N. Meunier

High precision astrometry mission for the detection and characterization of nearby habitable planetary systems with the Nearby Earth Astrometric Telescope (NEAT)

A complete census of planetary systems around a volume-limited sample of solar-type stars (FGK dwarfs) in the Solar neighborhood (du2009≤u200915 pc) with uniform sensitivity down to Earth-mass planets within their Habitable Zones out to several AUs would be a major milestone in extrasolar planets astrophysics. This fundamental goal can be achieved with a mission concept such as NEAT—the Nearby Earth Astrometric Telescope. NEAT is designed to carry out space-borne extremely-high-precision astrometric measurements at the 0.05 μas (1 σ) accuracy level, sufficient to detect dynamical effects due to orbiting planets of mass even lower than Earth’s around the nearest stars. Such a survey mission would provide the actual planetary masses and the full orbital geometry for all the components of the detected planetary systems down to the Earth-mass limit. The NEAT performance limits can be achieved by carrying out differential astrometry between the targets and a set of suitable reference stars in the field. The NEAT instrument design consists of an off-axis parabola single-mirror telescope (D = 1xa0m), a detector with a large field of view located 40 m away from the telescope and made of 8 small movable CCDs located around a fixed central CCD, and an interferometric calibration system monitoring dynamical Young’s fringes originating from metrology fibers located at the primary mirror. The mission profile is driven by the fact that the two main modules of the payload, the telescope and the focal plane, must be located 40 m away leading to the choice of a formation flying option as the reference mission, and of a deployable boom option as an alternative choice. The proposed mission architecture relies on the use of two satellites, of about 700 kg each, operating at L2 for 5 years, flying in formation and offering a capability of more than 20,000 reconfigurations. The two satellites will be launched in a stacked configuration using a Soyuz ST launch vehicle. The NEAT primary science program will encompass an astrometric survey of our 200 closest F-, G- and K-type stellar neighbors, with an average of 50 visits each distributed over the nominal mission duration. The main survey operation will use approximately 70% of the mission lifetime. The remaining 30% of NEAT observing time might be allocated, for example, to improve the characterization of the architecture of selected planetary systems around nearby targets of specific interest (low-mass stars, young stars, etc.) discovered by Gaia, ground-based high-precision radial-velocity surveys, and other programs. With its exquisite, surgical astrometric precision, NEAT holds the promise to provide the first thorough census for Earth-mass planets around stars in the immediate vicinity of our Sun.

Physical and orbital properties of β Pictoris b

M.B., G.C., A.M.L., J.R., H.B., F.A., and D.H. acknowledge financial support from the French National Research Agency (ANR) through project grant, ANR10- BLANC0504-01, ANR-07-BLAN-0221, ANR-2010-JCJC-0504-01, and ANR- 2010-JCJC-0501-01. ChH and DH highlight EU financial support under FP7 by starting grant. J.L.B. Ph.D is funded by the LabEx Exploration Spatiale des Environnements Planetaires (ESEP) # 2011-LABX-030.

Solar supergranulation revealed by granule tracking

Context. Supergranulation is a pattern of the velocity field at the surface of the Sun, which has been known about for more than fifty years, however, no satisfactory explanation of its origin has been proposed. Aims. New observational constraints are therefore needed to guide theoretical approaches which hesitate between scenarios that either invoke a large-scale instability of the surface turbulent convection or a direct forcing by buoyancy. Methods. Using the 14-Mpixel CALAS camera at the Pic-du-Midi observatory, we obtained a 7.5 h-long sequence of high resolution images with unprecedented field size. Tracking granules, we have determined the velocity field at the Sun’s surface in great detail from a scale of 2.5 Mm up to 250 Mm. Results. The kinetic energy density spectrum shows that supergranulation peaks at 36 Mm and spans on scales ranging between 20 Mm and 75 Mm. The decrease of supergranular flows in the small scales is close to a k −2 -power law, steeper than the equipartition Kolmogorov one. The probability distribution function of the divergence field shows the signature of intermittency of the supergranulation and thus its turbulent nature.

Using the Sun to estimate Earth-like planets detection capabilities - IV. Correcting for the convective component

Context. Radial velocity (RV) time series are strongly impacted by the presence of stellar activity. In a series of papers, we have reconstructed solar RV variations over a full solar cycle from observed solar structures (spots and plages) and studied their impact on the detectability of an Earth-mass planet in the habitable zone of the Sun as seen edge-on from a neighbour star in several typical cases. We found that the convective contribution dominates the RV times series. Aims. The objective of this paper is twofold: to determine detection limits on a Sun-like star seen edge-on with different levels of convection and to estimate the performance of the activity correction using a Ca index. Methods. We apply two methods to compute the detection limits: a correlation-based method and a local power analysis method, which both take into account the temporal structure of the observations. Furthermore, we test two methods using a Ca index to correct for the convective contribution to the RV: a sinusoidal fit to the Ca variations and a linear fit to the RV-Ca relation. In both cases, we use observed Ca and reconstructed Ca to study the various effects and limitations of our estimations. Results. We confirm that an excellent sampling is necessary to have detection limits below 1 MEarth (e.g. 0.2−0.3 MEarth) when there is no convection and a low RV noise. With convection, the detection limit is always above 7 MEarth. The two correction methods perform similarly when the Ca time series are noisy, leading to a significant improvement (down to a few MEarth), which is above the 1 MEarth limit. With a very good Ca noise (signal to noise ratio, S/N, around 130), the sinusoidal method does not get significantly better because it is dominated by the fact that the solar cycle is not sinusoidal, but the RV-Ca method can reach the 1 MEarth for an excellent Ca noise level. Conclusions. For Sun-like conditions and under the simplifying assumptions considered, we first conclude that the detection limit of a few MEarth planet can be reached providing good sampling and Ca noise. The detection of a 1 MEarth may be possible, but only with an excellent temporal sampling and an excellent Ca index noise level: we estimate that a probability larger than 50% to detect a1 MEarth at 1.2 AU requires more than 1000 well-sampled observations and a Ca S/N larger than 130.

Using the Sun to estimate Earth-like planets detection capabilities - III. Impact of spots and plages on astrometric detection

Stellar activity is a potential important limitation to the detection of low mass extrasolar planets with indirect methods (RV, photometry, astrometry). In previous papers, using the Sun as a proxy, we investigated the impact of stellar activity (spots, plages, convection) on the detectability of an Earth-mass planet in the habitable zone (HZ) of solar-type stars with RV techniques. We extend here the detectability study to the case of astrometry. We used the sunspot and plages properties recorded over one solar cycle to infer the astrometric variations that a Sun-like star seen edge-on, 10 pc away, would exhibit, if covered by such spots/bright structures. We compare the signal to the one expected from the astrometric wobble (0.3 {mu}as) of such a star surrounded by a one Earth-mass planet in the HZ. We also briefly investigate higher levels of activity. The activity-induced astrometric signal along the equatorial plane has an amplitude of typ. less than 0.2 {mu}as (rms=0.07 {mu}as), smaller than the one expected from an Earth-mass planet at 1 AU. Hence, for this level of activity, the detectability is governed by the instrumental precision rather than the activity. We show that for instance a one Earth-mass planet at 1 AU would be detected with a monthly visit during less than 5 years and an instrumental precision of 0.8 {mu}as. A level of activity 5 times higher would still allow such a detection with a precision of 0.35 {mu}as. We conclude that astrometry is an attractive approach to search for such planets around solar type stars with most levels of stellar activity.

Using the Sun to estimate Earth-like planets detection capabilities - V. Parameterizing the impact of solar activity components on radial velocities

Stellar activity induced by active structures (eg, spots, faculae) is known to strongly impact the radial velocity time series. It then limits the detection of small planetary RV signals (eg, an Earth-mass planet in the habitable zone of a solar-like star). In previous papers, we studied the detectability of such planets around the Sun seen as an edge-on star. For that purpose, we computed the RV and photometric variations induced by solar magnetic activity, using all active structures observed over one entire cycle. Our goal is to perform similar studies on stars with different physical and geometrical properties. As a first step, we focus on Sun-like stars seen with various inclinations, and on estimating detection capabilities with forthcoming instruments. To do so, we first parameterize the solar active structures with the most realistic pattern so as to obtain results consistent with the observed ones. We simulate the growth, evolution and decay of solar spots, faculae and network, using parameters and empiric laws derived from solar observations and literature. We generate the corresponding structure lists over a full solar cycle. We then build the resulting spectra and deduce the RV and photometric variations for a `Sun seen with various inclinations. The produced RV signal takes into account the photometric contribution of structures as well as the attenuation of the convective blueshift. The comparison between our simulated activity pattern and the observed one validates our model. We show that the inclination of the stellar rotation axis has a significant impact on the time series. RV long-term amplitudes as well as short-term jitters are significantly reduced when going from edge-on to pole-on configurations. Assuming spin-orbit alignment, the optimal configuration for planet detection is an inclined star (i~45{deg}).

Comparison of different exoplanet mass detection limit methods using a sample of main-sequence intermediate-type stars

The radial velocity (RV) technique is a powerful tool for detecting extrasolar planets and deriving mass detection limits that are useful for constraining planet pulsations and formation models. Detection limit methods must take into account the temporal distribution of power of various origins in the stellar signal. These methods must also be able to be applied to large samples of stellar RV time series We describe new methods for providing detection limits. We compute the detection limits for a sample of ten main sequence stars, which are of G-F-A type, in general active, and/or with detected planets, and various properties. We use them to compare the performances of these methods with those of two other methods used in the litterature. We obtained detection limits in the 2-1000 day period range for ten stars. Two of the proposed methods, based on the correlation between periodograms and the power in the periodogram of the RV time series in specific period ranges, are robust and represent a significant improvement compared to a method based on the root mean square of the RV signal. We conclude that two of the new methods (correlation-based method and local power analysis, i.e. LPA, method) provide robust detection limits, which are better than those provided by methods that do not take into account the temporal sampling.

Using the Sun to estimate Earth-like planet detection capabilities - VI. Simulation of granulation and supergranulation radial velocity and photometric time series

Context. Stellar variability, at a variety of timescales, can strongly affect the ability to detect exoplanets, in particular when using radial velocity (RV) techniques. Accurately characterized solar variations are precious in this context to study the impact of stellar variations on planet detectability. Here we focus on the impact of small timescale variability. Aims. The objective of this paper is to model realistic RV time series due to granulation and supergranulation and to study in greater detail the impact of granulation and supergranulation on RV times series in the solar case. Methods. We have simulated a collection of granules and supergranules evolving in time to reproduce solar photometric and RV time series. Synthetic time series are built over the full hemisphere over one solar cycle. Results. We obtain intensity and RV rms due to solar granulation of respectively 0.8 m/s and 67 ppm, with a strong variability at timescales up to more than 1 h. The rms RV due to supergranulation is between 0.28 and 1.12 m/s. Conclusions. To minimize the effect of granulation, the best strategy is to split the observing time during the night into several periods instead of observing over a consecutive duration. However, the best strategy depends on the precise nature of the signal. The granulation RV remains large after even an hour of smoothing (about 0.4 m/s) while the supergranulation signal cannot be significantly reduced on such timescales: a reduction of a factor 2 in rms RV can for example be obtained over 7 nights (with 26 min/night). The activity RV variability dominates at larger timescales. Detection limits can easily be as high as 1 MEarth or above for periods of tens or hundreds of days. The impact on detection limits is therefore important and may prevent the detection of 1 MEarth planets for long orbital periods, while the impact is much smaller at small orbital periods. These results do not take the presence of pulsations into account.

Variability of stellar granulation and convective blueshift with spectral type and magnetic activity - I. K and G main sequence stars

In solar-type stars, the attenuation of convective blueshift by stellar magnetic activity dominates the RV variations over the low amplitude signal induced by low mass planets. Models of stars that differ from the Sun will require a good knowledge of the attenuation of the convective blueshift to estimate its impact on the variations. It is therefore crucial to precisely determine not only the amplitude of the convective blueshift for different types of stars, but also the dependence of this convective blueshift on magnetic activity, as these are key factors in our model producing the RV. We studied a sample of main sequence stars with spectral types from G0 to K2 and focused on their temporally averaged properties: the activity level and a criterion allowing to characterise the amplitude of the convective blueshift. We find the differential velocity shifts of spectral lines due to convection to depend on the spectral type, the wavelength (this dependence is correlated with the Teff and activity level), and on the activity level. This allows us to quantify the dependence of granulation properties on magnetic activity for stars other than the Sun. The attenuation factor of the convective blueshift appears to be constant over the considered range of spectral types. We derive a convective blueshift which decreases towards lower temperatures, with a trend in close agreement with models for Teff lower than 5800 K, but with a significantly larger global amplitude. We finally compare the observed RV variation amplitudes with those that could be derived from our convective blueshift using a simple law and find a general agreement on the amplitude. Our results are consistent with previous results and provide, for the first time, an estimation of the convective blueshift as a function of Teff, magnetic activity, and wavelength, over a large sample of G and K main sequence stars.

Extrasolar planets and brown dwarfs around AF-type stars. IX. The HARPS southern sample

Context. Massive, main-sequence (MS) AF-type stars have so far remained unexplored in past radial velocities (RV) surveys due to their small number of spectral lines and high rotational velocities that prevent the classic RV computation method. Aims. Our aim is to search for giant planets (GPs) around AF MS stars, to get primary statistical information on their occurrence rate and to compare the results with evolved stars and lower-mass MS stars. Methods. We used the HARPS spectrograph located on the 3.6 m telescope at ESO La Silla Observatory to observe 108 AF MS stars with B − V in the range −0.04 to 0.58 and masses in the range 1.1 to 3.6 M ⊙ . We used our SAFIR software developed to compute the RV and other spectroscopic observables of these early-type stars. We characterized the detected companions as well as the intrinsic stellar variability. We computed the detection limits and used them as well as the detected companions to derive the first estimates of the close-in brown dwarf (BD) and GP frequencies around AF stars. Results. We report the detection of a m p sin i u2009=u20094.51 M Jup planetary companion with an ~826-day period to the F6V dwarf HDu2009111998. We also present new data on the two-planet system around the F6IV-V dwarf HDu200960532. We also report the detections of 14 binaries with long-term RV trends and/or high-amplitude RV variations combined to a flat RV-bisector span diagram. We constrain the minimal masses and semi-major axes of these companions and check that these constraints are compatible with the stellar companions previously detected by direct imaging or astrometry for six of these targets. We get detection limits deep into the planetary domain with 70% of our targets showing detection limits between 0.1 and 10 M Jup at all orbital periods in the 1- to 10 3 -day range. We derive BD (13 ≤ m p sin i u2009≤u200980 M Jup ) occurrence rates in the 1- to 10 3 -day period range of 2 -2 +5 % and 2.6 -2.6 +6.7 % for stars with M ⋆ in the ranges 1.1 to 1.5 and 1.5 to 3 M ⊙ , respectively. As for Jupiter-mass companions (1u2009≤u2009 m p sin i ≤ 13 M Jup ), we get occurrence rates in the 1- to 10 3 -day period range of 4 -0.9 +5.9 % and 6.3 -6.3 +15.9 % respectively for the same M ⋆ ranges. When considering the same Jupiter-mass companions but periods in the 1- to 100-day range only, we get occurrence rates of 2 -2 +5.2 % and 3.9 -3.9 +9.9 %. Given the present error bars, these results do not show a significant difference from companion frequencies derived in the same domains for solar-like MS stars.