.; Diaz, Matias R.; Kurtovic, Nicolas T.; Espinoza, Nestor; Vines, Jose I.; Rojas, Pablo A. Pena; Brahm, Rafael; Torres, Pascal; Cortes-Zuleta, Pia; Soto, Maritza G.; Lopez, Eric D.; King, George W.; Wheatley, Peter J.; Winn, Joshua N.; Ciardi, David R.; Ricker, George; Vanderspek, Roland; Latham, David W.; Seager, Sara; Jenkins, Jon M.; Beichman, Charles A.; Bieryla, Allyson; Burke, Christopher J.; Christiansen, Jessie L.; Henze, Christopher E.; Klaus, Todd C.; McCauliff, Sean; Mori, Mayuko; Narita, Norio; Nishiumi, Taku; Tamura, Motohide; de Leon, Jerome Pitogo; Quinn, Samuel N.; Villasenor, Jesus Noel; Vezie, Michael; Lissauer, Jack J.; Collins, Karen A.; Collins, Kevin I.; Isopi, Giovanni; Mallia, Franco; Ercolino, Andrea; Petrovich, Cristobal; Jordan, Andres; Acton, Jack S.; Armstrong, David J.; Bayliss, Daniel; Bouchy, Francois; Belardi, Claudia; Bryant, Edward M.; Burleigh, Matthew R.; Cabrera, Juan; Casewell, Sarah L.; Chaushev, Alexander; Cooke, Benjamin F.; Eigmueller, Philipp; Erikson, Anders; Foxell, Emma; Gansicke, Boris T.; Gill, Samuel; Gillen, Edward; Guenther, Maximilian N.; Goad, Michael R.; Hooton, Matthew J.; Jackman, James A. G.; Louden, Tom; McCormac, James; Moyano, Maximiliano; Nielsen, Louise D.; Pollacco, Don; Queloz, Didier; Rauer, Heike; Raynard, Liam; Smith, Alexis M. S.; Tilbrook, Rosanna H.; Titz-Weider, Ruth; Turner, Oliver; Udry, Stephane; Walker, Simon. R.; Watson, Christopher A.; West, Richard G.; Palle, Enric; Ziegler, Carl; Law, Nicholas; Mann, Andrew W.
About 1 out of 200 Sun-like stars has a planet with an orbital period shorter than one day: an ultrashort-period planet(1,2). All of the previously known ultrashort-period planets are either hot Jupiters, with sizes above 10 Earth radii (R-circle plus), or apparently rocky planets smaller than 2 R-circle plus. Such lack of planets of intermediate size (the `hot Neptune desert') has been interpreted as the inability of low-mass planets to retain any hydrogen/ helium (H/He) envelope in the face of strong stellar irradiation. Here we report the discovery of an ultrashort-period planet with a radius of 4.6 R-circle plus and a mass of 29 M-circle plus, firmly in the hot Neptune desert. Data from the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite(3) revealed transits of the bright Sun-like star LTT 9779 every 0.79 days. The planet's mean density is similar to that of Neptune, and according to thermal evolution models, it has a H/He-rich envelope constituting 9.0(-2.9)(+2.7) % of the total mass. With an equilibrium temperature around 2,000 K, it is unclear how this `ultrahot Neptune' managed to retain such an envelope. Follow-up observations of the planet's atmosphere to better understand its origin and physical nature will be facilitated by the star's brightness (V-mag = 9.8).
Author correction: An ultrahot Neptune in the Neptune desert
(2020) Jenkins, James S.; Díaz, Matías R.; Kurtovic, Nicolás T.; Espinoza, Néstor; Vines, Jose I.; Peña Rojas, Pablo A.; Brahm, Rafael; Torres, Pascal; Cortés Zuleta, Pía ; Soto, Maritza G.; López, Eric D.; King, George W.; Wheatley, Peter J.; Winn, Joshua N.; Ciardi, David R.; Ricker, George; Vanderspek, Roland; Latham, David W.; Seager, Sara; Jenkins, Jon M.; Beichman, Charles A.; Bieryla, Allyson; Burke, Christopher J.; Christiansen , Jessie L.; Henze, Christopher E.; Klaus, Todd C.; McCaulif, Sean; Mori, Mayuko; Narita, Norio; Nishiumi, Taku; Tamura, Motohide; Pitogo de Leon, Jerome; Quinn, Samuel N.; Villaseñor, Jesus Noel; Vezie, Michael; Lissauer, Jack J.; Collins, Karen A.; Collins, Kevin I.; Isopi, Giovanni; Mallia, Franco; Ercolino, Andrea; Petrovich, Cristobal; Jordán, Andrés; Acton, Jack S.; Armstrong, David J.; Bayliss, Daniel; Bouchy, François; Belardi, Claudia; Bryant, Edward M.; Burleigh, Matthew R.; Cabrera, Juan; Casewell, Sarah L.; Chaushev, Alexander; Cooke, Benjamin F.; Eigmüller, Philipp; Erikson, Anders; Foxell, Emma; Gänsicke, Boris T.; Gill, Samuel; Gillen, Edward; Günther, Maximilian N.; Goad, Michael R.; Hooton, Matthew J.; Jackman, James A. G.; Louden, Tom; McCormac, James; Moyano, Maximiliano; Nielsen, Louise D.; Pollacco, Don; Queloz, Didier; Rauer, Heike; Raynard, Liam; Smith, Alexis M. S.; Tilbrook, Rosanna H.; Titz Weider, Ruth; Turner, Oliver; Udry, Stéphane; Walker, Simon R.; Watson, Christopher A.; West, Richard G.; Palle, Enric; Ziegler, Carl; Law, Nicholas; Mann, Andrew W.
Binary Mergers in the Centers of Galaxies: Synergy between Stellar Flybys and Tidal Fields
(2024) Winter-Granic, Mila; Petrovich, Cristobal; Pena-Donaire, Valentin; Hamilton, Chris
Galactic centers (GCs) are very dynamically active environments, often harboring a nuclear star cluster and supermassive black hole at their cores. Binaries in these environments are subject to strong tidal fields that can efficiently torque its orbit, exciting near-unity eccentricities that ultimately lead to their merger. In turn, frequent close interactions with passing stars impulsively perturb the orbit of the binary, generally softening their orbit until their evaporation, potentially hindering the role of tides to drive these mergers. In this work, we study the evolution of compact object binaries in the GC and their merger rates, focusing for the first time on the combined effect of the cluster's tidal field and flyby interactions. We find a significant synergy between both processes, where merger rates increase by a factor of similar to 10-30 compared to models in which only flybys or tides are taken into account. This synergy is a consequence of the persistent tides-driven eccentricity excitation that is enhanced by the gradual diffusion of j z driven by flybys. The merger efficiency peaks when the diffusion rate is similar to 10-100 slower than the tides-driven torquing. Added to this synergy, we also find that the gradual softening of the binary can lift the relativistic quenching of initially tight binaries, otherwise unable to reach extreme eccentricities, and thus expanding the available phase space for mergers. Cumulatively, we conclude that despite the gradual softening of binaries due to flybys, these greatly enhance their merger rates in GCs by promoting the tidal-field-driven eccentricity excitation.
Formation of counter-rotating and highly eccentric massive black hole binaries in galaxy mergers
(2021) Nasim, Imran Tariq; Petrovich, Cristobal; Nasim, Adam; Dosopoulou, Fani; Antonini, Fabio
Supermassive black hole (SMBH) binaries represent the main target for missions such as the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna and Pulsar Timing Arrays. The understanding of their dynamical evolution prior to coalescence is therefore crucial to improving detection strategies and for the astrophysical interpretation of the gravitational wave data. In this paper, we use high-resolution N-body simulations to model the merger of two equal-mass galaxies hosting a central SMBH. In our models, all binaries are initially prograde with respect to the galaxy sense of rotation. But, binaries that form with a high eccentricity, e greater than or similar to 0.7, quickly reverse their sense of rotation and become almost perfectly retrograde at the moment of binary formation. The evolution of these binaries proceeds towards larger eccentricities, as expected for a binary hardening in a counter-rotating stellar distribution. Binaries that form with lower eccentricities remain prograde and at comparatively low eccentricities. We study the origin of the orbital flip by using an analytical model that describes the early stages of binary evolution. This model indicates that the orbital plane flip is due to the torque from the triaxial background mass distribution that naturally arises from the galactic merger process. Our results imply the existence of a population of SMBH binaries with a high eccentricity and could have significant implications for the detection of the gravitational wave signal emitted by these systems.
HATS-38 b and WASP-139 b Join a Growing Group of Hot Neptunes on Polar Orbits
(2024) Espinoza-Retamal, Juan I.; Stefansson, Gudmundur; Petrovich, Cristobal; Brahm, Rafael; Jordan, Andres; Sedaghati, Elyar; Lucero, Jennifer P.; Pinto, Marcelo Tala; Munoz, Diego J.; Boyle, Gavin; Leiva, Rodrigo; Suc, Vincent
We constrain the sky-projected obliquities of two low-density hot Neptune planets, HATS-38 b and WASP-139 b, orbiting nearby G and K stars using Rossiter-McLaughlin (RM) observations with VLT/ESPRESSO, yielding lambda=-108(-16)(+11) deg and -85.6(-4.2)(+7.7) deg, respectively. To model the RM effect, we use a new publicly available code, ironman, which is capable of jointly fitting transit photometry, Keplerian radial velocities, and RM effects. WASP-139 b has a residual eccentricity e=0.103(-0.041)(+0.050) while HATS-38 b has an eccentricity of e=0.112(-0.070)(+0.072), which is compatible with a circular orbit given our data. Using the obliquity constraints, we show that they join a growing group of hot and low-density Neptunes on polar orbits. We use long-term radial velocities to rule out companions with masses similar to 0.3-50 M-J within similar to 10 au. We show that the orbital architectures of the two Neptunes can be explained with high-eccentricity migration from greater than or similar to 2 au driven by an unseen distant companion. If HATS-38b has no residual eccentricity, its polar and circular orbit can also be consistent with a primordial misalignment. Finally, we performed a hierarchical Bayesian modeling of the true obliquity distribution of Neptunes and found suggestive evidence for a higher preponderance of polar orbits of hot Neptunes compared to Jupiters. However, we note that the exact distribution is sensitive to the choice of priors, highlighting the need for additional obliquity measurements of Neptunes to robustly compare the hot Neptune obliquity distribution to Jupiters.
Mutual Inclination of Ultra-short-period Planets with Time-varying Stellar J ₂ Moments
(2022) Chen, Chen; Li, Gongjie; Petrovich, Cristobal
Systems with ultra-short-period (USP) planets tend to possess larger mutual inclinations compared to those with planets located farther from their host stars. This could be explained due to precession caused by stellar oblateness at early times when the host star was rapidly spinning. However, stellar oblateness reduces over time due to the decrease in the stellar rotation rate, and this may further shape the planetary mutual inclinations. In this work, we investigate in detail how the final mutual inclination varies under the effect of a decreasing J (2). We find that different initial parameters (e.g., the magnitude of J (2) and planetary inclinations) will contribute to different final mutual inclinations, providing a constraint on the formation mechanisms of USP planets. In general, if the inner planets start in the same plane as the stellar equator (or coplanar while misaligned with the stellar spin axis), the mutual inclination decreases (or increases then decreases) over time due to the decay of the J (2) moment. This is because the inner orbit typically possesses less orbital angular momentum than the outer ones. However, if the outer planet is initially aligned with the stellar spin while the inner one is misaligned, the mutual inclination nearly stays the same. Overall, our results suggest that either USP planets formed early and acquired significant inclinations (e.g., greater than or similar to 30 degrees with its companion or greater than or similar to 10 degrees with its host star spin axis for Kepler-653 c) or they formed late (greater than or similar to Gyr) when their host stars rotated slower.
NEID Reveals That the Young Warm Neptune TOI-2076 b Has a Low Obliquity
(2023) Frazier, Robert C.; Stefansson, Gudmundur; Mahadevan, Suvrath; Yee, Samuel W.; Canas, Caleb I.; Winn, Joshua N.; Luhn, Jacob; Dai, Fei; Doyle, Lauren; Cegla, Heather; Kanodia, Shubham; Robertson, Paul; Wisniewski, John; Bender, Chad F.; Dong, Jiayin; Gupta, Arvind F.; Halverson, Samuel; Hawley, Suzanne; Hebb, Leslie; Holcomb, Rae; Kowalski, Adam; Libby-Roberts, Jessica; Lin, Andrea S. J.; McElwain, Michael W.; Ninan, Joe P.; Petrovich, Cristobal; Roy, Arpita; Schwab, Christian; Terrien, Ryan C.; Wright, Jason T.
TOI-2076 b is a sub-Neptune-sized planet (R = 2.39 + 0.10 R-circle plus) that transits a young (204 + 50 MYr) bright (V= 9.2) K-dwarf hosting a system of three transiting planets. Using spectroscopic observations obtained with the NEID spectrograph on the WIYN 3.5 m Telescope, we model the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect of TOI-2076 b, and derive a sky-projected obliquity of lambda = - 3 (-15) (+16) . Using the size of the star (R = 0.775 + 0.015 R-?), and the stellar 16 rotation period (P-rot = 7.27 + 0.23 days), we estimate an obliquity of y =18(-9) (+10) (psi < 34 degrees at 95% confidence), 10 demonstrating that TOI-2076 b is in a well-aligned orbit. Simultaneous diffuser-assisted photometry from the 3.5 m telescope at Apache Point Observatory rules out flares during the transit. TOI-2076 b joins a small but growing sample of young planets in compact multi-planet systems with well-aligned orbits, and is the fourth planet with an age ?300 Myr in a multi-transiting system with an obliquity measurement. The low obliquity of TOI-2076 b and the presence of transit timing variations in the system suggest the TOI-2076 system likely formed via convergent disk migration in an initially well-aligned disk.
Observable Predictions from Perturber-coupled High-eccentricity Tidal Migration of Warm Jupiters
(2021) Jackson, Jonathan M.; Dawson, Rebekah I.; Shannon, Andrew; Petrovich, Cristobal
The origin of warm Jupiters (gas giant planets with periods between 10 and 200 days) is an open question in exoplanet formation and evolution. We investigate a particular migration theory in which a warm Jupiter is coupled to a perturbing companion planet that excites secular eccentricity oscillations in the warm Jupiter, leading to periodic close stellar passages that can tidally shrink and circularize its orbit. If such companions exist in warm Jupiter systems, they are likely to be massive and close-in, making them potentially detectable. We generate a set of warm Jupiter-perturber populations capable of engaging in high-eccentricity tidal migration and calculate the detectability of the perturbers through a variety of observational metrics. We show that a small percentage of these perturbers should be detectable in the Kepler light curves, but most should be detectable with precise radial velocity measurements over a 3 month baseline and Gaia astrometry. We find these results to be robust to the assumptions made for the perturber parameter distributions. If a high-precision radial velocity search for companions to warm Jupiters does not find evidence of a significant number of massive companions over a 3 month baseline, it will suggest that perturber-coupled high-eccentricity migration is not the predominant delivery method for warm Jupiters.
Orbital Alignment of the Eccentric Warm Jupiter TOI-677 b
(2023) Sedaghati, Elyar; Jordan, Andres; Brahm, Rafael; Munoz, Diego J.; Petrovich, Cristobal; Hobson, Melissa J.
Warm Jupiters lay out an excellent laboratory for testing models of planet formation and migration. Their separation from the host star makes tidal reprocessing of their orbits ineffective, which preserves the orbital architectures that result from the planet-forming process. Among the measurable properties, the orbital inclination with respect to the stellar rotational axis, stands out as a crucial diagnostic for understanding the migration mechanisms behind the origin of close-in planets. Observational limitations have made the procurement of spin-orbit measurements heavily biased toward hot Jupiter systems. In recent years, however, high-precision spectroscopy has begun to provide obliquity measurements for planets well into the warm Jupiter regime. In this study, we present Rossiter-McLaughlin (RM) measurements of the projected obliquity angle for the warm Jupiter TOI-677 b using ESPRESSO at the VLT. TOI-677 b exhibits an extreme degree of alignment (lambda = 0.3 +/- 1.3 deg), which is particularly puzzling given its significant eccentricity (e approximate to 0.45). TOI-677 b thus joins a growing class of close-in giants that exhibit large eccentricities and low spin-orbit angles, which is a configuration not predicted by existing models. We also present the detection of a candidate outer brown dwarf companion on an eccentric, wide orbit (e approximate to 0.4 and P approximate to 13 yr). Using simple estimates, we show that this companion is unlikely to be the cause of the unusual orbit of TOI-677 b. Therefore, it is essential that future efforts prioritize the acquisition of RM measurements for warm Jupiters.
Prospects from TESS and Gaia to constrain the flatness of planetary systems
(2023) Espinoza Retamal, Juan; Zhu, Wei; Petrovich, Cristobal
The mutual inclination between planets orbiting the same star provides key information to understand the formation and evolution of multi-planet systems. In this work, we investigate the potential of Gaia astrometry in detecting and characterizing cold Jupiters in orbits exterior to the currently known TESS planet candidates. According to our simulations, out of the $\sim 3350$ systems expected to have cold Jupiter companions, Gaia, by its nominal 5-year mission, should be able to detect $\sim 200$ cold Jupiters and measure the orbital inclinations with a precision of $\sigma_{\cos i}
The Aligned Orbit of the Eccentric Proto Hot Jupiter TOI-3362b
(2023) Espinoza Retamal, Juan; Brahm, Rafael; Petrovich, Cristobal; Jordán, Andrés; Stefánsson, Guðmundur; Sedaghati, Elyar; Hobson, Melissa J.; Muñoz, Diego J.; Boyle, Gavin; Leiva, Rodrigo; Suc, Vincent
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 the tidal reprocessing of their orbital elements, proto-hot Jupiters 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 VLT. The observations reveal a sky-projected obliquity $\lambda = 1.2_{-2.7}^{+2.8}$ deg and constrain the orbital eccentricity to $e=0.720 \pm 0.016$, making it one of the most eccentric gas giants for which the obliquity has been measured. The large eccentricity and the striking orbit alignment of the planet suggest that ongoing coplanar high-eccentricity migration driven by a distant companion is a likely 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....
The Chaotic History of the Retrograde Multi-planet System in K2-290A Driven by Distant Stars
(2022) Best, Sergio; Petrovich, Cristobal
The equator of star K2-290A was recently found to be inclined by 124 degrees +/- 6 degrees relative to the orbits of both its known transiting planets. The presence of a companion star B at similar to 100 au suggested that the birth protoplanetary disk could have tilted, thus providing an explanation for the peculiar retrograde state of this multi-planet system. In this work, we show that a primordial misalignment is not required and that the observed retrograde state is a natural consequence of the chaotic stellar obliquity evolution driven by a wider-orbit companion C at greater than or similar to 2000 au long after the disk disperses. The star C drives eccentricity and/or inclination oscillations on the inner binary orbit, leading to widespread chaos from the periodic resonance passages between the stellar spin and planetary secular modes. Based on a population synthesis study, we find that the observed stellar obliquity is reached in similar to 40%-70% of the systems, making this mechanism a robust outcome of the secular dynamics, regardless of the spin-down history of the central star. This work highlights the unusual role that very distant companions can have on the orbits of close-in planets and the host star's spin evolution, connecting four orders of magnitude in distance scale over billions of orbits. We finally comment on the application to other exoplanet systems, including multi-planet systems in wide binaries.
The Influence of Cold Jupiters in the Formation of Close-in Planets. I. Planetesimal Transport
(2024) Best, Marcy; Sefilian, Antranik A.; Petrovich, Cristobal
The formation of a cold Jupiter (CJ) is expected to quench the influx of pebbles and the migration of cores interior to its orbit, thus limiting the efficiency of rocky planet formation either by pebble accretion and/or orbital migration. Observations, however, show that the presence of outer CJs (>1 au and greater than or similar to 0.3M(Jup)) correlates with the presence of inner super-Earths (at <1 au). This observation may simply be a result of an enhanced initial reservoir of solids in the nebula required to form a CJ or a yet-to-be-determined mechanism assisted by the presence of the CJ. In this work, we focus on the latter alternative and study the orbital transport of planetesimals interior to a slightly eccentric (similar to 0.05) CJ subject to the gravity and drag from a viscously evolving gaseous disk. We find that a secular resonance sweeping inward through the disk gradually transports rings of planetesimals when their drag-assisted orbital decay is faster than the speed of the resonance scanning. This snowplow-like process leads to large concentration (boosted by a factor of similar to 10-100) of size-segregated planetesimal rings with aligned apsidal lines, making their expected collisions less destructive, due to their reduced velocity dispersion. This process is efficient for a wide range of alpha-disk models (and thus disk lifetimes) and Jovian masses, peaking for values similar to 1-5M(Jup), which are typical of observed CJs in radial velocity surveys. Overall, our work highlights the major role that the disk's gravity may have on the orbital redistribution of planetesimals, depicting a novel avenue by which CJs may enhance the formation of inner planetary systems, including super-Earths and perhaps even warm and hot Jupiters.
The Warm Neptune GJ 3470b Has a Polar Orbit
(2022) Stefansson, Gudmundur; Mahadevan, Suvrath; Petrovich, Cristobal; Winn, Joshua N.; Kanodia, Shubham; Millholland, Sarah C.; Maney, Marissa; Canas, Caleb, I; Wisniewski, John; Robertson, Paul; Ninan, Joe P.; Ford, Eric B.; Bender, Chad F.; Blake, Cullen H.; Cegla, Heather; Cochran, William D.; Diddams, Scott A.; Dong, Jiayin; Endl, Michael; Fredrick, Connor; Halverson, Samuel; Hearty, Fred; Hebb, Leslie; Hirano, Teruyuki; Lin, Andrea S. J.; Logsdon, Sarah E.; Lubar, Emily; McElwain, Michael W.; Metcalf, Andrew J.; Monson, Andrew; Rajagopal, Jayadev; Ramsey, Lawrence W.; Roy, Arpita; Schwab, Christian; Schweiker, Heidi; Terrien, Ryan C.; Wright, Jason T.
The warm Neptune GJ 3470b transits a nearby (d = 29 pc) bright slowly rotating M1.5-dwarf star. Using spectroscopic observations during two transits with the newly commissioned NEID spectrometer on the WIYN 3.5 m Telescope at Kitt Peak Observatory, we model the classical Rossiter-McLaughlin effect, yielding a sky-projected obliquity of lambda = 98(-12)(+15)degrees and a v sin i = 0.85(-033)(+0.27) km s(-1). Leveraging information about the rotation period and size of the host star, our analysis yields a true obliquity of psi = 95(-8)(+9)degrees, revealing that GJ 3470b is on a polar orbit. Using radial velocities from HIRES, HARPS, and the Habitable-zone Planet Finder, we show that the data are compatible with a long-term radial velocity (RV) slope of gamma = -0.0022 +/- 0.0011 m s(-1) day(-1) over a baseline of 12.9 yr. If the RV slope is due to acceleration from another companion in the system, we show that such a companion is capable of explaining the polar and mildly eccentric orbit of GJ 3470b using two different secular excitation models. The existence of an outer companion can be further constrained with additional RV observations, Gaia astrometry, and future high-contrast imaging observations. Lastly, we show that tidal heating from GJ 3470b's mild eccentricity has most likely inflated the radius of GJ 3470b by a factor of similar to 1.5-1.7, which could help account for its evaporating atmosphere.

Browsing by Author "Petrovich, Cristobal"

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