Validating AU Microscopii d with Transit Timing Variations
Article
Article Title | Validating AU Microscopii d with Transit Timing Variations |
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ERA Journal ID | 1048 |
Article Category | Article |
Authors | Wittrock, Justin M., Plavchan, Peter P., Cale, Bryson L., Barclay, Thomas, Ludwig, Mathis R., Schwarz, Richard P., Mekarnia, Djamel, Triaud, Amaury H. M. J., Abe, Lyu, Suarez, Olga, Guillot, Tristan, Conti, Dennis M., Collins, Karen A., Waite, Ian A., Kielkopf, John F., Collins, Kevin I., Dreizler, Stefan, El Mufti, Mohammed, Feliz, Dax L., Gaidos, Eric, Geneser, Claire S., Horne, Keith D., Kane, Stephen R., Lowrance, Patrick J., Martioli, Eder, Radford, Don J., Reefe, Michael A., Roccatagliata, Veronica, Shporer, Avi, Stassun, Keivan G., Stockdale, Christopher, Tan, Thiam-Guan, Tanner, Angelle M. and Vega, Laura D. |
Journal Title | The Astronomical Journal |
Journal Citation | 166 (6) |
Article Number | 6 |
Number of Pages | 59 |
Year | 2023 |
Publisher | IOP Publishing |
Place of Publication | United States |
ISSN | 0004-6256 |
1538-3881 | |
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/acfda8 |
Web Address (URL) | https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-3881/acfda8 |
Abstract | AU Mic is a young (22 Myr), nearby exoplanetary system that exhibits excess transit timing variations (TTVs) that cannot be accounted for by the two known transiting planets nor stellar activity. We present the statistical “validation” of the tentative planet AU Mic d (even though there are examples of “confirmed” planets with ambiguous orbital periods). We add 18 new transits and nine midpoint times in an updated TTV analysis to prior work. We perform the joint modeling of transit light curves using EXOFASTv2 and extract the transit midpoint times. Next, we construct an O−C diagram and use Exo-Striker to model the TTVs. We generate TTV log-likelihood periodograms to explore possible solutions for d’s period, then follow those up with detailed TTV and radial velocity Markov Chain Monte Carlo modeling and stability tests. We find several candidate periods for AU Mic d, all of which are near resonances with AU Mic b and c of varying order. Based on our model comparisons, the most-favored orbital period of AU Mic d is 12.73596 ± 0.00793 days (T C,d = 2458340.55781 ± 0.11641 BJD), which puts the three planets near 4:6:9 mean-motion resonance. The mass for d is 1.053 ± 0.511 M ⊕, making this planet Earth-like in mass. If confirmed, AU Mic d would be the first known Earth-mass planet orbiting a young star and would provide a valuable opportunity in probing a young terrestrial planet’s atmosphere. Additional TTV observations of the AU Mic system are needed to further constrain the planetary masses, search for possible transits of AU Mic d, and detect possible additional planets beyond AU Mic c. |
Keywords | Exoplanet astronomy; Exoplanet dynamics; Exoplanet systems; Exoplanets |
Contains Sensitive Content | Does not contain sensitive content |
ANZSRC Field of Research 2020 | 510199. Astronomical sciences not elsewhere classified |
Byline Affiliations | George Mason University, United States |
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, United States | |
Infrared Processing and Analysis Center (IPAC), United States | |
University of Maryland, United States | |
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, United States | |
Georg August University of Gottingen, Germany | |
Center for Astrophysics Harvard and Smithsonian, United States | |
Côte d’Azur University, France | |
University of Birmingham, United Kingdom | |
American Association of Variable Star Observers, United States | |
School of Mathematics, Physics and Computing | |
University of Louisville, United States | |
American Museum of Natural History, United States | |
University of Hawaii, United States | |
Mississippi State University, United States | |
University of St Andrews, United Kingdom | |
University of California Riverside, United Sates | |
California Institute of Technology (Caltech), United States | |
Laboratório Nacional de Astrofísica, Brazil | |
Sorbonne University, France | |
Brierfield Observatory, Australia | |
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, United States | |
INAF - Arcetri Astrophysical Observatory, Italy | |
National Institute for Nuclear Physics, Italy | |
University of Pisa, Italy | |
Vanderbilt University, United States | |
Hazelwood Observatory, Australia | |
Perth Exoplanet Survey Telescope Observatory, Australia | |
Curtin University | |
GSFC Sellers Exoplanet Environments Collaboration, United States |
https://research.usq.edu.au/item/zq317/validating-au-microscopii-d-with-transit-timing-variations
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