Andrzej Niedzielski

BD+48 740-Li OVERABUNDANT GIANT STAR WITH A PLANET: A CASE OF RECENT ENGULFMENT?

We report the discovery of a unique object, BD+48 740, a lithium overabundant giant with A(Li) = 2.33 ? 0.04 (where A(Li) = log n Li/n H + 12), that exhibits radial velocity (RV) variations consistent with a 1.6 MJ companion in a highly eccentric, e = 0.67 ? 0.17, and extended, a = 1.89?AU (P = 771?days), orbit. The high eccentricity of the planet is uncommon among planetary systems orbiting evolved stars and so is the high lithium abundance in a giant star. The ingestion by the star of a putative second planet in the system originally in a closer orbit could possibly allow for a single explanation to these two exceptional facts. If the planet candidate is confirmed by future RV observations, it might represent the first example of the remnant of a multiple planetary system recently affected by stellar evolution.

SUBSTELLAR-MASS COMPANIONS TO THE K-GIANTS HD 240237, BD +48 738 AND HD 96127

We present the discovery of substellar-mass companions to three giant stars by the ongoing Penn State-Torun Planet Search conducted with the 9.2 m Hobby-Eberly Telescope. The most massive of the three stars, K2-giant HD 240237, has a 5.3 M{sub J} minimum mass companion orbiting the star at a 746 day period. The K0-giant BD +48 738 is orbited by a {>=}0.91 M{sub J} planet which has a period of 393 days and shows a nonlinear, long-term radial velocity (RV) trend that indicates a presence of another, more distant companion, which may have a substellar mass or be a low-mass star. The K2-giant HD 96127 has a {>=}4.0 M{sub J} mass companion in a 647 day orbit around the star. The two K2-giants exhibit a significant RV noise that complicates the detection of low-amplitude, periodic variations in the data. If the noise component of the observed RV variations is due to solar-type oscillations, we show, using all the published data for the substellar companions to giants, that its amplitude is anti-correlated with stellar metallicity.

DISCOVERY OF A LOW-MASS COMPANION TO A METAL-RICH F STAR WITH THE MARVELS PILOT PROJECT

We report the discovery of a low-mass companion orbiting the metal-rich, main sequence F star TYC 2949-00557-1 during the Multi-object APO Radial Velocity Exoplanet Large-area Survey (MARVELS) pilot project. The host star has an effective temperature T_(eff) = 6135 ± 40 K, logg = 4.4 ± 0.1, and [Fe/H] = 0.32 ± 0.01, indicating a mass of M_⊙ = 1.25 ± 0.09 M_⊙ and R = 1.15 ± 0.15 R_⊙. The companion has an orbital period of 5.69449 ± 0.00023 days and straddles the hydrogen burning limit with a minimum mass of 64 M_J , and thus may be an example of the rare class of brown dwarfs orbiting at distances comparable to those of Hot Jupiters. We present relative photometry that demonstrates that the host star is photometrically stable at the few millimagnitude level on time scales of hours to years, and rules out transits for a companion of radius ≳ 0.8 R_J at the 95% confidence level. Tidal analysis of the system suggests that the star and companion are likely in a double synchronous state where both rotational and orbital synchronization have been achieved. This is the first low-mass companion detected with a multi-object, dispersed, fixed-delay interferometer.

Planets around the K-giants BD+20 274 and HD 219415

We present the discovery of planet-mass companions to two giant stars by the ongoing Penn State-Torun Planet Search conducted with the 9.2 m Hobby-Eberly Telescope. The less massive of these stars, K5-giant BD+20 274, has a 4.2 M{sub J} minimum mass planet orbiting the star at a 578 day period and a more distant, likely stellar-mass companion. The best currently available model of the planet orbiting the K0-giant HD 219415 points to a {approx}> Jupiter-mass companion in a 5.7 year, eccentric orbit around the star, making it the longest period planet yet detected by our survey. This planet has an amplitude of {approx}18 m s{sup -1}, comparable to the median radial velocity jitter, typical of giant stars.

EELT-HIRES the high-resolution spectrograph for the E-ELT

The first generation of E-ELT instruments will include an optic-infrared High Resolution Spectrograph, conventionally indicated as EELT-HIRES, which will be capable of providing unique breakthroughs in the fields of exoplanets, star and planet formation, physics and evolution of stars and galaxies, cosmology and fundamental physics. A 2-year long phase A study for EELT-HIRES has just started and will be performed by a consortium composed of institutes and organisations from Brazil, Chile, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and United Kingdom. In this paper we describe the science goals and the preliminary technical concept for EELT-HIRES which will be developed during the phase A, as well as its planned development and consortium organisation during the study.

Very Low-Mass Stellar and Substellar Companions to Solar-like Stars From MARVELS VI: A Giant Planet and a Brown Dwarf Candidate in a Close Binary System HD 87646

We report the detections of a giant planet (MARVELS-7b) and a brown dwarf candidate (MARVELS-7c) around the primary star in the close binary system, HD 87646. It is the first close binary system with more than one substellar circum-primary companion discovered to the best of our knowledge. The detection of this giant planet was accomplished using the first multi-object Doppler instrument (KeckET) at the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) telescope. Subsequent radial velocity observations using ET at Kitt Peak National Observatory, HRS at HET, the Classic spectrograph at the Automatic Spectroscopic Telescope at Fairborn Observatory, and MARVELS from SDSS-III confirmed this giant planet discovery and revealed the existence of a long-period brown dwarf in this binary. HD 87646 is a close binary with a separation of

Red giants from the Pennsylvania – Toruń Planet Search

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Observing the PTPS sample of evolved exoplanet host candidates using the NPOI

AU between the two stars, estimated using the Hipparcos catalogue and our newly acquired AO image from PALAO on the 200-inch Hale Telescope at Palomar. The primary star in the binary, HD 87646A, has Teff = 5770

PTPS Candidate Exoplanet Host Star Radii Determination with CHARA Array

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The Pennsylvania—Toruń Planet Search: Target Characteristics and Recent Results

80K, log(g)=4.1