Search for: All records

Abstract Nongravitational accelerations in the absence of observed activity have recently been identified on near-Earth objects (NEOs), opening the question of the prevalence of anisotropic mass loss in the near-Earth environment. Motivated by the necessity of nongravitational accelerations to identify 2010 VL₆₅and 2021 UA₁₂as a single object, we investigate the problem of linking separate apparitions in the presence of nongravitational perturbations. We find that nongravitational accelerations on the order of 1 × 10^–9au day⁻²can lead to a change in plane-of-sky positions of ∼1 × 10³arcsec between apparitions. Moreover, we inject synthetic tracklets of hypothetical nongravitationally accelerating NEOs into the Minor Planet Center orbit identification algorithms. We find that at large nongravitational accelerations (∣A_i∣ ≥ 1 × 10⁻⁸au day⁻²) these algorithms fail to link a significant fraction of these tracklets. We further show that if orbits can be determined for both apparitions, the tracklets will be linked regardless of nongravitational accelerations, although they may be linked to multiple objects. In order to aid in the identification and linkage of nongravitationally accelerating objects, we propose and test a new methodology to search for unlinked pairs. When applied to the current census of NEOs, we recover the previously identified case but identify no new linkages. We conclude that current linking algorithms are generally robust to nongravitational accelerations, but objects with large nongravitational accelerations may potentially be missed. While current algorithms are well-positioned for the anticipated increase in the census population from future survey missions, it may be possible to find objects with large nongravitational accelerations hidden in isolated tracklet pairs. 

Planet–planet occultations (PPOs) occur when one exoplanet occults another exoplanet in the same system, as seen from the Earth’s vantage point. PPOs may provide a unique opportunity to observe radio “spillover” from extraterrestrial intelligences’ radio transmissions or radar being transmitted from the farther exoplanet toward the nearer one for the purposes of communication or scientific exploration. Planetary systems with many tightly packed, low-inclination planets, such as TRAPPIST-1, are predicted to have frequent PPOs. Here, the narrowband technosignature search code turboSETI was used in combination with the newly developed NbeamAnalysis filtering pipeline to analyze 28 hr of beamformed data taken with the Allen Telescope Array during 2022 late October and early November, from 0.9 to 9.3 GHz, targeting TRAPPIST-1. During this observing window, seven possible PPO events were predicted using the NbodyGradient code. The filtering pipeline reduced the original list of 25 million candidate signals down to 6 million by rejecting signals that were not sky-localized and, from these, identified a final list of 11,127 candidate signals above a power-law cutoff designed to segregate signals by their attenuation and morphological similarity between beams. All signals were plotted for visual inspection, 2264 of which were found to occur during PPO windows. We report no detections of signals of nonhuman origin, with upper limits calculated for each PPO event exceeding equivalent isotropic radiated powers of 2.17–13.3 TW for minimally drifting signals and 40.8–421 TW in the maximally drifting case. This work constitutes the longest single-target radio search for extraterrestrial intelligence of TRAPPIST-1 to date. 

Abstract We present the discovery of GJ 251 c, a candidate super-Earth orbiting in the habitable zone (HZ) of its M dwarf host star. Using high-precision Habitable-zone Planet Finder and NEID RVs, in conjunction with archival RVs from the Keck I High Resolution Echelle Spectrometer, the Calar Alto High-resolution Search for M dwarfs with Exoearths with Near-infrared and optical Echelle Spectrograph, and the Spectropolarimétre Infrarouge, we improve the measured parameters of the known planet, GJ 251 b (P_b= 14.2370 days; $m\sin \left(i\right)$= 3.85 ${}_{-0.33}^{+0.35}$M_⊕), and we significantly constrain the minimum mass of GJ 251 c, placing it in a plausibly terrestrial regime (P_c= 53.647 ± 0.044 days; $m\sin i_c$= 3.84 ± 0.75M_⊕). Using activity mitigation techniques that leverage chromatic information content, we perform a color-dependent analysis of the system and a detailed comparison of more than 50 models that describe the nature of the planets and stellar activity in the system. Due to GJ 251’s proximity to Earth (5.5 pc), next generation, 30 meter class telescopes will likely be able to image terrestrial planets in GJ 251’s HZ. In fact, GJ 251 c is currently the best candidate for terrestrial, HZ planet imaging in the northern sky. 

Abstract The LHS 1610 system consists of a nearby (d= 9.7 pc) M5 dwarf hosting a candidate brown dwarf companion in a 10.6 days, eccentric (e∼ 0.37) orbit. We confirm this brown dwarf designation and estimate its mass ( ${49.5}_{-3.5}^{+4.3}$M_Jup) and inclination (114.5° ${}_{-10.0}^{+7.4}$) by combining discovery radial velocities (RVs) from the Tillinghast Reflector Echelle Spectrograph and new RVs from the Habitable-zone Planet Finder with the available Gaia astrometric two-body solution. We highlight a discrepancy between the measurement of the eccentricity from the Gaia two-body solution (e= 0.52 ± 0.03) and the RV-only solution (e= 0.3702 ± 0.0003). We discuss possible reasons for this discrepancy, which can be further probed when the Gaia astrometric time series become available as part of Gaia Data Release 4. As a nearby mid-M star hosting a massive short-period companion with a well-characterized orbit, LHS 1610 b is a promising target to look for evidence of sub-Alfvénic interactions and/or auroral emission at optical and radio wavelengths. LHS 1610 has a flare rate (0.28 ± 0.07 flares per day) on the higher end for its rotation period (84 ± 8 days), similar to other mid-M dwarf systems such as Proxima Cen and YZ Ceti that have recent radio detections compatible with star–planet interactions. While available Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite photometry is insufficient to determine an orbital phase dependence of the flares, our complete orbital characterization of this system makes it attractive to probe star–companion interactions with additional photometric and radio observations. 

Abstract We revisit the long-studied radial velocity (RV) target HD 26965 using recent observations from the NASA-NSF “NEID” precision Doppler facility. Leveraging a suite of classical activity indicators, combined with line-by-line RV analyses, we demonstrate that the claimed 45-day signal previously identified as a planet candidate is most likely an activity-induced signal. Correlating the bulk (spectrally averaged) RV with canonical line activity indicators confirms a multiday “lag” between the observed activity indicator time series and the measured RV. When accounting for this lag, we show that much of the observed RV signal can be removed by a linear detrending of the data. Investigating activity at the line-by-line level, we find a depth-dependent correlation between individual line RVs and the bulk RVs, further indicative of periodic suppression of convective blueshift causing the observed RV variability, rather than an orbiting planet. We conclude that the combined evidence of the activity correlations and depth dependence is consistent with an RV signature dominated by a rotationally modulated activity signal at a period of ∼42 days. We hypothesize that this activity signature is due to a combination of spots and convective blueshift suppression. The tools applied in our analysis are broadly applicable to other stars and could help paint a more comprehensive picture of the manifestations of stellar activity in future Doppler RV surveys. 

The intuition suggested by the Drake equation implies that technology should be less prevalent than biology in the galaxy. However, it has been appreciated for decades in the SETI community that technosignatures could be more abundant, longer-lived, more detectable, and less ambiguous than biosignatures. We collect the arguments for and against technosignatures’ ubiquity and discuss the implications of some properties of technological life that fundamentally differ from nontechnological life in the context of modern astrobiology: It can spread among the stars to many sites, it can be more easily detected at large distances, and it can produce signs that are unambiguously technological. As an illustration in terms of the Drake equation, we consider two Drake-like equations, for technosignatures (calculating N(tech)) and biosignatures (calculating N(bio)). We argue that Earth and humanity may be poor guides to the longevity term L and that its maximum value could be very large, in that technology can outlive its creators and even its host star. We conclude that while the Drake equation implies that N(bio) ≫ N(tech), it is also plausible that N(tech) ≫ N(bio). As a consequence, as we seek possible indicators of extraterrestrial life, for instance, via characterization of the atmospheres of habitable exoplanets, we should search for both biosignatures and technosignatures. This exercise also illustrates ways in which biosignature and technosignature searches can complement and supplement each other and how methods of technosignature search, including old ideas from SETI, can inform the search for biosignatures and life generally. 

Abstract We confirm TOI-4201 b as a transiting Jovian-mass planet orbiting an early M dwarf discovered by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite. Using ground-based photometry and precise radial velocities from NEID and the Planet Finder Spectrograph, we measure a planet mass of ${2.59}_{-0.06}^{+0.07}$M_J, making this one of the most massive planets transiting an M dwarf. The planet is ∼0.4% of the mass of its 0.63M_⊙host and may have a heavy-element mass comparable to the total dust mass contained in a typical class II disk. TOI-4201 b stretches our understanding of core accretion during the protoplanetary phase and the disk mass budget, necessitating giant planet formation to take place either much earlier in the disk lifetime or perhaps through alternative mechanisms like gravitational instability. 

Abstract Gaia astrometry of nearby stars is precise enough to detect the tiny displacements induced by substellar companions, but radial velocity (RV) data are needed for definitive confirmation. Here we present RV follow-up observations of 28 M and K stars with candidate astrometric substellar companions, which led to the confirmation of two systems, Gaia-4b and Gaia-5b, identification of five systems that are single lined but require additional data to confirm as substellar companions, and the refutation of 21 systems as stellar binaries. Gaia-4b is a massive planet (M = 11.8 ± 0.7M_J) in aP = 571.3 ± 1.4 day orbit with a projected semimajor axisa₀ = 0.312 ± 0.040 mas orbiting a 0.644 ± 0.02M_⊙star. Gaia-5b is a brown dwarf (M = 20.9 ± 0.5M_J) in aP = 358.62 ± 0.20 days eccentrice = 0.6423 ± 0.0026 orbit with a projected angular semimajor axis ofa₀ = 0.947 ± 0.038 mas around a 0.34 ± 0.03M_⊙star. Gaia-4b is one of the first exoplanets discovered via the astrometric technique, and is one of the most massive planets known to orbit a low-mass star. 

Abstract Using both ground-based transit photometry and high-precision radial velocity spectroscopy, we confirm the planetary nature of TOI-3785 b. This transiting Neptune orbits an M2-Dwarf star with a period of ∼4.67 days, a planetary radius of 5.14 ± 0.16 R ⊕ , a mass of 14.95 − 3.92 + 4.10 M ⊕ , and a density of ρ = 0.61 − 0.17 + 0.18 g cm −3 . TOI-3785 b belongs to a rare population of Neptunes (4 R ⊕ < R p < 7 R ⊕ ) orbiting cooler, smaller M-dwarf host stars, of which only ∼10 have been confirmed. By increasing the number of confirmed planets, TOI-3785 b offers an opportunity to compare similar planets across varying planetary and stellar parameter spaces. Moreover, with a high-transmission spectroscopy metric of ∼150 combined with a relatively cool equilibrium temperature of T eq = 582 ± 16 K and an inactive host star, TOI-3785 b is one of the more promising low-density M-dwarf Neptune targets for atmospheric follow up. Future investigation into atmospheric mass-loss rates of TOI-3785 b may yield new insights into the atmospheric evolution of these low-mass gas planets around M dwarfs.