CARMENES finds a nearby Neptune in the temperate zone of an early-M dwarf

Explanatory drawing of the planetary system of GJ617A in comparison with the Solar System
Explanatory drawing of the planetary system of GJ617A in comparison with the Solar System
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Authors
A. Reiners
et al. (including)
References
2018 A&A 609 L5
https://www.aanda.org/articles/aa/full_html/2018/01/aa32165-17/aa32165-17.html

We report on the first star discovered to host a planet detected by radial velocity (RV) observations obtained within the CARMENES survey for exoplanets around M dwarfs. HD 147379 (V = 8.9 mag, M = 0.58 ± 0.08 M⊙), a bright M0.0 V star at a distance of 10.7 pc, is found to undergo periodic RV variations with a semi-amplitude of K = 5.1 ± 0.4 m s−1 and a period of P = 86.54 ± 0.06 d. The RV signal is found in our CARMENES data, which were taken between 2016 and 2017, and is supported by HIRES/Keck observations that were obtained since 2000. The RV variations are interpreted as resulting from a planet of minimum mass mp sin i = 25 ± 2 M⊕, 1.5 times the mass of Neptune, with an orbital semi-major axis a = 0.32 au and low eccentricity (e < 0.13). HD 147379 b is orbiting inside the temperate zone around the star, where water could exist in liquid form. The RV time-series and various spectroscopic indicators show additional hints of variations at an approximate period of 21.1 d (and its first harmonic), which we attribute to the rotation period of the star.

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Research news
Scope
Science and Technology
Astrophysics
Scientists

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