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

    • A 5M<SUB>Jup</SUB> non-transiting coplanar circumbinary planet around Kepler-1660AB
      Over a dozen transiting circumbinary planets have been discovered around eclipsing binaries. Transit detections are biased towards aligned planet and binary orbits, and indeed all of the known planets have mutual inclinations less than 4.5 ○. One path to discovering circumbinary planets with misaligned orbits is through eclipse timing variations
      Goldberg, Max et al.

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      11
      2023
      Citations
      2
    • Investigating the visible phase-curve variability of 55 Cnc e★
      Context. 55 Cnc e is an ultra-short period super-Earth transiting a Sun-like star. Previous observations in the optical range detected a time-variable flux modulation that is phased with the planetary orbital period, whose amplitude is too large to be explained by reflected light and thermal emission alone. Aims: The goal of the study is to
      Meier Valdés, E. A. et al.

      Advertised on:

      9
      2023
      Citations
      9
    • Company for the Ultra-high Density, Ultra-short Period Sub-Earth GJ 367 b: Discovery of Two Additional Low-mass Planets at 11.5 and 34 Days
      GJ 367 is a bright (V ≈ 10.2) M1 V star that has been recently found to host a transiting ultra-short period sub-Earth on a 7.7 hr orbit. With the aim of improving the planetary mass and radius and unveiling the inner architecture of the system, we performed an intensive radial velocity follow-up campaign with the HARPS spectrograph-collecting 371
      Goffo, Elisa et al.

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      9
      2023
      Citations
      11
    • Confirmation of an He I evaporating atmosphere around the 650-Myr-old sub-Neptune HD 235088 b (TOI-1430 b) with CARMENES
      HD 235088 (TOI-1430) is a young star known to host a sub-Neptune-sized planet candidate. We validated the planetary nature of HD 235088 b with multiband photometry, refined its planetary parameters, and obtained a new age estimate of the host star, placing it at 600-800 Myr. Previous spectroscopic observations of a single transit detected an excess
      Orell-Miquel, J. et al.

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      9
      2023
      Citations
      10
    • TOI-2084 b and TOI-4184 b: Two new sub-Neptunes around M dwarf stars
      We present the discovery and validation of two TESS exoplanets orbiting nearby M dwarfs: TOI-2084 b, and TOI-4184b. We characterized the host stars by combining spectra from Shane/Kast and Magellan/FIRE, spectral energy distribution analysis, and stellar evolutionary models. In addition, we used Gemini-South/Zorro & -North/Alopeke high-resolution
      Barkaoui, K. et al.

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      9
      2023
      Citations
      5
    • TOI-1416: A system with a super-Earth planet with a 1.07 d period
      TOI-1416 (BD+42 2504, HIP 70705) is a V =10 late G- or early K-type dwarf star. TESS detected transits in its Sectors 16, 23, and 50 with a depth of about 455 ppm and a period of 1.07 days. Radial velocities (RVs) confirm the presence of the transiting planet TOI-1416 b, which has a mass of 3.48 ± 0.47 M ⊕ and a radius of 1.62 ± 0.08 R ⊕, implying
      Deeg, H. J. et al.

      Advertised on:

      9
      2023
      Citations
      7
    • Modeling the Chromosphere and Transition Region of Planet-hosting Star GJ 436
      Ahead of upcoming space missions intending to conduct observations of low-mass stars in the ultraviolet (UV) spectral region it becomes imperative to simultaneously conduct atmospheric modeling from the UV to the visible (VIS) and near-infrared (NIR). Investigations on extended spectral regions will help to improve the overall understanding of the
      Hintz, Dominik et al.

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      9
      2023
      Citations
      2
    • Long-term trends in albedo as seen from a lunar observatory
      The Earth's albedo is the fraction of short-wave solar radiation that is reflected back to space, and is key to understand the observed trends in climate change. Although there have been many observational approaches to estimate the Earth's albedo, different methods have their own drawbacks, for example, artificial satellites have a finite life
      Wu, Jie et al.

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      9
      2023
      Citations
      1
    • A broadband thermal emission spectrum of the ultra-hot Jupiter WASP-18b
      Close-in giant exoplanets with temperatures greater than 2,000 K (`ultra-hot Jupiters') have been the subject of extensive efforts to determine their atmospheric properties using thermal emission measurements from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and Spitzer Space Telescope 1-3. However, previous studies have yielded inconsistent results because
      Coulombe, Louis-Philippe et al.

      Advertised on:

      8
      2023
      Citations
      59
    • The mass of TOI-519 b: A close-in giant planet transiting a metal-rich mid-M dwarf
      We report on the determination of the mass of TOI-519 b, a transiting substellar object around a mid-M dwarf. We carried out radial velocity measurements using Subaru/InfraRed Doppler (IRD), revealing that TOI-519 b is a planet with a mass of $0.463^{+0.082}_{-0.088}\, M_{\rm Jup}$. We also found that the host star is metal rich ([Fe/H] = 0.27 ± 0
      Kagetani, Taiki et al.

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      8
      2023
      Citations
      12
    • An M dwarf accompanied by a close-in giant orbiter with SPECULOOS
      In the last decade, a dozen close-in giant planets have been discovered orbiting stars with spectral types ranging from M0 to M4, a mystery since known formation pathways do not predict the existence of such systems. Here, we confirm TOI-4860 b, a Jupiter-sized planet orbiting an M4.5 host, a star at the transition between fully and partially
      Triaud, Amaury H. M. J. et al.

      Advertised on:

      10
      2023
      Citations
      8
    • TOI-1130: A photodynamical analysis of a hot Jupiter in resonance with an inner low-mass planet
      The TOI-1130 is a known planetary system around a K-dwarf consisting of a gas giant planet, TOI-1130 c on an 8.4-day orbit that is accompanied by an inner Neptune-sized planet, TOI-1130 b, with an orbital period of 4.1 days. We collected precise radial velocity (RV) measurements of TOI-1130 with the HARPS and PFS spectrographs as part of our
      Korth, J. et al.

      Advertised on:

      7
      2023
      Citations
      10
    • A Mini-Neptune Orbiting the Metal-poor K Dwarf BD+29 2654
      We report the discovery and Doppler mass measurement of a 7.4 days 2.3 R ⊕ mini-Neptune around a metal-poor K dwarf BD+29 2654 (TOI-2018). Based on a high-resolution Keck/HIRES spectrum, the Gaia parallax, and multiwavelength photometry from the UV to the mid-infrared, we found that the host star has ${T}_{\mathrm{eff}}={4174}_{-42}^{+34}$ K, $
      Dai, Fei et al.

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      8
      2023
      Citations
      7
    • The planetary system around HD 190622 (TOI-1054). Measuring the gas content of low-mass planets orbiting F-stars
      Context. Giant planets are known to dominate the long-term stability of planetary systems due to their prevailing gravitational interactions, but they are also thought to play an important role in planet formation. Observational constraints improve our understanding of planetary formation processes such as the delivery of volatile-rich
      Cabrera, J. et al.

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      7
      2023
      Citations
      1
    • Two sub-Neptunes around the M dwarf TOI-1470
      Aims: A transiting planet candidate with a sub-Neptune radius orbiting the nearby (d = 51.9 ± 0.07 pc) M1.5 V star TOI-1470 with a period of ~2.5 d was announced by the NASA Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), which observed the field of TOI-1470 in four different sectors. We aim to validate its planetary nature using precise radial
      González-Álvarez, E. et al.

      Advertised on:

      7
      2023
      Citations
      3
    • The CARMENES search for exoplanets around M dwarfs. A sub-Neptunian mass planet in the habitable zone of HN Lib
      We report the discovery of HN Lib b, a sub-Neptunian mass planet orbiting the nearby (d ≈ = 6.25 pc) M4.0 V star HN Lib detected by our CARMENES radial-velocity (RV) survey. We determined a planetary minimum mass of M b sin i = 5.46 ± 0.75 M ⊕ and an orbital period of P b = 36.116 ± 0.029 d, using ~5 yr of CARMENES data, as well as archival RVs
      González-Álvarez, E. et al.

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      7
      2023
      Citations
      1
    • Featureless transmission spectra of 12 giant exoplanets observed by GTC/OSIRIS
      Context. Exoplanet atmospheres are the key to understanding the nature of exoplanets. To this end, transit spectrophotometry provides us opportunities to investigate the physical properties and chemical compositions of exoplanet atmospheres. Aims: We aim to detect potential atmospheric signatures in 12 gaseous giant exoplanets using transit
      Jiang, C. et al.

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      7
      2023
      Citations
      4
    • An unusually low-density super-Earth transiting the bright early-type M-dwarf GJ 1018 (TOI-244)
      Context. Small planets located at the lower mode of the bimodal radius distribution are generally assumed to be composed of iron and silicates in a proportion similar to that of the Earth. However, recent discoveries are revealing a new group of low-density planets that are inconsistent with that description. Aims: We intend to confirm and
      Castro-González, A. et al.

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      7
      2023
      Citations
      12
    • GRB 201015A and the nature of low-luminosity soft gamma-ray bursts
      GRB 201015A is a peculiarly low luminosity, spectrally soft gamma-ray burst (GRB), with T 90 = 9.8 ± 3.5 s (time interval of detection of 90 per cent of photons from the GRB), and an associated supernova (likely to be type Ic or Ic-BL). GRB 201015A has an isotropic energy $E_{\gamma , \rm iso}$$= 1.75 ^{+0.60} _{-0.53} \times 10^{50}$ erg, and
      Patel, M. et al.

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      8
      2023
      Citations
      4
    • Exploring the stellar surface phenomena of WASP-52 and HAT-P-30 with ESPRESSO
      We analyse spectroscopic and photometric transits of the hot Jupiters WASP-52 b and HAT-P30 b obtained with ESPRESSO, Eulercam and NGTS for both targets, and additional TESS data for HAT-P-30. Our goal is to update the system parameters and refine our knowledge of the host star surfaces. For WASP-52, the companion planet has occulted starspots in
      Cegla, H. M. et al.

      Advertised on:

      6
      2023
      Citations
      5

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