Context. Brown-dwarfs (BD) are substellar objects with masses intermediate between planets and stars within about 13-80 M J . While isolated brown-dwarfs are most likely produced by gravitational collapse in molecular clouds down to masses of a few M J , a nonnegligible fraction of low-mass companions might be formed through the planet formation channel in protoplanetary disks. The upper mass limit of objects formed within disks is still observationnally unknown, the main reason being the strong dearth of BD companions at orbital periods shorter than 10 years, a.k.a. the brown-dwarf desert. Aims. We aim at determining the best statistics of secondary companions within the 10-100 M Jup range within ∼10 au from the primary star, while minimising observational bias. This can help determining the mass limit separating planet-formed from star-formed browndwarfs. Moreover, the exact shape of the BD desert in a mass-period space is still underdetermined, and can strongly constrain the companion-star interactions mechanisms at work in close binary systems at small mass ratio. Methods. We made an extensive use of the radial velocity (RV) surveys of FGK stars below 60 pc distance to the Sun and in the northern hemisphere performed with the SOPHIE spectrograph at Observatoire de Haute-Provence. We derived the Keplerian solutions of the RV variations of 54 sources. Public astrometric data of the Hipparcos and Gaia missions allowed deriving direct astrometric solution of orbital motion and constraining the mass of the companion for most sources. We introduce GASTON, a new method to derive inclination combining RVs Keplerian and astrometric excess noise from Gaia DR1. Results. We report the discovery of 12 new BD candidates. For 5 of them, additional astrometric data led to revise their mass in the M-dwarf regime. Among the 7 remaining objects, 4 are confirmed BD companions, and 3 others are likely also in this mass regime. Moreover, we report the detection of 42 objects in the M-dwarf mass regime 90 M J -0.52 M . The resulting M sin i-P distribution of BD candidates shows a clear drop in the detection rate below 80-day orbital period. Above that limit, the BD desert reveals rather wet, with a uniform distribution of the M sin i. We derive a minimum BD-detection frequency around Solar-like stars of 2.0±0.5%.
Aims. We present the obliquity measurement, that is, the angle between the normal angle of the orbital plane and the stellar spin axis, of the sub-Neptune planet HD 3167 c, which transits a bright nearby K0 star. We study the orbital architecture of this multi-planet system to understand its dynamical history. We also place constraints on the obliquity of planet d based on the geometry of the planetary system and the dynamical study of the system. Methods. New observations obtained with HARPS-N at the Telescopio Nazionale Galileo (TNG) were employed for our analysis. The sky-projected obliquity was measured using three different methods: the Rossiter-McLaughlin anomaly, Doppler tomography, and reloaded Rossiter-McLaughlin techniques. We performed the stability analysis of the system and investigated the dynamical interactions between the planets and the star. Results. HD 3167 c is found to be nearly polar with sky-projected obliquity, λ = −97°± 23°. This misalignment of the orbit of planet c with the spin axis of the host star is detected with 97% confidence. The analysis of the dynamics of this system yields coplanar orbits of planets c and d. It also shows that it is unlikely that the currently observed system can generate this high obliquity for planets c and d by itself. However, the polar orbits of planets c and d could be explained by the presence of an outer companion in the system. Follow-up observations of the system are required to confirm such a long-period companion.
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