| 1. |
- Abrevaya, Ximena C., et al.
(författare)
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Protective Effects of Halite to Vacuum and Vacuum-Ultraviolet Radiation : A Potential Scenario during a Young Sun Superflare
- 2023
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Ingår i: Astrobiology. - : Mary Ann Liebert Inc. - 1531-1074 .- 1557-8070. ; 23:3, s. 245-268
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Halite (NaCl mineral) has exhibited the potential to preserve microorganisms for millions of years on Earth. This mineral was also identified on Mars and in meteorites. In this study, we investigated the potential of halite crystals to protect microbial life-forms on the surface of an airless body (e.g., meteorite), for instance, during a lithopanspermia process (interplanetary travel step) in the early Solar System. To investigate the effect of the radiation of the young Sun on microorganisms, we performed extensive simulation experiments by employing a synchrotron facility. We focused on two exposure conditions: vacuum (low Earth orbit, 10-4 Pa) and vacuum-ultraviolet (VUV) radiation (range 57.6-124 nm, flux 7.14 W/m2), with the latter representing an extreme scenario with high VUV fluxes comparable to the amount of radiation of a stellar superflare from the young Sun. The stellar VUV parameters were estimated by using the very well-studied solar analog of the young Sun, κ1 Cet. To evaluate the protective effects of halite, we entrapped a halophilic archaeon (Haloferax volcanii) and a non-halophilic bacterium (Deinococcus radiodurans) in laboratory-grown halite. Control groups were cells entrapped in salt crystals (mixtures of different salts and NaCl) and non-trapped (naked) cells, respectively. All groups were exposed either to vacuum alone or to vacuum plus VUV. Our results demonstrate that halite can serve as protection against vacuum and VUV radiation, regardless of the type of microorganism. In addition, we found that the protection is higher than provided by crystals obtained from mixtures of salts. This extends the protective effects of halite documented in previous studies and reinforces the possibility to consider the crystals of this mineral as potential preservation structures in airless bodies or as vehicles for the interplanetary transfer of microorganisms.
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| 2. |
- Delrez, Laetitia, et al.
(författare)
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Transit detection of the long-period volatile-rich super-Earth nu(2) Lupi d with CHEOPS
- 2021
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Ingår i: Nature Astronomy. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2397-3366. ; :5, s. 775-787
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Exoplanets transiting bright nearby stars are key objects for advancing our knowledge of planetary formation and evolution. The wealth of photons from the host star gives detailed access to the atmospheric, interior and orbital properties of the planetary companions. nu(2) Lupi (HD 136352) is a naked-eye (V = 5.78) Sun-like star that was discovered to host three low-mass planets with orbital periods of 11.6, 27.6 and 107.6 d via radial-velocity monitoring(1). The two inner planets (b and c) were recently found to transit(2), prompting a photometric follow-up by the brand new Characterising Exoplanets Satellite (CHEOPS). Here, we report that the outer planet d is also transiting, and measure its radius and mass to be 2.56 +/- 0.09 R-circle plus and 8.82 +/- 0.94 M-circle plus, respectively. With its bright Sun-like star, long period and mild irradiation (similar to 5.7 times the irradiation of Earth), nu(2) Lupi d unlocks a completely new region in the parameter space of exoplanets amenable to detailed characterization. We refine the properties of all three planets: planet b probably has a rocky mostly dry composition, while planets c and d seem to have retained small hydrogen-helium envelopes and a possibly large water fraction. This diversity of planetary compositions makes the nu(2) Lupi system an excellent laboratory for testing formation and evolution models of low-mass planets.
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| 3. |
- Lam, Kristine W. F., et al.
(författare)
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It Takes Two Planets in Resonance to Tango around K2-146
- 2020
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Ingår i: Astronomical Journal. - : American Astronomical Society. - 1538-3881 .- 0004-6256. ; 159:3
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- K2-146 is a cool, 0.358M dwarf that was found to host a mini-Neptune with a 2.67 day period. The planet exhibited strong transit timing variations (TTVs) of greater than 30 minutes, indicative of the presence of an additional object in the system. Here we report the discovery of the previously undetected outer planet in the system, K2-146 c, using additional photometric data. K2-146 c was found to have a grazing transit geometry and a 3.97 day period. The outer planet was only significantly detected in the latter K2 campaigns presumably because of precession of its orbital plane. The TTVs of K2-146 b and c were measured using observations spanning a baseline of almost 1200 days. We found strong anti -correlation in the TTVs, suggesting the two planets are gravitationally interacting. Our TTV and transit model analyses revealed that K2-146 b has a radius of 2.25 0.10 Re and a mass of 5.6 0.7 Me, whereas K2-146 c has a radius of 2.591 Re and a mass of 7.1 0.9 Me. The inner and outer planets likely have moderate eccentricities of e = 0.14 0.07 and 0.16 0.07, respectively. Long-term numerical integrations of the two -planet orbital solution show that it can be dynamically stable for at least 2 Myr. We show that the resonance angles of the planet pair are librating, which may be an indication that K2-146 b and c are in a 3:2 mean motion resonance. The orbital architecture of the system points to a possible convergent migration origin.
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| 4. |
- Nowak, Grzegorz, et al.
(författare)
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K2-280 b - a low density warm sub-Saturn around a mildly evolved star
- 2020
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Ingår i: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 497:4, s. 4423-4435
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We present an independent discovery and detailed characterization of K2-280 b, a transiting low density warm sub-Saturn in a 19.9-d moderately eccentric orbit (e = 0.35(-0.04)(+0.05)) from K2 campaign 7. A joint analysis of high precision HARPS, HARPS-N, and FIES radial velocity measurements and K2 photometric data indicates that K2-280 b has a radius of R-b = 7.50 +/- 0.44 R-circle plus and a mass of M-b = 37.1 +/- 5.6 M-circle plus, yielding a mean density of rho(b) = 0.48(-0.10)(+0.13) g cm(-3). The host star is a mildly evolved G7 star with an effective temperature of T-eff = 5500 +/- 100 K, a surface gravity of log g(star) = 4.21 +/- 0.05 (cgs), and an iron abundance of [Fe/H] = 0.33 +/- 0.08 dex, and with an inferred mass of M-star = 1.03 +/- 0.03 M-circle dot and a radius of R-star = 1.28 +/- 0.07 R-circle dot. We discuss the importance of K2-280 b for testing formation scenarios of sub-Saturn planets and the current sample of this intriguing group of planets that are absent in the Solar system.
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| 5. |
- Pan, Mengrui, et al.
(författare)
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Forming giant planets around late-M dwarfs : Pebble accretion and planet-planet collision
- 2024
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Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - 0004-6361. ; 682
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We propose a pebble-driven core accretion scenario to explain the formation of giant planets around the late-M dwarfs of M∗=0.1-0.2 M⊙. In order to explore the optimal disk conditions for giant planet, we performed N-body simulations to investigate the growth and dynamical evolution of both single and multiple protoplanets in the disks with both inner viscously heated and outer stellar irradiated regions. The initial masses of the protoplanets are either assumed to be equal to 0.01 M⊕ or calculated based on the formula derived from streaming instability simulations. Our findings indicate that massive planets are more likely to form in disks with longer lifetimes, higher solid masses, moderate to high levels of disk turbulence, and larger initial masses of protoplanets. In the single protoplanet growth cases, the highest planet core mass that can be reached is generally lower than the threshold necessary to trigger rapid gas accretion, which impedes the formation of giant planets. Nonetheless, in multi-protoplanet cases, the cores can exceed the pebble isolation mass barrier aided by frequent planet-planet collisions. This consequently speeds their gas accretion up and promotes giant planet formation, making the optimal parameter space to grow giant planets substantially wider. Taken together, our results suggest that even around very-low-mass stellar hosts, the giant planets with orbital periods of ≤100 days are still likely to form when lunar-mass protoplanets first emerge from planetesimal accretion and then grow rapidly by a combination of pebble accretion and planet-planet collisions in disks with a high supply of a pebble reservoir >50 M⊕ and a turbulent level of αt ~ 10-3-10-2.
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| 6. |
- Persson, Carina, 1964, et al.
(författare)
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Greening of the brown-dwarf desert EPIC 212036875b: a 51 M-J object in a 5-day orbit around an F7V star
- 2019
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Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 628
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Context. Although more than 2000 brown dwarfs have been detected to date, mainly from direct imaging, their characterisation is difficult due to their faintness and model-dependent results. In the case of transiting brown dwarfs, however, it is possible to make direct high-precision observations. Aims. Our aim is to investigate the nature and formation of brown dwarfs by adding a new well-characterised object, in terms of its mass, radius and bulk density, to the currently small sample of less than 20 transiting brown dwarfs. Methods. One brown dwarf candidate was found by the KESPRINT consortium when searching for exoplanets in the K2 space mission Campaign 16 field. We combined the K2 photometric data with a series of multicolour photometric observations, imaging, and radial velocity measurements to rule out false positive scenarios and to determine the fundamental properties of the system. Results. We report the discovery and characterisation of a transiting brown dwarf in a 5.17-day eccentric orbit around the slightly evolved F7V star EPIC 212036875. We find a stellar mass of 1.15 +/- 0.08 M-circle dot, a stellar radius of 1.41 +/- 0.05 R-circle dot, and an age of 5.1 +/- 0.9 Gyr. The mass and radius of the companion brown dwarf are 51 +/- 2 M-J and 0.83 +/- 0.03 R-J, respectively, corresponding to a mean density of 108(-13)(+15) g cm(-3). Conclusions. EPIC 212036875 b is a rare object that resides in the brown-dwarf desert. In the mass-density diagram for planets, brown dwarfs, and stars, we find that all giant planets and brown dwarfs follow the same trend from similar to 0.3 M-J to the turn-over to hydrogen burning stars at similar to 73 M-J. EPIC 212036875 b falls close to the theoretical model for mature H/He dominated objects in this diagram as determined by interior structure models. We argue that EPIC 212036875 b formed via gravitational disc instabilities in the outer part of the disc, followed by a quick migration. Orbital tidal circularisation may have started early in its history for a brief period when the brown dwarf's radius was larger. The lack of spin-orbit synchronisation points to a weak stellar dissipation parameter (Q(star)' greater than or similar to 10(8)), which implies a circularisation timescale of greater than or similar to 23 Gyr, or suggests an interaction between the magnetic and tidal forces of the star and the brown dwarf.
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| 7. |
- Quanz, Sascha P., et al.
(författare)
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Atmospheric characterization of terrestrial exoplanets in the mid-infrared : biosignatures, habitability, and diversity
- 2022
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Ingår i: Experimental astronomy. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0922-6435 .- 1572-9508. ; 54:2-3, s. 1197-1221
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Exoplanet science is one of the most thriving fields of modern astrophysics. A major goal is the atmospheric characterization of dozens of small, terrestrial exoplanets in order to search for signatures in their atmospheres that indicate biological activity, assess their ability to provide conditions for life as we know it, and investigate their expected atmospheric diversity. None of the currently adopted projects or missions, from ground or in space, can address these goals. In this White Paper, submitted to ESA in response to the Voyage 2050 Call, we argue that a large space-based mission designed to detect and investigate thermal emission spectra of terrestrial exoplanets in the mid-infrared wavelength range provides unique scientific potential to address these goals and surpasses the capabilities of other approaches. While NASA might be focusing on large missions that aim to detect terrestrial planets in reflected light, ESA has the opportunity to take leadership and spearhead the development of a large mid-infrared exoplanet mission within the scope of the “Voyage 2050” long-term plan establishing Europe at the forefront of exoplanet science for decades to come. Given the ambitious science goals of such a mission, additional international partners might be interested in participating and contributing to a roadmap that, in the long run, leads to a successful implementation. A new, dedicated development program funded by ESA to help reduce development and implementation cost and further push some of the required key technologies would be a first important step in this direction. Ultimately, a large mid-infrared exoplanet imaging mission will be needed to help answer one of humankind’s most fundamental questions: “How unique is our Earth?”
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| 8. |
- Serenelli, Aldo, et al.
(författare)
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Weighing stars from birth to death : mass determination methods across the HRD
- 2021
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Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics Review. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0935-4956 .- 1432-0754. ; 29:1
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- The mass of a star is the most fundamental parameter for its structure, evolution, and final fate. It is particularly important for any kind of stellar archaeology and characterization of exoplanets. There exist a variety of methods in astronomy to estimate or determine it. In this review we present a significant number of such methods, beginning with the most direct and model-independent approach using detached eclipsing binaries. We then move to more indirect and model-dependent methods, such as the quite commonly used isochrone or stellar track fitting. The arrival of quantitative asteroseismology has opened a completely new approach to determine stellar masses and to complement and improve the accuracy of other methods. We include methods for different evolutionary stages, from the pre-main sequence to evolved (super)giants and final remnants. For all methods uncertainties and restrictions will be discussed. We provide lists of altogether more than 200 benchmark stars with relative mass accuracies between [0.3 , 2] % for the covered mass range of M∈[0.1,16]M⊙, 75 % of which are stars burning hydrogen in their core and the other 25 % covering all other evolved stages. We close with a recommendation how to combine various methods to arrive at a “mass-ladder” for stars.
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| 9. |
- Subjak, Jan, et al.
(författare)
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TOI-503: The First Known Brown-dwarf Am-star Binary from the TESS Mission
- 2020
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Ingår i: Astronomical Journal. - : American Astronomical Society. - 1538-3881 .- 0004-6256. ; 159:4
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We report the discovery of an intermediate-mass transiting brown dwarf (BD), TOI-503b, from the TESS mission. TOI-503b is the first BD discovered by TESS, and it has circular orbit around a metallic-line A-type star with a period of P.=.3.6772.+/-.0.0001 days. The light curve from TESS indicates that TOI-503b transits its host star in a grazing manner, which limits the precision with which we measure the BD's radius ( = R 1.34+ R b 0.150.26 J). We obtained highresolution spectroscopic observations with the FIES, Ondr.ejov, PARAS, Tautenburg, and TRES spectrographs, and measured the mass of TOI-503b to be Mb.=.53.7.+/-.1.2 MJ. The host star has a mass of Ma.=.1.80.+/-.0.06Me, a radius of Ra.=.1.70.+/-.0.05Re, an effective temperature of Teff.=.7650.+/-.160 K, and a relatively high metallicity of 0.61.+/-.0.07 dex. We used stellar isochrones to derive the age of the system to be 180 Myr, which places its age between that of RIK 72b (a 10 Myr old BD in the Upper Scorpius stellar association) and AD 3116b (a 600 Myr old BD in the Praesepe cluster). Given the difficulty in measuring the tidal interactions between BDs and their host stars, we cannot precisely say whether this BD formed in situ or has had its orbit circularized by its host star over the relatively short age of the system. Instead, we offer an examination of plausible values for the tidal quality factor for the star and BD. TOI-503b joins a growing number of known short-period, intermediate-mass BDs orbiting mainsequence stars, and is the second such BD known to transit an A star, after HATS-70b. With the growth in the population in this regime, the driest region in the BD desert (35-55MJ sin i) is reforesting.
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| 10. |
- Tinetti, Giovanna, et al.
(författare)
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The EChO science case
- 2015
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Ingår i: Experimental astronomy. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0922-6435 .- 1572-9508. ; 40:2-3, s. 329-391
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The discovery of almost two thousand exoplanets has revealed an unexpectedly diverse planet population. We see gas giants in few-day orbits, whole multi-planet systems within the orbit of Mercury, and new populations of planets with masses between that of the Earth and Neptune-all unknown in the Solar System. Observations to date have shown that our Solar System is certainly not representative of the general population of planets in our Milky Way. The key science questions that urgently need addressing are therefore: What are exoplanets made of? Why are planets as they are? How do planetary systems work and what causes the exceptional diversity observed as compared to the Solar System? The EChO (Exoplanet Characterisation Observatory) space mission was conceived to take up the challenge to explain this diversity in terms of formation, evolution, internal structure and planet and atmospheric composition. This requires in-depth spectroscopic knowledge of the atmospheres of a large and well-defined planet sample for which precise physical, chemical and dynamical information can be obtained. In order to fulfil this ambitious scientific program, EChO was designed as a dedicated survey mission for transit and eclipse spectroscopy capable of observing a large, diverse and well-defined planet sample within its 4-year mission lifetime. The transit and eclipse spectroscopy method, whereby the signal from the star and planet are differentiated using knowledge of the planetary ephemerides, allows us to measure atmospheric signals from the planet at levels of at least 10(-4) relative to the star. This can only be achieved in conjunction with a carefully designed stable payload and satellite platform. It is also necessary to provide broad instantaneous wavelength coverage to detect as many molecular species as possible, to probe the thermal structure of the planetary atmospheres and to correct for the contaminating effects of the stellar photosphere. This requires wavelength coverage of at least 0.55 to 11 mu m with a goal of covering from 0.4 to 16 mu m. Only modest spectral resolving power is needed, with R similar to 300 for wavelengths less than 5 mu m and R similar to 30 for wavelengths greater than this. The transit spectroscopy technique means that no spatial resolution is required. A telescope collecting area of about 1 m(2) is sufficiently large to achieve the necessary spectro-photometric precision: for the Phase A study a 1.13 m(2) telescope, diffraction limited at 3 mu m has been adopted. Placing the satellite at L2 provides a cold and stable thermal environment as well as a large field of regard to allow efficient time-critical observation of targets randomly distributed over the sky. EChO has been conceived to achieve a single goal: exoplanet spectroscopy. The spectral coverage and signal-to-noise to be achieved by EChO, thanks to its high stability and dedicated design, would be a game changer by allowing atmospheric composition to be measured with unparalleled exactness: at least a factor 10 more precise and a factor 10 to 1000 more accurate than current observations. This would enable the detection of molecular abundances three orders of magnitude lower than currently possible and a fourfold increase from the handful of molecules detected to date. Combining these data with estimates of planetary bulk compositions from accurate measurements of their radii and masses would allow degeneracies associated with planetary interior modelling to be broken, giving unique insight into the interior structure and elemental abundances of these alien worlds. EChO would allow scientists to study exoplanets both as a population and as individuals. The mission can target super-Earths, Neptune-like, and Jupiter-like planets, in the very hot to temperate zones (planet temperatures of 300-3000 K) of F to M-type host stars. The EChO core science would be delivered by a three-tier survey. The EChO Chemical Census: This is a broad survey of a few-hundred exoplanets, which allows us to explore the spectroscopic and chemical diversity of the exoplanet population as a whole. The EChO Origin: This is a deep survey of a subsample of tens of exoplanets for which significantly higher signal to noise and spectral resolution spectra can be obtained to explain the origin of the exoplanet diversity (such as formation mechanisms, chemical processes, atmospheric escape). The EChO Rosetta Stones: This is an ultra-high accuracy survey targeting a subsample of select exoplanets. These will be the bright "benchmark" cases for which a large number of measurements would be taken to explore temporal variations, and to obtain two and three dimensional spatial information on the atmospheric conditions through eclipse-mapping techniques. If EChO were launched today, the exoplanets currently observed are sufficient to provide a large and diverse sample. The Chemical Census survey would consist of > 160 exoplanets with a range of planetary sizes, temperatures, orbital parameters and stellar host properties. Additionally, over the next 10 years, several new ground- and space-based transit photometric surveys and missions will come on-line (e.g. NGTS, CHEOPS, TESS, PLATO), which will specifically focus on finding bright, nearby systems. The current rapid rate of discovery would allow the target list to be further optimised in the years prior to EChO's launch and enable the atmospheric characterisation of hundreds of planets.
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