arXiv subjects

Nader Haghighipour

Publications and source records attributed to Nader Haghighipour.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2013

The Formation and Dynamics of Super-Earth Planets

Super-Earths, objects slightly larger than Earth and slightly smaller than Uranus, have found a special place in exoplanetary science. As a new class of planetary bodies, these objects have challenged models of planet formation at both ends of the spectrum and have triggered a great deal of research on the composition and interior dynamics of rocky planets in connection to their masses and radii. Being relatively easier to detect than an Earth-sized planet at 1 AU around a G star, super-Earths have become the focus of worldwide observational campaigns to search for habitable planets. With a range of masses that allows these objects to retain moderate atmospheres and perhaps even plate tectonics, super-Earths may be habitable if they maintain long-term orbits in the habitable zones of their host stars. Given that in the past two years a few such potentially habitable super-Earths have in fact been discovered, it is necessary to develop a deep understanding of the formation and dynamical evolution of these objects. This article reviews the current state of research on the formation of super-Earths and discusses different models of their formation and dynamical evolution.

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arXiv2013

Main-Belt Comet P/2012 T1 (PANSTARRS)

We present initial results from observations and numerical analyses aimed at characterizing main-belt comet P/2012 T1 (PANSTARRS). Optical monitoring observations were made between October 2012 and February 2013 using the University of Hawaii 2.2 m telescope, the Keck I telescope, the Baade and Clay Magellan telescopes, Faulkes Telescope South, the Perkins Telescope at Lowell Observatory, and the Southern Astrophysical Research (SOAR) telescope. The object's intrinsic brightness approximately doubles from the time of its discovery in early October until mid-November and then decreases by ~60% between late December and early February, similar to photometric behavior exhibited by several other main-belt comets and unlike that exhibited by disrupted asteroid (596) Scheila. We also used Keck to conduct spectroscopic searches for CN emission as well as absorption at 0.7 microns that could indicate the presence of hydrated minerals, finding an upper limit CN production rate of QCN<1.5x10^23 mol/s, from which we infer a water production rate of QH2O<5x10^25 mol/s, and no evidence of the presence of hydrated minerals. Numerical simulations indicate that P/2012 T1 is largely dynamically stable for >100 Myr and is unlikely to be a recently implanted interloper from the outer solar system, while a search for potential asteroid family associations reveal that it is dynamically linked to the ~155 Myr-old Lixiaohua asteroid family.

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arXiv2012

Detectability of Earth-like Planets in Circumstellar Habitable Zones of Binary Star Systems with Sun-like Components

Given the considerable percentage of stars that are members of binaries or stellar multiples in the Solar neighborhood, it is expected that many of these binaries host planets, possibly even habitable ones. The discovery of a terrestrial planet in the alpha Centauri system supports this notion. Due to the potentially strong gravitational interaction that an Earth-like planet may experience in such systems, classical approaches to determining habitable zones, especially in close S-Type binary systems, can be rather inaccurate. Recent progress in this field, however, allows to identify regions around the star permitting permanent habitability. While the discovery of alpha Cen Bb has shown that terrestrial planets can be detected in solar-type binary stars using current observational facilities, it remains to be shown whether this is also the case for Earth analogues in habitable zones. We provide analytical expressions for the maximum and RMS values of radial velocity and astrometric signals, as well as transit probabilities of terrestrial planets in such systems, showing that the dynamical interaction of the second star with the planet may indeed facilitate the planets detection. As an example, we discuss the detectability of additional Earth-like planets in the averaged, extended, and permanent habitable zones around both stars of the alpha Centauri system.

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arXiv2012

Circumstellar Habitable Zones of Binary Star Systems in the Solar Neighborhood

Binary and multiple systems constitute more than half of the total stellar population in the Solar neighborhood (Kiseleva-Eggleton and Eggleton 2001). Their frequent occurrence as well as the fact that more than 70 (Schneider et al. 2011) planets have already been discovered in such configurations - most noteably the telluric companion of alpha Centauri B (Dumusque et al. 2012) - make them interesting targets in the search for habitable worlds. Recent studies (Eggl et al. 2012b, Forgan 2012) have shown, that despite the variations in gravitational and radiative environment, there are indeed circumstellar regions where planets can stay within habitable insolation limits on secular dynamical timescales. In this article we provide habitable zones for 19 near S-Type binary systems from the Hipparchos and WDS catalogues with semimajor axes between 1 and 100 AU. Hereby, we accounted for the combined dynamical and radiative influence of the second star on the Earth-like planet. Out of the 19 systems presented, 17 offer dynamically stable habitable zones around at least one component. The 17 potentially habitable systems contain 5 F, 3 G, 7 K and 16 M class stars. As their proximity to the Solar System (d < 31 pc) makes the selected binary stars exquisite targets for observational campaigns, we offer estimates on radial velocity, astrometric and transit signatures produced by habitable Earth-like planets in eccentric circumstellar orbits.

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arXiv2012

Kepler-47: A Transiting Circumbinary Multi-Planet System

We report the detection of Kepler-47, a system consisting of two planets orbiting around an eclipsing pair of stars. The inner and outer planets have radii 3.0 and 4.6 times that of the Earth, respectively. The binary star consists of a Sun-like star and a companion roughly one-third its size, orbiting each other every 7.45 days. With an orbital period of 49.5 days, eighteen transits of the inner planet have been observed, allowing a detailed characterization of its orbit and those of the stars. The outer planet's orbital period is 303.2 days, and although the planet is not Earth-like, it resides within the classical "habitable zone", where liquid water could exist on an Earth-like planet. With its two known planets, Kepler-47 establishes that close binary stars can host complete planetary systems.

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arXiv2012

The Neptune-Sized Circumbinary Planet Kepler-38b

We discuss the discovery and characterization of the circumbinary planet Kepler-38b. The stellar binary is single-lined, with a period of 18.8 days, and consists of a moderately evolved main-sequence star (M_A = 0.949 +/- 0.059 solar masses and R_A = 1.757 +/- 0.034 solar radii) paired with a low-mass star (M_B = 0.249 +/- 0.010 solar masses and R_B = 0.2724 +/- 0.0053 solar radii) in a mildly eccentric (e=0.103) orbit. A total of eight transits due to a circumbinary planet crossing the primary star were identified in the Kepler light curve (using Kepler Quarters 1 through 11), from which a planetary period of 105.595 +/- 0.053 days can be established. A photometric dynamical model fit to the radial velocity curve and Kepler light curve yields a planetary radius of 4.35 +/- 0.11 Earth radii, or 1.12 +/- 0.03 Neptune radii. Since the planet is not sufficiently massive to observably alter the orbit of the binary from Keplerian motion, we can only place an upper limit on the mass of the planet of 122 Earth masses (7.11 Neptune masses or 0.384 Jupiter masses) at 95% confidence. This upper limit should decrease as more Kepler data become available.

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arXiv2012

GJ 581 update: Additional Evidence for a Super-Earth in the Habitable Zone

We present an analysis of the significantly expanded HARPS 2011 radial velocity data set for GJ 581 that was presented by Forveille et al. (2011). Our analysis reaches substantially different conclusions regarding the evidence for a Super-Earth-mass planet in the star's Habitable Zone. We were able to reproduce their reported χ_ν^2 and RMS values only after removing some outliers from their models and refitting the trimmed down RV set. A suite of 4000 N-body simulations of their Keplerian model all resulted in unstable systems and revealed that their reported 3.6σdetection of e=0.32 for the eccentricity of GJ 581e is manifestly incompatible with the system's dynamical stability. Furthermore, their Keplerian model, when integrated only over the time baseline of the observations, significantly increases the χ_ν^2 and demonstrates the need for including non-Keplerian orbital precession when modeling this system. We find that a four-planet model with all of the planets on circular or nearly circular orbits provides both an excellent self-consistent fit to their RV data and also results in a very stable configuration. The periodogram of the residuals to a 4-planet all-circular-orbit model reveals significant peaks that suggest one or more additional planets in this system. We conclude that the present 240-point HARPS data set, when analyzed in its entirety, and modeled with fully self-consistent stable orbits, by and of itself does offer significant support for a fifth signal in the data with a period near 32 days. This signal has a False Alarm Probability of <4% and is consistent with a planet of minimum mass of 2.2 Earth-masses, orbiting squarely in the star's Habitable Zone at 0.13 AU, where liquid water on planetary surfaces is a distinct possibility

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arXiv2012

The Lick-Carnegie Survey: A New Two-Planet System Around the Star HD 207832

Keck/HIRES precision radial velocities of HD 207832 indicate the presence of two Jovian-type planetary companions in Keplerian orbits around this G star. The planets have minimum masses of 0.56 and 0.73 Jupiter-masses with orbital periods of ~162 and ~1156 days, and eccentricities of 0.13 and 0.27, respectively. Stromgren b and y photometry reveals a clear stellar rotation signature of the host star with a period of 17.8 days, well separated from the period of the radial velocity variations, reinforcing their Keplerian origin. The values of the semimajor axes of the planets suggest that these objects have migrated from the region of giant planet formation to closer orbits. In order to examine the possibility of the existence of additional (small) planets in the system, we studied the orbital stability of hypothetical terrestrial-sized objects in the region between the two planets and interior to the orbit of the inner body. Results indicated that stable orbits exist only in a small region interior to planet b. However, the current observational data offer no evidence for the existence of additional objects in this system.

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arXiv2012

High-Mass, Four-Planet Models for HR 8799: Constraining the Orbital Inclination and Age of the System

Debates regarding the age and inclination of the planetary system orbiting HR 8799, and the release of additional astrometric data following the discovery of the fourth planet prompted us to examine the possibility of constraining these two quantities by studying the long-term stability of this system at different orbital inclinations and in its high-mass configuration (7-10-10-10 MJup). We carried out ~1.5 million N-body integrations for different combinations of orbital elements of the four planets. The most dynamically stable combinations survived less than ~5 Myr at inclinations of 0° and 13°, and 41, 46, and 31 Myr at 18°, 23°, and 30°, respectively. Given such short lifetimes and the location of the system on the age-luminosity diagram for low-mass objects, the most reasonable conclusion of our study is that the planetary masses are less than 7-10-10-10 MJup and the system is quite young. Two trends to note from our work are as follows. (1) In the most stable systems, the higher the inclination, the more the coordinates for planets b and c diverge from the oldest archival astrometric data (released after we completed our N-body integrations), suggesting that either these planets are in eccentric orbits or have lower orbital inclinations than that of planet d. (2) The most stable systems place planet e closer to the central star than is observed, supporting the conclusion that the planets are more massive and the system is young. We present the details of our simulations and discuss the implications of the results.

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arXiv2012

On the HU Aquarii planetary system hypothesis

In this work, we investigate the eclipse timing of the polar binary HU Aquarii that has been observed for almost two decades. Recently, Qian et al. attributed large (O-C) deviations between the eclipse ephemeris and observations to a compact system of two massive jovian companions. We improve the Keplerian, kinematic model of the Light Travel Time (LTT) effect and re-analyse the whole currently available data set. We add almost 60 new, yet unpublished, mostly precision light curves obtained using the time high-resolution photo-polarimeter OPTIMA, as well as photometric observations performed at the MONET/N, PIRATE and TCS telescopes. We determine new mid--egress times with a mean uncertainty at the level of 1 second or better. We claim that because the observations that currently exist in the literature are non-homogeneous with respect to spectral windows (ultraviolet, X-ray, visual, polarimetric mode) and the reported mid--egress measurements errors, they may introduce systematics that affect orbital fits. Indeed, we find that the published data, when taken literally, cannot be explained by any unique solution. Many qualitatively different and best-fit 2-planet configurations, including self-consistent, Newtonian N-body solutions may be able to explain the data. However, using high resolution, precision OPTIMA light curves, we find that the (O-C) deviations are best explained by the presence of a single circumbinary companion orbiting at a distance of ~4.5 AU with a small eccentricity and having ~7 Jupiter-masses. This object could be the next circumbinary planet detected from the ground, similar to the announced companions around close binaries HW Vir, NN Ser, UZ For, DP Leo or SZ Her, and planets of this type around Kepler-16, Kepler-34 and Kepler-35.

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arXiv2012

Can GJ 876 host four planets in resonance?

Prior to the detection of its outermost Uranus-mass object, it had been suggested that GJ 876 could host an Earth-sized planet in a 15-day orbit. Observation, however, did not support this idea, but instead revealed evidence for the existence of a larger body in a $\sim$125-day orbit, near a three-body resonance with the two giant planets of this system. In this paper, we present a detailed analysis of the dynamics of the four-planet system of GJ 876, and examine the possibility of the existence of other planetary objects interior to its outermost body. We have developed a numerical scheme that enables us to search the orbital parameter-space very effectively and, in a short time, identify regions where an object may be stable. We present details of this integration method and discuss its application to the GJ 876 four-planet system. The results of our initial analysis suggested possible stable orbits at regions exterior to the orbit of the outermost planet and also indicated that an island of stability may exist in and around the 15-day orbit. However, examining the long-term stability of an object in that region by direct integration revealed that the 15-day orbit becomes unstable and that the system of GJ 876 is most likely dynamically full. We present the results of our study and discuss their implications for the formation and final orbital architecture of this system.

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arXiv2012

Observational and Dynamical Characterization of Main-Belt Comet P/2010 R2 (La Sagra)

We present observations of comet-like main-belt object P/2010 R2 (La Sagra) obtained by Pan-STARRS 1 and the Faulkes Telescope-North on Haleakala in Hawaii, the University of Hawaii 2.2 m, Gemini-North, and Keck I telescopes on Mauna Kea, the Danish 1.54 m telescope at La Silla, and the Isaac Newton Telescope on La Palma. An antisolar dust tail is observed from August 2010 through February 2011, while a dust trail aligned with the object's orbit plane is also observed from December 2010 through August 2011. Assuming typical phase darkening behavior, P/La Sagra is seen to increase in brightness by >1 mag between August 2010 and December 2010, suggesting that dust production is ongoing over this period. These results strongly suggest that the observed activity is cometary in nature (i.e., driven by the sublimation of volatile material), and that P/La Sagra is therefore the most recent main-belt comet to be discovered. We find an approximate absolute magnitude for the nucleus of H_R=17.9+/-0.2 mag, corresponding to a nucleus radius of ~0.7 km, assuming an albedo of p=0.05. Using optical spectroscopy, we find no evidence of sublimation products (i.e., gas emission), finding an upper limit CN production rate of Q_CN<6x10^23 mol/s, from which we infer an H2O production rate of Q_H2O<10^26 mol/s. Numerical simulations indicate that P/La Sagra is dynamically stable for >100 Myr, suggesting that it is likely native to its current location and that its composition is likely representative of other objects in the same region of the main belt, though the relatively close proximity of the 13:6 mean-motion resonance with Jupiter and the (3,-2,-1) three-body mean-motion resonance with Jupiter and Saturn mean that dynamical instability on larger timescales cannot be ruled out.

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arXiv2012

On The Effect of Giant Planets on the Scattering of Parent Bodies of Iron Meteorite from the Terrestrial Planet Region into the Asteroid Belt: A Concept Study

In their model for the origin of the parent bodies of iron meteorites, Bottke et al proposed differentiated planetesimals that were formed in the region of 1-2 AU during the first 1.5 Myr, as the parent bodies, and suggested that these objects and their fragments were scattered into the asteroid belt as a result of interactions with planetary embryos. Although viable, this model does not include the effect of a giant planet that might have existed or been growing in the outer regions. We present the results of a concept study where we have examined the effect of a planetary body in the orbit of Jupiter on the early scattering of planetesimals from terrestrial region into the asteroid belt. We integrated the orbits of a large battery of planetesimals in a disk of planetary embryos, and studied their evolutions for different values of the mass of the planet. Results indicate that when the mass of the planet is smaller than 10 Earth-masses, its effects on the interactions among planetesimals and planetary embryos is negligible. However, when the planet mass is between 10 and 50 Earth-masses, simulations point to a transitional regime with ~50 Earth-mass being the value for which the perturbing effect of the planet can no longer be ignored. Simulations also show that further increase of the mass of the planet strongly reduces the efficiency of the scattering of planetesimals from the terrestrial planet region into the asteroid belt. We present the results of our simulations and discuss their possible implications for the time of giant planet formation.

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arXiv2012

Discovery of Main-Belt Comet P/2006 VW139 by Pan-STARRS1

Main belt asteroid (300163) 2006 VW139 (later designated P/2006 VW139) was discovered to exhibit comet-like activity by the Pan-STARRS1 survey telescope using automated point-spread-function analyses performed by PS1's Moving Object Processing System. Deep follow-up observations show both a short (\sim 10") antisolar dust tail and a longer (\sim 60") dust trail aligned with the object's orbit plane, similar to the morphology observed for another main-belt comet, P/2010 R2 (La Sagra), and other well-established comets, implying the action of a long-lived, sublimation-driven emission event. Photometry showing the brightness of the near-nucleus coma remaining constant over \sim 30 days provides further evidence for this object's cometary nature, suggesting it is in fact a main-belt comet, and not a disrupted asteroid. A spectroscopic search for CN emission was unsuccessful, though we find an upper limit CN production rate of Q_CN < 1.3x10^24 mol/s, from which we infer a water production rate of Q_H2O < 10^26 mol/s. We also find an approximately linear optical spectral slope of 7.2%/1000A, similar to other cometary dust comae. Numerical simulations indicate that P/2006 VW139 is dynamically stable for > 100 Myr, while a search for a potential asteroid family around the object reveals a cluster of 24 asteroids within a cutoff distance of 68 m/s. At 70 m/s, this cluster merges with the Themis family, suggesting that it could be similar to the Beagle family to which another main-belt comet, 133P/Elst-Pizarro, belongs.

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arXiv2012

A planetary system around the nearby M dwarf GJ 667C with at least one super-Earth in its habitable zone

We re-analyze 4 years of HARPS spectra of the nearby M1.5 dwarf GJ 667C available through the ESO public archive. The new radial velocity (RV) measurements were obtained using a new data analysis technique that derives the Doppler measurement and other instrumental effects using a least-squares approach. Combining these new 143 measurements with 41 additional RVs from the Magellan/PFS and Keck/HIRES spectrometers, reveals 3 additional signals beyond the previously reported 7.2-day candidate, with periods of 28 days, 75 days, and a secular trend consistent with the presence of a gas giant (Period sim 10 years). The 28-day signal implies a planet candidate with a minimum mass of 4.5 Mearth orbiting well within the canonical definition of the star's liquid water habitable zone, this is, the region around the star at which an Earth-like planet could sustain liquid water on its surface. Still, the ultimate water supporting capability of this candidate depends on properties that are unknown such as its albedo, atmospheric composition and interior dynamics. The 75-day signal is less certain, being significantly affected by aliasing interactions among a potential 91-day signal, and the likely rotation period of the star at 105 days detected in two activity indices. GJ 667C is the common proper motion companion to the GJ 667AB binary, which is metal poor compared to the Sun. The presence of a super-Earth in the habitable zone of a metal poor M dwarf in a triple star system, supports the evidence that such worlds should be ubiquitous in the Galaxy.

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arXiv2011

New Light-Travel Time Models and Orbital Stability Study of the Proposed Planetary System HU Aquarii

In this work we propose a new orbital architecture for the two proposed circumbinary planets around the polar eclipsing binary HU Aquarii. We base the new two-planet, light-travel time model on the result of a Monte Carlo simulation driving a least-squares Levenberg-Marquardt minimisation algorithm on the observed eclipse egress times. Our best-fitting model with $χ_{r}^2=1.43$ resulted in high final eccentricities for the two companions leading to an unstable orbital configuration. From a large ensemble of initial guesses we examined the distribution of final eccentricities and semi-major axes for different $χ_{r}^2$ parameter intervals and encountered qualitatively a second population of best-fitting parameters. The main characteristic of this population is described by low-eccentric orbits favouring long-term orbital stability of the system. We present our best-fitting model candidate for the proposed two-planet system and demonstrate orbital stability over one million years using numerical integrations.

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arXiv2011

Optical and Dynamical Characterization of Comet-Like Main-Belt Asteroid (596) Scheila

We present observations and a dynamical analysis of the comet-like main-belt object, (596) Scheila. V-band photometry obtained on UT 2010 December 12 indicates that Scheila's dust cloud has a scattering cross-section ~1.4 times larger than that of the nucleus, corresponding to a dust mass of M_d~3x10^7 kg. V-R color measurements indicate that both the nucleus and dust are redder than the Sun, with no significant color differences between the dust cloud's northern and southern plumes. We also undertake an ultimately unsuccessful search for CN emission, where we find CN and H2O production rates of Q(CN) < 9x10^23 s^-1 and Q(H2O) < 10^27 s^{-1}. Numerical simulations indicate that Scheila is dynamically stable for >100 Myr, suggesting that it is likely native to its current location. We also find that it does not belong to a dynamical asteroid family of any significance. We consider sublimation-driven scenarios that could produce the appearance of multiple plumes of dust emission, but reject them as being physically implausible. Instead, we concur with previous studies that the unusual morphology of Scheila's dust cloud is most simply explained by a single oblique impact, meaning this object is likely not a main-belt comet, but is instead the second disrupted asteroid after P/2010 A2 (LINEAR) to be discovered.

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arXiv2011

Super-Earths: A New Class of Planetary Bodies

Super-Earths, a class of planetary bodies with masses ranging from a few Earth-masses to slightly smaller than Uranus, have recently found a special place in the exoplanetary science. Being slightly larger than a typical terrestrial planet, super-Earths may have physical and dynamical characteristics similar to those of Earth whereas unlike terrestrial planets, they are relatively easier to detect. Because of their sizes, super-Earths can maintain moderate atmospheres and possibly dynamic interiors with plate tectonics. They also seem to be more common around low-mass stars where the habitable zone is in closer distances. This article presents a review of the current state of research on super-Earths, and discusses the models of the formation, dynamical evolution, and possible habitability of these objects. Given the recent advances in detection techniques, the detectability of super-Earths is also discussed, and a review of the prospects of their detection in the habitable zones of low-mass stars is presented.

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