arXiv subjects

Pascal Fouqué

Publications and source records attributed to Pascal Fouqué.

31 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2020

Investigating the young AU~Mic system with SPIRou: large-scale stellar magnetic field and close-in planet mass

We present a velocimetric and spectropolarimetric analysis of 27 observations of the 22-Myr M1 star AU Microscopii (Au Mic) collected with the high-resolution $YJHK$ (0.98-2.35 $μ$m) spectropolarimeter SPIRou from 2019 September 18 to November 14. Our radial velocity (RV) time-series exhibits activity-induced fluctuations of 45 m/s RMS, about three times smaller than those measured in the optical domain, that we filter using Gaussian Process Regression. We report a 3.9$σ$-detection of the recently-discovered 8.46-d transiting planet AU Mic b, with an estimated mass of $17.1^{+4.7}_{-4.5}$ M$_{\odot}$ and a bulk density of $1.3 \pm 0.4$ g/cm$^{-3}$, inducing a RV signature of semi-amplitude $K=8.5^{+2.3}_{-2.2}$ m/s in the spectrum of its host star. A consistent detection is independently obtained when we simultaneously image stellar surface inhomogeneities and estimate the planet parameters with Zeeman-Doppler Imaging (ZDI). Using ZDI, we invert the time series of unpolarized and circularly-polarized spectra into surface brightness and large-scale magnetic maps. We find a mainly poloidal and axisymmetric field of 475 G, featuring, in particular, a dipole of 450 G tilted at 19° to the rotation axis. Moreover, we detect a strong differential rotation of d$Ω= 0.167 \pm 0.009$ rad/d shearing the large-scale field, about twice stronger than that shearing the brightness distribution, suggesting that both observables probe different layers of the convective zone. Even though we caution that more RV measurements are needed to accurately pin down the planet mass, AU Mic b already appears as a prime target for constraining planet formation models, studying the interactions with the surrounding debris disk, and characterizing its atmosphere with upcoming space- and ground-based missions.

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arXiv2019

KMT-2018-BLG-0029Lb: A Very Low Mass-Ratio Spitzer Microlens Planet

At $q=1.81\pm 0.20 \times 10^{-5}$, KMT-2018-BLG-0029Lb has the lowest planet-host mass ratio $q$ of any microlensing planet to date by more than a factor of two. Hence, it is the first planet that probes below the apparent "pile-up" at $q=5$--10 $\times 10^{-5}$. The event was observed by {\it Spitzer}, yielding a microlens-parallax $π_{\rm E}$ measurement. Combined with a measurement of the Einstein radius $θ_{\rm E}$ from finite-source effects during the caustic crossings, these measurements imply masses of the host $M_{\rm host}=1.14^{+0.10}_{-0.12}\, M_\odot$ and planet $M_{\rm planet} = 7.59^{+0.75}_{-0.69}\,M_\oplus$, system distance $D_L = 3.38^{+0.22}_{-0.26}\,\,{\rm kpc}$ and projected separation $a_\perp = 4.27^{+0.21}_{-0.23}\,{\rm au}$. The blended light, which is substantially brighter than the microlensed source, is plausibly due to the lens and could be observed at high resolution immediately.

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arXiv2019

KMT-2016-BLG-1836Lb: A Super-Jovian Planet From A High-Cadence Microlensing Field

We report the discovery of a super-Jovian planet in the microlensing event KMT-2016-BLG-1836, which was found by the Korea Microlensing Telescope Network's high-cadence observations (Γ~ 4~{hr}^{-1}). The planet-host mass ratio q ~ 0.004. A Bayesian analysis indicates that the planetary system is composed of a super-Jovian M_{planet} = 2.2_{-1.1}^{+1.9} M_{J} planet orbiting an M or K dwarf M_{\rm host} = 0.49_{-0.25}^{+0.38} M_{Sun}, at a distance of D_{L} = 7.1_{-2.4}^{+0.8} kpc. The projected planet-host separation is 3.5^{+1.1}_{-0.9} AU, implying that the planet is located beyond the snowline of the host star. Future high-resolution images can potentially strongly constrain the lens brightness and thus the mass and distance of the planetary system. Without considering detailed detection efficiency, selection or publication biases, we find a potential "mass ratio desert" at -3.7 \lesssim \log q \lesssim -3.0 for the 31 published KMTNet planets.

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arXiv2019

OGLE-2017-BLG-1186: first application of asteroseismology and Gaussian processes to microlensing

We present the analysis of the event OGLE-2017-BLG-1186 from the 2017 Spitzer microlensing campaign. This is a remarkable microlensing event because its source is photometrically bright and variable, which makes it possible to perform an asteroseismic analysis using ground-based data. We find that the source star is an oscillating red giant with average timescale of $\sim 9$ d. The asteroseismic analysis also provides us source properties including the source angular size ($\sim 27~μ{\rm as}$) and distance ($\sim 11.5$ kpc), which are essential for inferring the properties of the lens. When fitting the light curve, we test the feasibility of Gaussian Processes (GPs) in handling the correlated noise caused by the variable source. We find that the parameters from the GP model are generally more loosely constrained than those from the traditional $χ^2$ minimization method. We note that this event is the first microlensing system for which asteroseismology and GPs have been used to account for the variable source. With both finite-source effect and microlens parallax measured, we find that the lens is likely a $\sim 0.045~M_{\odot}$ brown dwarf at distance $\sim 9.0$ kpc, or a $\sim 0.073~M_{\odot}$ ultracool dwarf at distance $\sim 9.8$ kpc. Combining the estimated lens properties with a Bayesian analysis using a Galactic model, we find a $\sim 35$ per cent probability for the lens to be a bulge object and $\sim 65$ per cent to be a background disc object.

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arXiv2019

OGLE-2018-BLG-1011L\lowercase{b,c}: Microlensing Planetary System with Two Giant Planets Orbiting a Low-mass Star

We report a multiplanetary system found from the analysis of microlensing event OGLE-2018-BLG-1011, for which the light curve exhibits a double-bump anomaly around the peak. We find that the anomaly cannot be fully explained by the binary-lens or binary-source interpretations and its description requires the introduction of an additional lens component. The 3L1S (3 lens components and a single source) modeling yields three sets of solutions, in which one set of solutions indicates that the lens is a planetary system in a binary, while the other two sets imply that the lens is a multiplanetary system. By investigating the fits of the individual models to the detailed light curve structure, we find that the multiple-planet solution with planet-to-host mass ratios $\sim 9.5\times 10^{-3}$ and $\sim 15\times 10^{-3}$ are favored over the other solutions. From the Bayesian analysis, we find that the lens is composed of two planets with masses $1.8^{+3..4}_{-1.1}~M_{\rm J}$ and $2.8^{+5.1}_{-1.7}~M_{\rm J}$ around a host with a mass $0.18^{+0.33}_{-0.10}~M_\odot$ and located at a distance $7.1^{+1.1}_{-1.5}~{\rm kpc}$. The estimated distance indicates that the lens is the farthest system among the known multiplanetary systems. The projected planet-host separations are $a_{\perp,2}=1.8^{+2.1}_{-1.5}~{\rm au}$ ($0.8^{+0.9}_{-0.6}~{\rm au}$) and $a_{\perp,3}=0.8^{+0.9}_{-0.6}~{\rm au}$, where the values of $a_{\perp,2}$ in and out the parenthesis are the separations corresponding to the two degenerate solutions, indicating that both planets are located beyond the snow line of the host, as with the other four multiplanetary systems previously found by microlensing.

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arXiv2018

KMT-2017-BLG-0165Lb: A Super-Neptune mass planet Orbiting a Sun-like Host Star

We report the discovery of a low mass-ratio planet $(q = 1.3\times10^{-4})$, i.e., 2.5 times higher than the Neptune/Sun ratio. The planetary system was discovered from the analysis of the KMT-2017-BLG-0165 microlensing event, which has an obvious short-term deviation from the underlying light curve produced by the host of the planet. Although the fit improvement with the microlens parallax effect is relatively low, one component of the parallax vector is strongly constrained from the light curve, making it possible to narrow down the uncertainties of the lens physical properties. A Bayesian analysis yields that the planet has a super-Neptune mass $(M_{2}=34_{-12}^{+15}~M_{\oplus})$ orbiting a Sun-like star $(M_{1}=0.76_{-0.27}^{+0.34}~M_{\odot})$ located at $4.5~{\rm kpc}$. The blended light is consistent with these host properties. The projected planet-host separation is $a_{\bot}={3.45_{-0.95}^{+0.98}}~{\rm AU}$, implying that the planet is located outside the snowline of the host, i.e., $a_{sl}\sim2.1~{\rm AU}$. KMT-2017-BLG-0165Lb is the sixteenth microlensing planet with mass ratio $q<3\times10^{-4}$. Using the fifteen of these planets with unambiguous mass-ratio measurements, we apply a likelihood analysis to investigate the form of the mass-ratio function in this regime. If we adopt a broken power law for the form of this function, then the break is at $q_{\rm br}\simeq0.55\times10^{-4}$, which is much lower than previously estimated. Moreover, the change of the power law slope, $ζ>3.3$ is quite severe. Alternatively, the distribution is also suggestive of a "pile-up" of planets at Neptune-like mass ratios, below which there is a dramatic drop in frequency.

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arXiv2017

SPIRou Input Catalogue: Global properties of 440 M dwarfs observed with ESPaDOnS at CFHT

Present and future high-precision radial-velocity spectrometers dedicated to the discovery of low-mass planets orbiting low-mass dwarfs need to focus on the best selected stars to make an efficient use of telescope time. In the framework of the preparation of the SPIRou Input Catalog, the CoolSnap program aims at screening M dwarfs in the solar neighborhood against binarity, rapid rotation, activity, ... To optimize the selection, the present paper describes the methods used to compute effective temperature, metallicity, projected rotation velocity of a large sample of 440 M dwarfs observed in the visible with the high-resolution spectro-polarimeter ESPaDOnS at CFHT. It also summarizes known and newly-discovered spectroscopic binaries, and stars known to belong to visual multiple systems. A calibration of the projected rotation velocity versus measured line widths for M dwarfs observed by the ESPaDOnS spectro-polarimeter is derived, and the resulting values are compared to equatorial rotation velocities deduced from rotation periods and radii. A comparison of the derived effective temperatures and metallicities with literature values is also conducted. Finally, the radial velocity uncertainty of each star in the sample is estimated, to narrow down the selection of stars to be included into the SPIRou Input Catalogue (SPIC).

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arXiv2017

Observational calibration of the projection factor of Cepheids - III. The long-period Galactic Cepheid RS Puppis

The projection factor (p-factor) is an essential component of the classical Baade-Wesselink (BW) technique, that is commonly used to determine the distances to pulsating stars. It is a multiplicative parameter used to convert radial velocities into pulsational velocities. As the BW distances are linearly proportional to the p-factor, its accurate calibration for Cepheids is of critical importance for the reliability of their distance scale. We focus on the observational determination of the p-factor of the long-period Cepheid RS Pup (P = 41.5 days). This star is particularly important as this is one of the brightest Cepheids in the Galaxy and an analog of the Cepheids used to determine extragalactic distances. An accurate distance of 1910 +/- 80 pc (+/- 4.2%) has recently been determined for RS Pup using the light echoes propagating in its circumstellar nebula. We combine this distance with new VLTI/PIONIER interferometric angular diameters, photometry and radial velocities to derive the p-factor of RS Pup using the code Spectro-Photo-Interferometry of Pulsating Stars (SPIPS). We obtain p = 1.250 +/- 0.064 (+/-5.1%), defined for cross-correlation radial velocities. Together with measurements from the literature, the p-factor of RS Pup confirms the good agreement of a constant p = 1.293 +/- 0.039 (+/-3.0%) model with the observations. We conclude that the p-factor of Cepheids is constant or mildly variable over a broad range of periods (3.7 to 41.5 days).

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arXiv2013

Reddening and Extinction Toward the Galactic Bulge from OGLE-III: The Inner Milky Way's Rv ~ 2.5 Extinction Curve

We combine VI photometry from OGLE-III with VVV and 2MASS measurements of E(J-K_{s}) to resolve the longstanding problem of the non-standard optical extinction toward the Galactic bulge. We show that the extinction is well-fit by the relation A_{I} = 0.7465*E(V-I) + 1.3700*E(J-K_{s}), or, equivalently, A_{I} = 1.217*E(V-I)(1+1.126*(E(J-K_{s})/E(V-I)-0.3433)). The optical and near-IR reddening law toward the inner Galaxy approximately follows an R_{V} \approx 2.5 extinction curve with a dispersion σ_{R_{V}} \approx 0.2, consistent with extragalactic investigations of the hosts of type Ia SNe. Differential reddening is shown to be significant on scales as small as as our mean field size of 6', with the 1σ dispersion in reddening averaging 9% of total reddening for our fields. The intrinsic luminosity parameters of the Galactic bulge red clump (RC) are derived to be (M_{I,RC}, σ_{I,RC,0}, (V-I)_{RC,0}, σ_{(V-I)_{RC}}, (J-K_{s})_{RC,0}) = (-0.12, 0.09, 1.06, 0.121, 0.66). Our measurements of the RC brightness, brightness dispersion and number counts allow us to estimate several Galactic bulge structural parameters. We estimate a distance to the Galactic center of 8.20 kpc, resolving previous discrepancies in distance determinations to the bulge based on I-band observations. We measure an upper bound on the tilt α \approx 40°. between the bar's major axis and the Sun-Galactic center line of sight, though our brightness peaks are consistent with predictions of an N-body model oriented at α \approx 25°. The number of RC stars suggests a total stellar mass for the Galactic bulge of 2.0*10^{10} M_{\odot}, if one assumes a Salpeter IMF.

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arXiv2012

Cepheid distances from the Baade-Wesselink method

Recent progress on Baade-Wesselink (BW)-type techniques to determine the distances to classical Cepheids is reviewed. Particular emphasis is placed on the near-infrared surface-brightness (IRSB) version of the BW method. Its most recent calibration is described and shown to be capable of yielding individual Cepheid distances accurate to 6%, including systematic uncertainties. Cepheid distances from the IRSB method are compared to those determined from open cluster zero-age main-sequence fitting for Cepheids located in Galactic open clusters, yielding excellent agreement between the IRSB and cluster Cepheid distance scales. Results for the Cepheid period-luminosity (PL) relation in near-infrared and optical bands based on IRSB distances and the question of the universality of the Cepheid PL relation are discussed. Results from other implementations of the BW method are compared to the IRSB distance scale and possible reasons for discrepancies are identified.

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arXiv2011

The EFIGI catalogue of 4458 nearby galaxies with detailed morphology

Now that large databases of resolved galaxy images are provided by modern imaging surveys, advanced morphological studies can be envisioned, urging for well defined calibration samples. We present the EFIGI catalogue, a multiwavelength database specifically designed for a dense sampling of all Hubble types. The catalogue merges data from standard surveys and catalogues (Principal Galaxy Catalogue, Sloan Digital Sky Survey, Value-Added Galaxy Catalogue, HyperLeda, and the NASA Extragalactic Database) and provides detailed morphological information. Imaging data are obtained from the SDSS DR4 in the u, g, r, i, and z bands for a sample of 4458 PGC galaxies, whereas photometric and spectroscopic data are obtained from the SDSS DR5 catalogue. Point-Spread Function models are derived in all five bands. Composite colour images of all objects are visually examined by a group of astronomers, and galaxies are staged along the Hubble sequence and classified according to 16 morphological attributes describing their structure, texture, as well as environment and appearance on a five-level scale. The EFIGI Hubble sequence shows remarkable agreement with the RC3 Revised Hubble Sequence. The main characteristics and reliability of the catalogue are examined, including photometric completeness, type mix, systematic trends and correlations. The final EFIGI database is a large sub-sample of the local Universe, with a dense sampling of Sd, Sdm, Sm and Im types compared to magnitude-limited catalogues. We estimate the photometric catalogue to be more than ~ 80% complete for galaxies with 10<g<14. More than 99.5% of EFIGI galaxies have a known redshift in the HyperLeda and NED databases.

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arXiv2008

The angular sizes of dwarf stars and subgiants - Non-linear surface brightness relations in BVRcIc from interferometry

Context: The prediction of stellar angular diameters from broadband photometry plays an important role for different applications. In particular, long-baseline interferometry, gravitational microlensing, extrasolar planet transits, and many other observing techniques require accurate predictions of the angular size of stars. These predictions are based on the surface brightness-colour (SBC) relations. Aims: Our goal is to calibrate general-purpose SBC relations using visible colours, the most commonly available data for most stars. Methods: We compiled the existing long-baseline interferometric observations of nearby dwarf and subgiant stars and the corresponding broadband photometry in the Johnson B V and Cousins Rc Ic bands. We then adjusted polynomial SBC models to these data. Results: Due to the presence of spectral features that depend on the effective temperature, the SBC relations are usually not linear for visible colours. We present polynomial fits that can be employed with BVRcIc based colours to predict the limb-darkened angular diameters (i.e. photospheric) of dwarf and subgiant stars with a typical accuracy of 5%. Conclusions: The derived polynomial relations provide a satisfactory approximation to the observed surface brightness of nearby dwarfs and subgiants. For distant stars, the interstellar reddening should be taken into account, and will usually introduce an additional uncertainty to the predicted angular diameters.

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arXiv2008

The long-period Galactic Cepheid RS Puppis - I. A geometric distance from its light echoes

Context: The bright southern Cepheid RS Pup is surrounded by a circumstellar nebula reflecting the light from the central star. The propagation of the light variations from the Cepheid inside the dusty nebula creates spectacular light echoes that can be observed up to large distances from the star itself. This phenomenon is currently unique in this class of stars. Aims: For this relatively distant star, the trigonometric parallax available from Hipparcos has a low accuracy. A careful observation of the light echoes has the potential to provide a very accurate, geometric distance to RS Pup. Methods: We obtained a series of CCD images of RS Pup with the NTT/EMMI instrument, covering the variation period of the star (P=41.4d). This allowed us to track the progression of the light wavefronts over the nebular features surrounding the star. We measured precisely the phase lag of the photometric variation in several regions of the circumstellar nebula. Results: From our phase lag measurements, we derived a geometric distance of 1992 +/- 28 pc to RS Pup. This distance is affected by a total uncertainty of 1.4%, and corresponds to a parallax of pi = 0.502 +/- 0.007 mas and a distance modulus of mu = 11.50 +/- 0.03. Conclusions: The geometric distance we derived is by far the most accurate to a Cepheid, and among the most accurate to any star. RS Pup appears both as somewhat neglected and particularly promising to investigate the mass-loss history of Cepheids. Thanks to its highly accurate distance, it is also bound to become an important luminosity fiducial for the long period part of the period-luminosity diagram.

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