Exoplanets and Astrobiology

    General
    Description

    The search for life in the universe has been driven by recent discoveries of planets around other stars (known as exoplanets), becoming one of the most active fields in modern astrophysics. The growing number of new exoplanets discovered in recent years and the recent advance on the study of their atmospheres are not only providing new valuable information about its physical properties, but also allowing to constrain the properties of the Solar system's planets within a more global context. The field is approaching to the important discovery of the first potentially habitable planets and encouraging more detailed studies of them. With the launching of upcoming related satellites like JWST, CHEOPS, TESS, ARIEL and PLATO, the exoplanets field faces a bright future.

    It is for this reason that this field is aid of, and at the same time promotes, the development of increasingly sensitive and stable instrumentation for both, ground-based telescopes and space missions. Our group is particularly prepared for these two fronts. On the one hand, during the last years we have developed observational and reduction techniques of exoplanet transits data for the ORM telescopes, ours being one of the most productive groups in the exploitation of GTC. On the other hand, all ESA space missions (present and future) related to exoplanets have one or more components of the project as CoIs. Within the frame of this project, we intend that IAC researchers maintain an advantageous position regarding the operation of OSIRIS and CanariCam, first light

    GTC's instruments, and participate in the construction, commissioning and operation of new instruments such as the high resolution optical spectrograph HORUS at GTC. The exploitation of the photometry and spectroscopy of transits with LIRIS at WHT is also one of our principal interests, especially in preparation for the installation in 2015 of EMIR on the GTC .

    To summarize, the project "Exoplanets and Astrobiology" will focus on these four action lines:

    1) The characterization of atmospheric and physical properties of exoplanets (GTC, WHT, ARIEL, HARPSN, CARMENES, ESPRESSO, etc. ..)

    2) The search and confirmation of exoplanets by transits techniques (CoRoT, Kepler, K2, CHEOPS, XO, LCOGT, W FC, DISH, etc. ..)

    3) The search and confirmation of exoplanet by radial velocity techniques (HARPSN, HORUS, LCOGT, SONG, CARMENES)

    4) Astrobiology

    Principal investigator
    Project staff
    1. Detection of He in the atmosphere of an exoplanet from the ground, published in Science
    2. Detection of a super-earth around Barnard star, published in Nature
    3. Detection of the first TESS planets, with several papers of high relevance
    4. Discovery of Na and Halpha features in the spectrum of KELT-20b with TNG
    5. Publication of the Handbook of Exoplanets, the most extensive work of reference in the field of exoplanets. The Handbook was edited by members of our group, and includes contributions by about 300 experts worldwide, including 12 members of IAC.

    Related publications

    • Leveraging Movement Representation from Contrastive Learning for Asteroid Detection
      To support asteroid-related studies, current motion detectors are utilized to select moving object candidates based on their visualizations and movements in sequences of sky exposures. However, the existing detectors encounter the manual parameter settings which require experts to assign proper parameters. Moreover, although the deep learning
      Kongsathitporn, Noppachanin et al.

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      12
      2024
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    • CARMENES input catalogue of M dwarfs: VIII. Kinematics in the solar neighbourhood
      Aims. Our goals are to characterise the kinematic properties and to identify young and old stars among the M dwarfs of the CARMENES input catalogue. Methods. We compiled the spectral types, proper motions, distances, and radial velocities for 2187 M dwarfs. We used the public code SteParKin to derive their galactic space velocities and identify
      Cortés-Contreras, M. et al.

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      12
      2024
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    • Confirmation of four hot Jupiters detected by TESS using follow-up spectroscopy from MaHPS at Wendelstein together with NEID and TRES
      We report the confirmation and characterization of four hot Jupiter-type exoplanets initially detected by TESS: TOI-1295 b, TOI-2580 b, TOI-6016 b, and TOI-6130 b. Using observations with the high-resolution echelle spectrograph MaHPS on the 2.1 m telescope at Wendelstein Observatory, together with NEID at Kitt Peak National Observatory and TRES at
      Ehrhardt, Juliana et al.

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      12
      2024
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    • Characterisation of TOI-406 as a showcase of the THIRSTEE program: A two-planet system straddling the M-dwarf density gap
      Context. The exoplanet sub-Neptune population currently poses a conundrum, as to whether small-size planets are volatile-rich cores without an atmosphere, or rocky cores surrounded by a H-He envelope. To test the different hypotheses from an observational point of view, a large sample of small-size planets with precise mass and radius measurements
      Lacedelli, G. et al.

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      12
      2024
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    • Hints of a close outer companion to the ultra-hot Jupiter TOI-2109 b
      Context. Hot Jupiters (HJs) with close-by planetary companions are rare, with only a handful of them having been discovered so far. This could be due to their suggested dynamical histories, which lead to the possible ejection of other planets. TOI-2109 b is special in this regard because it is the HJ with the closest relative separation from its
      Harre, J. -V. et al.

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      12
      2024
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    • The CARMENES search for exoplanets around M dwarfs: The impact of rotation and magnetic fields on the radial velocity jitter in cool stars
      Context. Radial velocity (RV) jitter represents an intrinsic limitation on the precision of Doppler searches for exoplanets that can originate from both instrumental and astrophysical sources. Aims. We aim to determine the RV jitter floor in M dwarfs and investigate the stellar properties that lead to RV jitter induced by stellar activity. Methods
      Ruh, H. L. et al.

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      12
      2024
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    • The CHEOPS view of the climate of WASP-3 b
      Context. Hot Jupiters are giant planets subject to intense stellar radiation. The physical and chemical properties of their atmosphere make them the most amenable targets for atmospheric characterization. Aims. In this paper we analyze the photometry collected during the secondary eclipses of the hot Jupiter WASP-3 b by CHEOPS, TESS, and Spitzer
      Scandariato, G. et al.

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      12
      2024
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    • Probing Na in giant exoplanets with ESPRESSO and 3D NLTE stellar spectra
      Context. Neutral sodium was the first atom that was detected in an exoplanetary atmosphere using the transmission spectroscopy technique. To date, it remains the most successfully detected species due to its strong doublet in the optical at 5890 Å and 5896 Å. However, the center-to-limb variation (CLV) of these lines in the host star can bias the
      Canocchi, G. et al.

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      12
      2024
      Citations
      2
    • A Fourth Planet in the Kepler-51 System Revealed by Transit Timing Variations
      Kepler-51 is a ≲1 Gyr old Sun-like star hosting three transiting planets with radii ≈6–9 R ⊕ and orbital periods ≈45–130 days. Transit timing variations (TTVs) measured with past Kepler and Hubble Space Telescope (HST) observations have been successfully modeled by considering gravitational interactions between the three transiting planets
      Gao, Peter et al.

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      12
      2024
      Citations
      4
    • Architecture of TOI-561 planetary system
      We present new observations from CHEOPS (CHaracterising ExOPlanet Satellite) and TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite) to clarify the architecture of the planetary system hosted by the old Galactic thick disc star TOI-561. Our global analysis, which also includes previously published photometric and radial velocity data, incontrovertibly
      Piotto, G. et al.

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      12
      2024
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    • A giant planet transiting a 3-Myr protostar with a misaligned disk
      Astronomers have found more than a dozen planets transiting stars that are 10–40 million years old 1, but younger transiting planets have remained elusive. The lack of such discoveries may be because planets have not fully formed at this age or because our view is blocked by the protoplanetary disk. However, we now know that many outer disks are
      Barber, Madyson G. et al.

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      11
      2024
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      1
    • Coronal and chromospheric activity of Teegarden's star
      Teegarden's star is a late-type M-dwarf planet host, typically showing only rather low levels of activity. In this paper we present an extensive characterisation of this activity at photospheric, chromospheric, and coronal levels. We specifically investigated TESS observations of Teegarden's star, which showed two very large flares with an
      Fuhrmeister, B. et al.

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      11
      2024
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    • Hints of auroral and magnetospheric polarized radio emission from the scallop-shell star 2MASS J05082729–2101444
      Scallop-shell stars, a recently discovered class of young M dwarfs, show complex optical light curves that are characterized by periodic dips as well as other features that are stable over tens to hundreds of rotation cycles. The origin of these features is not well-understood. 2MASS J05082729‑2101444 is a ∼25 Myr old scallop-shell star that was
      Kaur, Simranpreet et al.

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      11
      2024
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      1
    • An ultra-short-period super-Earth with an extremely high density and an outer companion
      We present the discovery and characterization of a new multi-planetary system around the Sun-like star K2-360 (EPIC 201595106). K2-360 was first identified in K2 photometry as the host of an ultra-short-period (USP) planet candidate with a period of 0.88 d. We obtained follow-up transit photometry, confirming the star as the host of the signal
      Livingston, John H. et al.

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      11
      2024
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    • The obliquity and atmosphere of the hot Jupiter WASP-122b (KELT-14b) with ESPRESSO: An aligned orbit and no sign of atomic or molecular absorption
      Thanks to their short orbital periods and hot extended atmospheres, hot Jupiters are ideal candidates for atmosphere studies with high- resolution spectroscopy. New stable spectrographs help improve our understanding of the evolution and composition of those types of planets. By analyzing two nights of observations using the ESPRESSO high
      Stangret, M. et al.

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      11
      2024
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    • HD 21520 b: a warm sub-Neptune transiting a bright G dwarf
      We report the discovery and validation of HD 21520 b, a transiting planet found with Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite and orbiting a bright G dwarf (V = 9.2, $T_{\rm eff} = 5871 \pm 62$ K, $R_{\star } = 1.04\pm 0.02\, {\rm R}_{\odot }$). HD 21520 b was originally alerted as a system (TOI-4320) consisting of two planet candidates with periods
      Nies, Molly et al.

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      11
      2024
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    • The K2-24 planetary system revisited by CHEOPS
      The planetary system K2-24 is composed of two transiting low-density Neptunians locked in an almost perfect 2:1 resonance and showing large transit time variations (TTVs), and it is an excellent laboratory to search for signatures of planetary migration. Previous studies performed with K2, Spitzer, and RV data tentatively claimed a significant non
      Nascimbeni, V. et al.

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      10
      2024
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      1
    • Obliquities of exoplanet host stars: Nineteen new and updated measurements, and trends in the sample of 205 measurements
      Measurements of the obliquities in exoplanet systems have revealed some remarkable architectures, some of which are very different from the Solar System. Nearly 200 obliquity measurements have been obtained through observations of the Rossiter–McLaughlin (RM) effect. Here, we report on observations of 19 planetary systems that led to 17 clear
      Knudstrup, E. et al.

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      10
      2024
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      6
    • Physical properties of trans-Neptunian object (143707) 2003 UY<SUB>117</SUB> derived from stellar occultation and photometric observations
      Context. Trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) are considered to be among the most primitive objects in our Solar System. Knowledge of their primary physical properties is essential for understanding their origin and the evolution of the outer Solar System. In this context, stellar occultations are a powerful and sensitive technique for studying these
      Kretlow, M. et al.

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      11
      2024
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    • TESS discovery of two super-Earths orbiting the M-dwarf stars TOI-6002 and TOI-5713 near the radius valley
      We present the validation of two TESS super-Earth candidates transiting the mid-M dwarfs TOI-6002 and TOI-5713 every 10.90 and 10.44 days, respectively. The first star (TOI-6002) is located 32.038 ± 0.019 pc away, with a radius of 0.2409 ‑0.0065 +0.0066 R ⊙, a mass of 0.2105 ‑0.0048 +0.0049 M ⊙, and an effective temperature of 3229 ‑57 +77 K. The
      Davoudi, F. et al.

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      10
      2024
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