skip to main content
US FlagAn official website of the United States government
dot gov icon
Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
https lock icon
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( lock ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.


Search for: All records

Creators/Authors contains: "Calkins, Michael L"

Note: When clicking on a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) number, you will be taken to an external site maintained by the publisher. Some full text articles may not yet be available without a charge during the embargo (administrative interval).
What is a DOI Number?

Some links on this page may take you to non-federal websites. Their policies may differ from this site.

  1. Abstract We present the discovery of 11 new transiting brown dwarfs (BDs) and low-mass M dwarfs from NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) mission: TOI-2844, TOI-3122, TOI-3577, TOI-3755, TOI-4462, TOI-4635, TOI-4737, TOI-4759, TOI-5240, TOI-5467, and TOI-5882. They consist of five BD companions and six very-low-mass stellar companions ranging in mass from 25MJto 128MJ. We used a combination of photometric time-series, spectroscopic, and high-resolution imaging follow-up as a part of the TESS Follow-up Observing Program (or TFOP) to characterize each system. With over 50 transiting BDs confirmed, we now have a large enough sample to directly test different formation and evolutionary scenarios. We provide a renewed perspective on the transiting “brown dwarf desert” and its role in differentiating between planetary and stellar formation mechanisms. Our analysis of the eccentricity distribution for the transiting BD sample does not support previous claims of a transition between planetary and stellar formation at ∼42MJ. We also contribute a first look into the metallicity distribution of transiting companions in the range 7–150MJ, showing that this does not support a ∼42MJtransition too. Finally, we also detect a significant lithium absorption feature in one of the BD hosts (TOI-5882). However, we determine that the host star is likely old based on rotation, kinematic, and photometric mdeasurements. We therefore claim that TOI-5882 may be a candidate for planetary engulfment. 
    more » « less
    Free, publicly-accessible full text available July 4, 2026
  2. Abstract Cold Jovian planets play an important role in sculpting the dynamical environment in which inner terrestrial planets form. The core accretion model predicts that giant planets cannot form around low-mass M dwarfs, although this idea has been challenged by recent planet discoveries. Here, we investigate the occurrence rate of giant planets around low-mass (0.1–0.3M) M dwarfs. We monitor a volume-complete, inactive sample of 200 such stars located within 15 pc, collecting four high-resolution spectra of each M dwarf over six years and performing intensive follow-up monitoring of two candidate radial velocity variables. We use TRES on the 1.5 m telescope at the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory and CHIRON on the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory 1.5 m telescope for our primary campaign, and MAROON-X on Gemini-North for high-precision follow up. We place a 95% confidence upper limit of 1.5% (68% confidence limit of 0.57%) on the occurrence ofMPsini> 1MJgiant planets out to the water snow line and provide additional constraints on the giant planet population as a function ofMPsiniand period. Beyond the snow line (100 K <Teq< 150 K), we place 95% confidence upper limits of 1.5%, 1.7%, and 4.4% (68% confidence limits of 0.58%, 0.66%, and 1.7%) for 3MJ<MPsini< 10MJ, 0.8MJ<MPsini< 3MJ, and 0.3MJ<MPsini< 0.8MJgiant planets, respectively; i.e., Jupiter analogs are rare around low-mass M dwarfs. In contrast, surveys of Sun-like stars have found that their giant planets are most common at these Jupiter-like instellations. 
    more » « less
  3. ABSTRACT We present the discovery and characterization of six short-period, transiting giant planets from NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) -- TOI-1811 (TIC 376524552), TOI-2025 (TIC 394050135), TOI-2145 (TIC 88992642), TOI-2152 (TIC 395393265), TOI-2154 (TIC 428787891), and TOI-2497 (TIC 97568467). All six planets orbit bright host stars (8.9 <G < 11.8, 7.7 <K < 10.1). Using a combination of time-series photometric and spectroscopic follow-up observations from the TESS Follow-up Observing Program Working Group, we have determined that the planets are Jovian-sized (RP  = 0.99--1.45 RJ), have masses ranging from 0.92 to 5.26 MJ, and orbit F, G, and K stars (4766 ≤ Teff ≤ 7360 K). We detect a significant orbital eccentricity for the three longest-period systems in our sample: TOI-2025 b (P  = 8.872 d, 0.394$$^{+0.035}_{-0.038}$$), TOI-2145 b (P  = 10.261 d, e  = $$0.208^{+0.034}_{-0.047}$$), and TOI-2497 b (P  = 10.656 d, e  = $$0.195^{+0.043}_{-0.040}$$). TOI-2145 b and TOI-2497 b both orbit subgiant host stars (3.8 < log  g <4.0), but these planets show no sign of inflation despite very high levels of irradiation. The lack of inflation may be explained by the high mass of the planets; $$5.26^{+0.38}_{-0.37}$$ MJ (TOI-2145 b) and 4.82 ± 0.41 MJ (TOI-2497 b). These six new discoveries contribute to the larger community effort to use TESS to create a magnitude-complete, self-consistent sample of giant planets with well-determined parameters for future detailed studies. 
    more » « less
  4. null (Ed.)
  5. null (Ed.)