您选择的条件: Michael Greklek-McKeon
  • The Possible Tidal Demise of Kepler's First Planetary System

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: We present evidence of tidally-driven inspiral in the Kepler-1658 (KOI-4) system, which consists of a giant planet (1.1$R_\mathrm{J}$, 5.9$M_\mathrm{J}$) orbiting an evolved host star (2.9$R_\odot$, 1.5$M_\odot$). Using transit timing measurements from Kepler, Palomar/WIRC, and TESS, we show that the orbital period of Kepler-1658b appears to be decreasing at a rate $\dot{P} = 131_{-22}^{+20}$~ms~yr$^{-1}$, corresponding to an infall timescale $P/\dot{P}\approx2.5$~Myr. We consider other explanations for the data including line-of-sight acceleration and orbital precession, but find them to be implausible. The observed period derivative implies a tidal quality factor $Q_\star' = 2.50_{-0.62}^{+0.85}\times10^4$, in good agreement with theoretical predictions for inertial wave dissipation in subgiant stars. Additionally, while it probably cannot explain the entire inspiral rate, a small amount of planetary dissipation could naturally explain the deep optical eclipse observed for the planet via enhanced thermal emission. As the first evolved system with detected inspiral, Kepler-1658 is a new benchmark for understanding tidal physics at the end of the planetary life cycle.

  • The Upper Edge of the Neptune Desert Is Stable Against Photoevaporation

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: Transit surveys indicate that there is a deficit of Neptune-sized planets on close-in orbits. If this ``Neptune desert' is entirely cleared out by atmospheric mass loss, then planets at its upper edge should only be marginally stable against photoevaporation, exhibiting strong outflow signatures in tracers like the metastable helium triplet. We test this hypothesis by carrying out a 12-night photometric survey of the metastable helium feature with Palomar/WIRC, targeting seven gas-giant planets orbiting K-type host stars. Eight nights of data are analyzed here for the first time along with reanalyses of four previously-published datasets. We strongly detect helium absorption signals for WASP-69b, HAT-P-18b, and HAT-P-26b; tentatively detect signals for WASP-52b and NGTS-5b; and do not detect signals for WASP-177b and WASP-80b. We interpret these measured excess absorption signals using grids of Parker wind models to derive mass-loss rates, which are in good agreement with predictions from the hydrodynamical outflow code ATES for all planets except WASP-52b and WASP-80b, where our data suggest that the outflows are much smaller than predicted. Excluding these two planets, the outflows for the rest of the sample are consistent with a mean energy-limited outflow efficiency of $\varepsilon = 0.41^{+0.16}_{-0.13}$. Even when we make the relatively conservative assumption that gas-giant planets experience energy-limited outflows at this efficiency for their entire lives, photoevaporation would still be too inefficient to carve the upper boundary of the Neptune desert. We conclude that this feature of the exoplanet population is a pristine tracer of giant planet formation and migration mechanisms.

  • TOI-1136 is a Young, Coplanar, Aligned Planetary System in a Pristine Resonant Chain

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: Convergent disk migration has long been suspected to be responsible for forming planetary systems with a chain of mean-motion resonances (MMR). Dynamical evolution over time could disrupt the delicate resonant configuration. We present TOI-1136, a 700-Myr-old G star hosting at least 6 transiting planets between $\sim$2 and 5 $R_\oplus$. The orbital period ratios deviate from exact commensurability by only $10^{-4}$, smaller than the $\sim$\,$10^{-2}$ deviations seen in typical Kepler near-resonant systems. A transit-timing analysis measured the masses of the planets (3-8$M_\oplus$) and demonstrated that the planets in TOI-1136 are in true resonances with librating resonant angles. Based on a Rossiter-McLaughlin measurement of planet d, the star's rotation appears to be aligned with the planetary orbital planes. The well-aligned planetary system and the lack of detected binary companion together suggest that TOI-1136's resonant chain formed in an isolated, quiescent disk with no stellar fly-by, disk warp, or significant axial asymmetry. With period ratios near 3:2, 2:1, 3:2, 7:5, and 3:2, TOI-1136 is the first known resonant chain involving a second-order MMR (7:5) between two first-order MMR. The formation of the delicate 7:5 resonance places strong constraints on the system's migration history. Short-scale (starting from $\sim$0.1 AU) Type-I migration with an inner disk edge is most consistent with the formation of TOI-1136. A low disk surface density ($\Sigma_{\rm 1AU}\lesssim10^3$g~cm$^{-2}$; lower than the minimum-mass solar nebula) and the resultant slower migration rate likely facilitated the formation of the 7:5 second-order MMR. TOI-1136's deep resonance suggests that it has not undergone much resonant repulsion during its 700-Myr lifetime. One can rule out rapid tidal dissipation within a rocky planet b or obliquity tides within the largest planets d and f.