Marshall C. Johnson

A Misaligned Prograde Orbit For Kepler-13 Ab Via Doppler Tomography

Transiting planets around rapidly rotating stars are not amenable to precise radial velocity observations, such as are used for planet candidate validation, as they have wide, rotationally broadened stellar lines. Such planets can, however, be observed using Doppler tomography, wherein stellar absorption line profile distortions during transit are spectroscopically resolved. This allows the validation of transiting planet candidates and the measurement of the stellar spin-planetary orbit (mis)alignment, which is an important statistical probe of planetary migration processes. We present Doppler tomographic observations that provide direct confirmation of the hot Jupiter Kepler-13 Ab and also show that the planet has a prograde, misaligned orbit with λ = 58.°6 ± 2.°0. Our measured value of the spin-orbit misalignment is in significant disagreement with the value of λ = 23° ± 4° previously measured by Barnes et al. (2011) from the gravity-darkened Kepler light curve. We also place an upper limit of 0.75 M{sub ☉} (95% confidence) on the mass of Kepler-13 C, the spectroscopic companion to Kepler-13 B, which is the proper-motion companion of the planet host star Kepler-13 A.

A giant planet undergoing extreme-ultraviolet irradiation by its hot massive-star host

The amount of ultraviolet irradiation and ablation experienced by a planet depends strongly on the temperature of its host star. Of the thousands of extrasolar planets now known, only six have been found that transit hot, A-type stars (with temperatures of 7,300–10,000 kelvin), and no planets are known to transit the even hotter B-type stars. For example, WASP-33 is an A-type star with a temperature of about 7,430 kelvin, which hosts the hottest known transiting planet, WASP-33b (ref. 1); the planet is itself as hot as a red dwarf star of type M (ref. 2). WASP-33b displays a large heat differential between its dayside and nightside, and is highly inflated–traits that have been linked to high insolation. However, even at the temperature of its dayside, its atmosphere probably resembles the molecule-dominated atmospheres of other planets and, given the level of ultraviolet irradiation it experiences, its atmosphere is unlikely to be substantially ablated over the lifetime of its star. Here we report observations of the bright star HD 195689 (also known as KELT-9), which reveal a close-in (orbital period of about 1.48 days) transiting giant planet, KELT-9b. At approximately 10,170 kelvin, the host star is at the dividing line between stars of type A and B, and we measure the dayside temperature of KELT-9b to be about 4,600 kelvin. This is as hot as stars of stellar type K4 (ref. 5). The molecules in K stars are entirely dissociated, and so the primary sources of opacity in the dayside atmosphere of KELT-9b are probably atomic metals. Furthermore, KELT-9b receives 700 times more extreme-ultraviolet radiation (that is, with wavelengths shorter than 91.2 nanometres) than WASP-33b, leading to a predicted range of mass-loss rates that could leave the planet largely stripped of its envelope during the main-sequence lifetime of the host star.

Zodiacal Exoplanets in Time (Zeit) Iii: A Short-Period Planet Orbiting a Pre-Main-Sequence Star in the Upper Scorpius Ob Association

We confirm and characterize a close-in (

H I OBSERVATIONS OF THE ASYMPTOTIC GIANT BRANCH STAR X HERCULIS: DISCOVERY OF AN EXTENDED CIRCUMSTELLAR WAKE SUPERPOSED ON A COMPACT HIGH-VELOCITY CLOUD

P_{\rm{orb}}

Measurement of the nodal precession of WASP-33 b via doppler tomography

= 5.425 days), super-Neptune sized (

Two New Long-Period Giant Planets from the McDonald Observatory Planet Search and Two Stars with Long-Period Radial Velocity Signals Related to Stellar Activity Cycles

5.04^{+0.34}_{-0.37}

K2-99: a subgiant hosting a transiting warm Jupiter in an eccentric orbit and a long-period companion

Earth radii) planet transiting K2-33 (2MASS J16101473-1919095), a late-type (M3) pre-main sequence (11 Myr-old) star in the Upper Scorpius subgroup of the Scorpius-Centaurus OB association. The host star has the kinematics of a member of the Upper Scorpius OB association, and its spectrum contains lithium absorption, an unambiguous sign of youth (<20 Myr) in late-type dwarfs. We combine photometry from K2 and the ground-based MEarth project to refine the planets properties and constrain the host stars density. We determine \names bolometric flux and effective temperature from moderate resolution spectra. By utilizing isochrones that include the effects of magnetic fields, we derive a precise radius (6-7%) and mass (16%) for the host star, and a stellar age consistent with the established value for Upper Scorpius. Follow-up high-resolution imaging and Doppler spectroscopy confirm that the transiting object is not a stellar companion or a background eclipsing binary blended with the target. The shape of the transit, the constancy of the transit depth and periodicity over 1.5 years, and the independence with wavelength rules out stellar variability, or a dust cloud or debris disk partially occulting the star as the source of the signal; we conclude it must instead be planetary in origin. The existence of K2-33b suggests close-in planets can form in situ or migrate within

The discovery and mass measurement of a new ultra-short-period Planet: K2-131b

\sim 10

KELT-20b: A Giant Planet with a Period of P ∼ 3.5 days Transiting the V ∼ 7.6 Early A Star HD 185603

Myr, e.g., via interactions with a disk, and that long-timescale dynamical migration such as by Lidov-Kozai or planet-planet scattering is not responsible for all short-period planets.

THE INTERSTELLAR MEDIUM IN THE KEPLER SEARCH VOLUME

We report H I 21 cm line observations of the asymptotic giant branch (AGB) star X Her obtained with the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope (GBT) and the Very Large Array. We have unambiguously detected H I emission associated with the circumstellar envelope of the star, with a mass totaling M H I 2.1 ? 10?3 M ?. The H I distribution exhibits a head-tail morphology, similar to those previously observed around the AGB stars Mira and RS Cnc. The tail is elongated along the direction of the stars space motion, with a total extent of 60 (0.24 pc) in the plane of the sky. We also detect a systematic radial velocity gradient of ~6.5 km s?1 across the H I envelope. These results are consistent with the H I emission tracing a turbulent wake that arises from the motion of a mass-losing star through the interstellar medium (ISM). GBT mapping of a 2? ? 2? region around X Her reveals that the star lies (in projection) near the periphery of a much larger H I cloud that also exhibits signatures of interaction with the ISM. The properties of the cloud are consistent with those of compact high-velocity clouds. Using 12CO J = 1-0 observations, we have placed an upper limit on its molecular gas content of N H2 < 1.3 ? 1020 cm?2. Although the distance to the cloud is poorly constrained, the probability of a chance coincidence in position, velocity, and apparent position angle of space motion between X Her and the cloud is extremely small, suggesting a possible physical association. However, the large H I mass of the cloud (2.4 M ?) and the blueshift of its mean velocity relative to X Her are inconsistent with an origin tied directly to ejection from the star.