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G. Piotto

Publications and source records attributed to G. Piotto.

At least 199 records · Page 11Linked to original sources

The Hubble Space Telescope UV Legacy Survey of Galactic Globular Clusters -- XI. The horizontal branch in NGC\,6388 and NGC\,6441

The Hubble Space Telescope UV Legacy survey of Galactic Globular Clusters (GC) is characterising many different aspects of their multiple stellar populations. The "Grundahl-jump" (G-jump) is a discontinuity in ultraviolet brightness of blue horizontal branch (HB) stars, signalling the onset of radiative metal levitation. The HB Legacy data confirmed that the G-jump is located at the same T$_{eff}$ ($\simeq$11,500 K) in nearly all clusters. The only exceptions are the metal-rich clusters NGC 6388 and NGC 6441, where the G-jump occurs at T$_{eff}\simeq$13-14,000K. We compute synthetic HB models based on new evolutionary tracks including the effect of helium diffusion, and approximately accounting for the effect of metal levitation in a stable atmosphere. Our models show that the G-jump location depends on the interplay between the timescale of diffusion and the timescale of the evolution in the T$_{eff}$ range 11,500 K$\lessapprox$T$_{eff}\lessapprox$14,000 K. The G-jump becomes hotter than 11,500 K only for stars that have, in this T$_{eff}$ range, a helium mass fraction Y>0.35. Similarly high Y values are also consistent with the modelling of the HB in NGC 6388 and NGC 6441. In these clusters we predict that a significant fraction of HB stars show helium in their spectra above 11,500 K, and full helium settling should only be found beyond the hotter G-jump.

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The HADES RV Programme with HARPS-N@TNG IV. Time resolved analysis of the Ca ii H&K and Hα chromospheric emission of low-activity early-type M dwarfs

M dwarfs are prime targets for planet search programs, particularly of those focused on the detection and characterization of rocky planets in the habitable zone. Understanding their magnetic activity is important because it affects our ability to detect small planets, and it plays a key role in the characterization of the stellar environment. We analyze observations of the Ca II H&K and Hα lines as diagnostics of chromospheric activity for low-activity early-type M dwarfs. We analyze the time series of spectra of 71 early-type M dwarfs collected for the HADES project for planet search purposes. The HARPS-N spectra provide simultaneously the H&K doublet and the Hα line. We develop a reduction scheme able to correct the HARPS-N spectra for instrumental and atmospheric effects, and to provide flux-calibrated spectra in units of flux at the stellar surface. The H&K and Hα fluxes are compared with each other, and their variability is analyzed. We find that the H and K flux excesses are strongly correlated with each other, while the Hα flux excess is generally less correlated with the H&K doublet. We also find that Hα emission does not increase monotonically with the H&K line flux, showing some absorption before being filled in by chromospheric emission when H&K activity increases. Analyzing the time variability of the emission fluxes, we derive a tentative estimate of the rotation period (of the order of a few tens of days) for some of the program stars, and the typical lifetime of chromospheric active regions (a few stellar rotations). Our results are in good agreement with previous studies. In particular, we find evidence that the chromospheres of early-type M dwarfs could be characterized by different filaments coverage, affecting the formation mechanism of the Hα line. We also show that chromospheric structure is likely related to spectral type.

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The Hubble Space Telescope UV Legacy Survey of Galactic Globular Clusters. IX. The Atlas of Multiple Stellar Populations

We use high-precision photometry of red-giant-branch (RGB) stars in 57 Galactic globular clusters (GCs), mostly from the `Hubble Space Telescope (HST) UV Legacy Survey of Galactic globular clusters', to identify and characterize their multiple stellar populations. For each cluster the pseudo two-color diagram (or `chromosome map') is presented, built with a suitable combination of stellar magnitudes in the F275W, F336W, F438W and F814W filters that maximizes the separation between multiple populations. In the chromosome map of most GCs (Type I clusters), stars separate in two distinct groups that we identify with the first (1G) and the second generation (2G). This identification is further supported by noticing that 1G stars have primordial (oxygen-rich, sodium-poor) chemical composition, whereas 2G stars are enhanced in sodium and depleted in oxygen. This 1G-2G separation is not possible for a few GCs where the two sequences have apparently merged into an extended, continuous sequence. In some GCs (Type II clusters) the 1G and/or the 2G sequences appear to be split, hence displaying more complex chromosome maps. These clusters exhibit multiple SGBs also in purely optical color-magnitude diagrams, with the fainter SGB joining into a red RGB which is populated by stars with enhanced heavy-element abundance. We measure the RGB width by using appropriate colors and pseudo-colors. When the metallicity dependence is removed, the RGB width correlates with the cluster mass. The fraction of 1G stars ranges from ~8% to ~67% and anticorrelates with the cluster mass, indicating that incidence and complexity of the multiple population phenomenon both increase with cluster mass.

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An all-sky catalog of solar-type dwarfs for exoplanetary transit surveys

Most future surveys designed to discover transiting exoplanets, including TESS and PLATO, will target bright (V<13) and nearby solar-type stars having a spectral type later than F5. In order to enhance the probability of identifying transits, these surveys must cover a very large area on the sky, because of the intrinsically low areal density of bright targets. Unfortunately, no existing catalog of stellar parameters is both deep and wide enough to provide a homogeneous input list. As the first Gaia data release exploitable for this purpose is expected to be released not earlier than late 2017, we have devised an improved reduced-proper-motion method to discriminate late field dwarfs and giants by combining UCAC4 proper motions with APASS DR6 photometry, and relying on RAVE DR4 as an external calibrator. The output, named UCAC4-RPM, is a publicly-available, complete all-sky catalog of solar-type dwarfs down to V<13.5, plus an extension to logg>3.0 subgiants. The relatively low amount of contamination (defined as the fraction of false positives; <30%) also makes UCAC4-RPM a useful tool for the past and ongoing ground-based transit surveys, which need to discard candidate signals originating from early-type or giant stars. As an application, we show how UCAC4-RPM may support the preparation of the TESS (that will map almost the entire sky) input catalog and the input catalog of PLATO, planned to survey more than half of the whole sky with exquisite photometric precision.

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A PSF-based approach to Kepler/K2 data - III. Search for exoplanets and variable stars within the open cluster M 67 (NGC 2682)

In the third paper of this series we continue the exploitation of Kepler/K2 data in dense stellar fields using our PSF-based method. This work is focused on a ~720-arcmin^2 region centred on the Solar-metallicity and Solar-age open cluster M 67. We extracted light curves for all detectable sources in the Kepler channels 13 and 14, adopting our technique based on the usage of a high-angular-resolution input catalogue and target-neighbour subtraction. We detrended light curves for systematic errors, and searched for variables and exoplanets using several tools. We found 451 variables, of which 299 are new detection. Three planetary candidates were detected by our pipeline in this field. Raw and detrended light curves, catalogues, and K2 stacked images used in this work will be released to the community.

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A PSF-based approach to Kepler/K2 data. II. Exoplanet candidates in Praesepe (M 44)

In this work we keep pushing K2 data to a high photometric precision, close to that of the Kepler main mission, using a PSF-based, neighbour-subtraction technique, which also overcome the dilution effects in crowded environments. We analyse the open cluster M 44 (NGC 2632), observed during the K2 Campaign 5, and extract light curves of stars imaged on module 14, where most of the cluster lies. We present two candidate exoplanets hosted by cluster members and five by field stars. As a by-product of our investigation, we find 1680 eclipsing binaries and variable stars, 1071 of which are new discoveries. Among them, we report the presence of a heartbeat binary star. Together with this work, we release to the community a catalogue with the variable stars and the candidate exoplanets found, as well as all our raw and detrended light curves.

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The HADES RV Programme with HARPS-N@TNG - GJ 3998: An early M-dwarf hosting a system of Super-Earths

Context. M dwarfs are considered ideal targets for Doppler radial velocity searches. Nonetheless, the statistics of frequency of low-mass planets hosted by low mass stars remains poorly constrained. Aims. Our M-dwarf radial velocity monitoring with HARPS-N can provide a major contribution to the widening of the current statistics through the in-depth analysis of accurate radial velocity observations in a narrow range of spectral sub-types (79 stars, between dM0 to dM3). Spectral accuracy will enable us to reach the precision needed to detect small planets with a few earth masses. Our survey will bring a contribute to the surveys devoted to the search for planets around M-dwarfs, mainly focused on the M-dwarf population of the northern emisphere, for which we will provide an estimate of the planet occurence. Methods. We present here a long duration radial velocity monitoring of the M1 dwarf star GJ 3998 with HARPS-N to identify periodic signals in the data. Almost simultaneous photometric observations were carried out within the APACHE and EXORAP programs to characterize the stellar activity and to distinguish from the periodic signals those due to activity and to the presence of planetary companions. Results. The radial velocities have a dispersion in excess of their internal errors due to at least four superimposed signals, with periods of 30.7, 13.7, 42.5 and 2.65 days. The analysis of spectral indices based on Ca II H & K and Halpha lines demonstrates that the periods of 30.7 and 42.5 days are due to chromospheric inhomogeneities modulated by stellar rotation and differential rotation. The shorter periods of 13.74 +/- 0.02 d and 2.6498 +/- 0.0008 d are well explained with the presence of two planets, with minimum masses of 6.26 +/- 0.79 MEarth and 2.47 +/- 0.27 MEarth and distances of 0.089 AU and 0.029 AU from the host, respectively.

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The GAPS programme with HARPS-N at TNG XI. Pr~0211 in M~44: the first multi-planet system in an open cluster

Open cluster (OC) stars share the same age and metallicity, and, in general, their age and mass can be estimated with higher precision than for field stars. For this reason, OCs are considered an important laboratory to study the relation between the physical properties of the planets and those of their host stars, and the evolution of planetary systems. We started an observational campaign within the GAPS collaboration to search for and characterize planets in OCs We monitored the Praesepe member Pr0211 to improve the eccentricity of the Hot-Jupiter (HJ) already known to orbit this star and search for additional planets. An eccentric orbit for the HJ would support a planet-planet scattering process after its formation. From 2012 to 2015, we collected 70 radial velocity (RV) measurements with HARPS-N and 36 with TRES of Pr0211. Simultaneous photometric observations were carried out with the robotic STELLA telescope in order to characterize the stellar activity. We discovered a long-term trend in the RV residuals that we show to be due to the presence of a second, massive, outer planet. Orbital parameters for the two planets are derived by simultaneously fitting RVs and photometric light curves, with the activity signal modelled as a series of sinusoids at the rotational period of the star and its harmonics. We confirm that Pr0211b has a nearly circular orbit ($e = 0.02 \pm 0.01$), with an improvement of a factor two with respect to the previous determination of its eccentricity, and estimate that Pr0211c has a mass $M_p\sin i = 7.9 \pm 0.2 M_J$, a period $P>$3500 days and a very eccentric orbit ($e>$0.60). Such peculiar systems may be typical of open clusters if the planet-planet scattering phase leading to the formation of HJs is caused by stellar encounters rather than unstable primordial orbits. Pr0211 is the first multi-planet system discovered around an OC star. (abridged)

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An extensive radial velocity survey toward NGC 6253

The old and metal rich open cluster NGC 6253 was observed with the FLAMES multi-object spectrograph during an extensive radial velocity campaign monitoring 317 stars with a median of 15 epochs per object. All the targeted stars are located along the upper main sequence of the cluster between 14.8 $<$ V $<$ 16.5. Fifty nine stars are confirmed cluster members both by radial velocities and proper motions and do not show evidence of variability. We detected 45 variable stars among which 25 belong to NGC 6253. We were able to derive an orbital solution for 4 cluster members (and for 2 field stars) yielding minimum masses in between $\sim$90 M$\rm_J$ and $\sim$460 M$\rm_J$ and periods between 3 and 220 days. Simulations demonstrated that this survey was sensitive to objects down to 30 M$\rm_J$ at 10 days orbital periods with a detection efficiency equal to 50%. On the basis of these results we concluded that the observed frequency of binaries down to the hydrogen burning limit and up to 20 days orbital period is around (1.5$\pm$1.3)% in NGC 6253. The overall observed frequency of binaries around the sample of cluster stars is (13$\pm$3)%. The median radial velocity precision achieved by the GIRAFFE spectrograph in this magnitude range was around $\sim$240m$\rm\,s^{-1}$ ($\sim$180 m$\rm\,s^{-1}$ for UVES). Based on a limited follow-up analysis of 7 stars in our sample with the HARPS spectrograph we determined that a precision of 35 m $\rm s^{-1}$ can be reached in this magnitude range, offering the possibility to further extend the variability analysis into the substellar domain. Prospects are even more favourable once considering the upcoming ESPRESSO spectrograph at VLT.

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A PSF-based approach to Kepler/K2 data. I. Variability within the K2 Campaign 0 star clusters M 35 and NGC 2158

Kepler and K2 data analysis reported in the literature is mostly based on aperture photometry. Because of Kepler's large, undersampled pixels and the presence of nearby sources, aperture photometry is not always the ideal way to obtain high-precision photometry and, because of this, the data set has not been fully exploited so far. We present a new method that builds on our experience with undersampled HST images. The method involves a point-spread function (PSF) neighbour-subtraction and was specifically developed to exploit the huge potential offered by the K2 "super-stamps" covering the core of dense star clusters. Our test-bed targets were the NGC 2158 and M 35 regions observed during the K2 Campaign 0. We present our PSF modeling and demonstrate that, by using a high-angular-resolution input star list from the Asiago Schmidt telescope as the basis for PSF neighbour subtraction, we are able to reach magnitudes as faint as Kp~24 with a photometric precision of 10% over 6.5 hours, even in the densest regions. At the bright end, our photometric precision reaches ~30 parts-per-million. Our method leads to a considerable level of improvement at the faint magnitudes (Kp>15.5) with respect to the classical aperture photometry. This improvement is more significant in crowded regions. We also extracted raw light curves of ~60,000 stars and detrended them for systematic effects induced by spacecraft motion and other artifacts that harms K2 photometric precision. We present a list of 2133 variables.

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A hot horizontal branch star with a close K-type main-sequence companion

Dynamical interactions in binary systems are thought to play a major role in the formation of extreme horizontal branch stars (EHBs) in the Galactic field. However, it is still unclear if the same mechanisms are at work in globular clusters, where EHBs are predominantly single stars. Here we report on the discovery of a unique close binary system (period ~1.61 days) in the globular cluster NGC6752, comprising an EHB and a main-sequence companion of 0.63+-0.05 Msun. Such a system has no counterpart among nearly two hundred known EHB binaries in the Galactic field. Its discovery suggests that either field studies are incomplete, missing this type of systems possibly because of selection effects, or that a particular EHB formation mechanism is active in clusters but not in the field.

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Variable stars in one open cluster within the Kepler/K2-Campaign-5 field: M 67 (NGC 2682)

In this paper we continue the release of high-level data products from the multiyear photometric survey collected at the 67/92 cm Schmidt Telescope in Asiago. The primary goal of the survey is to discover and to characterise variable objects and exoplanetary transits in four fields containing five nearby open clusters spanning a broad range of ages. This second paper releases a photometric catalogue, in five photometric bands, of the Solar-age, Solar-metallicity open cluster M 67 (NGC 2682). Proper motions are derived comparing the positions observed in 2013 at the Asiago's Schmidt Telescope with those extracted from WFI@2.2m MPG/ESO images in 2000. We also analyse the variable sources within M 67. We detected 68 variables, 43 of which are new detection. Variable periods and proper-motion memberships of a large majority of sources in our catalogue are improved with respect to previous releases. The entire catalogue will be available in electronic format. Besides the general interest on an improved catalogue, this work will be particularly useful because of: (1) the imminent release of Kepler/K2 Campaign-5 data of this cluster, for which our catalogue will provide an excellent, high spatial resolution input list, and (2) characterisation of the M 67 stars which are targets of intense HARPS and HARPS-N radial-velocity surveys for planet search.

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The Binary Populations of Eight Globular Clusters in the Outer Halo of the Milky Way

We analyse color-magnitude diagrams of eight Globular Clusters (GCs) in the outer Galactic Halo. Images were taken with the Wide Field Channel of the Advanced Camera for Survey and the Ultraviolet and Visual Channel of the Wide Field Camera 3 on board of the Hubble Space Telescope. We have determined the fraction of binary stars along the main sequence and combined results with those of a recent paper where some of us have performed a similar analysis on 59 Galactic GCs. In total, binaries have been now studied homogeneously in 67 GCs. We studied the radial and luminosity distributions of the binary systems, the distribution of their mass-ratios and investigated univariate relations with several parameters of the host GCs. We confirm the anti-correlation between the binary fraction and the luminosity of the host cluster, and find that low-luminosity clusters can host a large population in excess of ~40% in the cluster core. However, our results do not support a significant correlation with the cluster age as suggested in the literature. In most GCs, binaries are more centrally concentrated than single stars. If the fraction of binaries is normalised to the core binary fraction the radial density profiles follow a common trend. It has a maximum in the center and declines by a factor of two at a distance of about two core radii from the cluster center. After dropping to its minimum at a radial distance of $\sim$5 core radii it stays approximately constant at larger radii. We also find that the mass-ratio and the distribution of binaries as a function of the mass of the primary star is almost flat.

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The Hubble Space Telescope UV Legacy Survey of Galactic Globular Clusters. V. Constraints on Formation Scenarios

We build on the evidence provided by our Legacy Survey of Galactic globular clusters (GC) to submit to a crucial test four scenarios currently entertained for the formation of multiple stellar generations in GCs. The observational constraints on multiple generations to be fulfilled are manifold, including GC specificity, ubiquity, variety, predominance, discreteness, supernova avoidance, p-capture processing, helium enrichment and mass budget. We argue that scenarios appealing to supermassive stars, fast rotating massive stars and massive interactive binaries violate in an irreparable fashion two or more among such constraints. Also the scenario appealing to AGB stars as producers of the material for next generation stars encounters severe difficulties, specifically concerning the mass budget problem and the detailed chemical composition of second generation stars. We qualitatively explore ways possibly allowing one to save the AGB scenario, specifically appealing to a possible revision of the cross section of a critical reaction rate destroying sodium, or alternatively by a more extensive exploration of the vast parameter space controlling the evolutionary behavior of AGB stellar models. Still, we cannot ensure success for these efforts and totally new scenarios may have to be invented to understand how GCs formed in the early Universe.

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Broad-band spectrophotometry of the hot Jupiter HAT-P-12b from the near-UV to the near-IR

The detection of trends or gradients in the transmission spectrum of extrasolar planets is possible with observations at very low spectral resolution. Transit measurements of sufficient accuracy using selected broad-band filters allow for an initial characterization of the atmosphere of the planet. We obtained time series photometry of 20 transit events and analyzed them homogeneously, along with eight light curves obtained from the literature. In total, the light curves span a range from 0.35 to 1.25 microns. During two observing seasons over four months each, we monitored the host star to constrain the potential influence of starspots on the derived transit parameters. We rule out the presence of a Rayleigh slope extending over the entire optical wavelength range, a flat spectrum is favored for HAT-P-12b with respect to a cloud-free atmosphere model spectrum. A potential cause of such gray absorption is the presence of a cloud layer at the probed latitudes. Furthermore, in this work we refine the transit parameters, the ephemeris and perform a TTV analysis in which we found no indication for an unseen companion. The host star showed a mild non-periodic variability of up to 1%. However, no stellar rotation period could be detected to high confidence.

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The M4 Core Project with HST - IV. Internal Kinematics from Accurate Radial Velocities of 2771 Cluster Members

We present a detailed study of the internal kinematics of the Galactic Globular Cluster M 4 (NGC 6121), by deriving the radial velocities from 7250 spectra for 2771 stars distributed from the upper part of the Red Giant Branch down to the Main Sequence. We describe new approaches to determine the wavelength solution from day-time calibrations and to determine the radial velocity drifts that can occur between calibration and science observations when observing with the GIRAFFE spectrograph at VLT. Two techniques to determine the radial velocity are compared, after a qualitative description of their advantages with respect to other commonly used algorithm, and a new approach to remove the sky contribution from the spectra obtained with fibre-fed spectrograph and further improve the radial velocity precision is presented. The average radial velocity of the cluster is $\langle v \rangle = 71.08 \pm 0.08$ km s$^{-1}$ with an average dispersion of $μ_{v_c} = 3.97$ km s$^{-1}$. Using the same dataset and the same statistical approach of previous analyses, 20 additional binary candidates are found, for a total of 87 candidates. A new determination of the internal radial velocity dispersion as a function of cluster distance is presented, resulting in a dispersion of $4.5$ km s$^{-1}$ within 2$^{\prime}$ from the center of cluster and steadily decreasing outward. We statistically confirm the small amplitude of the cluster rotation, as suggested in the past by several authors. This new analysis represents a significant improvement with respect to previous results in literature and provides a fundamental observational input for the modeling of the cluster dynamics.

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Coordinated X-ray and Optical observations of Star-Planet Interaction in HD 17156

The large number of close-in Jupiter-size exoplanets prompts the question whether star-planet interaction (SPI) effects can be detected. We focused our attention on the system HD 17156, having a Jupiter-mass planet in a very eccentric orbit. Here we present results of the XMM-Newton observations and of a five months coordinated optical campaign with the HARPS-N spectrograph. We observed HD 17156 with XMM-Newton when the planet was approaching the apoastron and then at the following periastron passage, quasi simultaneously with HARPS-N. We obtained a clear ($\approx 5.5σ$) X-ray detection only at the periastron visit, accompanied by a significant increase of the $R'_{\rm HK}$ chromospheric index. We discuss two possible scenarios for the activity enhancement: magnetic reconnection and flaring or accretion onto the star of material tidally stripped from the planet. In any case, this is possibly the first evidence of a magnetic SPI effect caught in action.

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The GAPS Programme with HARPS-N at TNG. X. Differential abundances in the XO-2 planet hosting binary

Binary stars hosting exoplanets are a unique laboratory where chemical tagging can be performed to measure with high accuracy the elemental abundances of both stellar components, with the aim to investigate the formation of planets and their subsequent evolution. Here, we present a high-precision differential abundance analysis of the XO-2 wide stellar binary based on high resolution HARPS-N@TNG spectra. Both components are very similar K-dwarfs and host planets. Since they formed presumably within the same molecular cloud, we expect they should possess the same initial elemental abundances. We investigate if the presence of planets can cause some chemical imprints in the stellar atmospheric abundances. We measure abundances of 25 elements for both stars with a range of condensation temperature $T_{\rm C}=40-1741$ K, achieving typical precisions of $\sim 0.07$ dex. The North component shows abundances in all elements higher by $+0.067 \pm 0.032$ dex on average, with a mean difference of +0.078 dex for elements with $T_{\rm C} > 800$ K. The significance of the XO-2N abundance difference relative to XO-2S is at the $2σ$ level for almost all elements. We discuss the possibility that this result could be interpreted as the signature of the ingestion of material by XO-2N or depletion in XO-2S due to locking of heavy elements by the planetary companions. We estimate a mass of several tens of $M_{\oplus}$ in heavy elements. The difference in abundances between XO-2N and XO-2S shows a positive correlation with the condensation temperatures of the elements, with a slope of $(4.7 \pm 0.9) \times 10^{-5}$ dex K$^{-1}$, which could mean that both components have not formed terrestrial planets, but that first experienced the accretion of rocky core interior to the subsequent giant planets.

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