The CARMENES Search for Exoplanets around M Dwarfs: A Low-mass Planet in the Temperate Zone of the Nearby K2-18

Autor: M. Lafarga, Matthias Mallonn, Thomas Henning, J. Aceituno, Andreas Quirrenbach, Lev Tal-Or, Jose A. Caballero, Stefan Dreizler, Ignasi Ribas, Víctor J. S. Béjar, Artie P. Hatzes, Ralf Launhardt, Paula Sarkis, S. V. Jeffers, Ansgar Reiners, Adrian Kaminski, D. Montes, Trifon Trifonov, Martin Kürster, Guillem Anglada-Escudé, Christopher Marvin, Mathias Zechmeister, H. J. Hagen, Pedro J. Amado, Juan Carlos Morales
Přispěvatelé: Max Planck Society, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (España), European Commission, Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (España), Research and Art Baden-Württemberg, German Research Foundation, Junta de Andalucía, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (España), Comisión Nacional de Investigación Científica y Tecnológica (Chile), German Centre for Air and Space Travel, European Research Council
Rok vydání: 2018
Předmět:
Zdroj: E-Prints Complutense: Archivo Institucional de la UCM
Universidad Complutense de Madrid
E-Prints Complutense. Archivo Institucional de la UCM
instname
Digital.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
The Astronomical Journal
Popis: K2-18 is a nearby M2.5 dwarf, located at 34 pc and hosting a transiting planet that was first discovered by the K2 mission and later confirmed with Spitzer Space Telescope observations. With a radius of ∼2 R and an orbital period of ∼33 days, the planet lies in the temperate zone of its host star and receives stellar irradiation similar to that of Earth. Here we perform radial velocity follow-up observations with the visual channel of CARMENES with the goal of determining the mass and density of the planet. We measure a planetary semi-amplitude of K ∼ 3.5 and a mass of M ∼ 9 M , yielding a bulk density around . This indicates a low-mass planet with a composition consistent with a solid core and a volatile-rich envelope. A signal at 9 days was recently reported using radial velocity measurements taken with the HARPS spectrograph. This was interpreted as being due to a second planet. We see a weaker, time- and wavelength-dependent signal in the CARMENES data set and thus favor stellar activity for its origin. K2-18 b joins the growing group of low-mass planets detected in the temperate zone of M dwarfs. The brightness of the host star in the near-infrared makes the system a good target for detailed atmospheric studies with the James Webb Space Telescope.K2-18 is a nearby M2.5 dwarf, located at 34 pc and hosting a transiting planet that was first discovered by the K2 mission and later confirmed with Spitzer Space Telescope observations. With a radius of similar to 2 R-circle plus and an orbital period of similar to 33 days, the planet lies in the temperate zone of its host star and receives stellar irradiation similar to that of Earth. Here we perform radial velocity follow-up observations with the visual channel of CARMENES with the goal of determining the mass and density of the planet. We measure a planetary semi-amplitude of K-b similar to 3.5 m s(-1). and a mass of M-b similar to 9 M-circle plus, yielding a bulk density around rho(b) similar to 4 g cm(-3). This indicates a low-mass planet with a composition consistent with a solid core and a volatile-rich envelope. A signal at 9 days was recently reported using radial velocity measurements taken with the HARPS spectrograph. This was interpreted as being due to a second planet. We see a weaker, time-and wavelength-dependent signal in the CARMENES data set and thus favor stellar activity for its origin. K2-18 b joins the growing group of low-mass planets detected in the temperate zone of M dwarfs. The brightness of the host star in the near-infrared makes the system a good target for detailed atmospheric studies with the James Webb Space Telescope.© 2018. The American Astronomical Society.
CARMENES is an instrument for the Centro Astronomico Hispano-Aleman de Calar Alto (CAHA, Almeria, Spain). CARMENES is funded by the German Max-Planck-Gesellschaft (MPG), the Spanish Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas (CSIC), the European Union through FEDER/ERF FICTS-2011-02 funds, and the members of the CARMENES Consortium (Max-Planck-Institut fur Astronomie, Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia, Landessternwarte Konigstuhl, Institut de Ciencies de l'Espai, Insitut fur Astrophysik Gottingen, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Thuringer Landessternwarte Tautenburg, Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias, Hamburger Sternwarte, Centro de Astrobiologia, and Centro Astronomico Hispano-Aleman), with additional contributions by the Spanish Ministry of Economy, the German Science Foundation (DFG), the states of Baden-Wurttemberg and Niedersachsen, and the Junta de Andalucia. P.S. would like to thank Christoph Mordasini for his helpful comments on an early draft and Sudeshna Boro-Saikia for her help on calculating the calcium indices of the HARPS data set. I.R. and J.C.M. acknowledge support by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO) and the Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER) through grant ESP2016-80435-C2-1-R, as well as the support of the Generalitat de Catalunya/CERCA program. A.P.H. acknowledges the support of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) grant HA 3279/11-1. J.A.C., P.J.A. and D.M. acknowledge support by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO) from projects AYA2016-79425-C3-1, 2, 3-P. V.J.S.B. is supported by program AYA2015-69350-C3-2-P from Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO). We thank the anonymous referee for useful comments that improved the paper.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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