arXiv subjects

Saeed Hojjatpanah

Publications and source records attributed to Saeed Hojjatpanah.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2023

Discovery and characterisation of two Neptune-mass planets orbiting HD 212729 with TESS

We report the discovery of two exoplanets orbiting around HD 212729 (TOI\,1052, TIC 317060587), a $T_{\rm eff}=6146$K star with V=9.51 observed by TESS in Sectors 1 and 13. One exoplanet, TOI-1052b, is Neptune-mass and transits the star, and an additional planet TOI-1052c is observed in radial velocities but not seen to transit. We confirm the planetary nature of TOI-1052b using precise radial velocity observations from HARPS and determined its parameters in a joint RV and photometry analysis. TOI-1052b has a radius of $2.87^{+0.29}_{-0.24}$ R$_{\oplus}$, a mass of $16.9\pm 1.7$ M$_{\oplus}$, and an orbital period of 9.14 days. TOI-1052c does not show any transits in the TESS data, and has a minimum mass of $34.3^{+4.1}_{-3.7}$ M$_{\oplus}$ and an orbital period of 35.8 days, placing it just interior to the 4:1 mean motion resonance. Both planets are best fit by relatively high but only marginally significant eccentricities of $0.18^{+0.09}_{-0.07}$ for planet b and $0.24^{+0.09}_{-0.08}$ for planet c. We perform a dynamical analysis and internal structure model of the planets as well as deriving stellar parameters and chemical abundances. The mean density of TOI-1052b is $3.9^{+1.7}_{-1.3}$ g cm$^{-3}$ consistent with an internal structure similar to Neptune. A nearby star is observed in Gaia DR3 with the same distance and proper motion as TOI-1052, at a sky projected separation of ~1500AU, making this a potential wide binary star system.

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arXiv2021

The Magellan-TESS Survey I: Survey Description and Mid-Survey Results

$Kepler$ revealed that roughly one-third of Sun-like stars host planets orbiting within 100 days and between the size of Earth and Neptune. How do these planets form, what are they made of, and do they represent a continuous population or multiple populations? To help address these questions, we began the Magellan-TESS Survey (MTS), which uses Magellan II/PFS to obtain radial velocity (RV) masses of 30 TESS-detected exoplanets and develops an analysis framework that connects observed planet distributions to underlying populations. In the past, small planet RV measurements have been challenging to obtain due to host star faintness and low RV semi-amplitudes, and challenging to interpret due to the potential biases in target selection and observation planning decisions. The MTS attempts to minimize these biases by focusing on bright TESS targets and employing a quantitative selection function and observing strategy. In this paper, we (1) describe our motivation and survey strategy, (2) present our first catalog of planet density constraints for 27 TESS Objects of Interest (TOIs; 22 in our population analysis sample, 12 that are members of the same systems), and (3) employ a hierarchical Bayesian model to produce preliminary constraints on the mass-radius (M-R) relation. We find that the biases causing previous M-R relations to predict fairly high masses at $1~R_\oplus$ have been reduced. This work can inform more detailed studies of individual systems and offer a framework that can be applied to future RV surveys with the goal of population inferences.

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arXiv2021

TOI-431/HIP 26013: a super-Earth and a sub-Neptune transiting a bright, early K dwarf, with a third RV planet

We present the bright (V$_{mag} = 9.12$), multi-planet system TOI-431, characterised with photometry and radial velocities. We estimate the stellar rotation period to be $30.5 \pm 0.7$ days using archival photometry and radial velocities. TOI-431b is a super-Earth with a period of 0.49 days, a radius of 1.28 $\pm$ 0.04 R$_{\oplus}$, a mass of $3.07 \pm 0.35$ M$_{\oplus}$, and a density of $8.0 \pm 1.0$ g cm$^{-3}$; TOI-431d is a sub-Neptune with a period of 12.46 days, a radius of $3.29 \pm 0.09$ R$_{\oplus}$, a mass of $9.90^{+1.53}_{-1.49}$ M$_{\oplus}$, and a density of $1.36 \pm 0.25$ g cm$^{-3}$. We find a third planet, TOI-431c, in the HARPS radial velocity data, but it is not seen to transit in the TESS light curves. It has an $M \sin i$ of $2.83^{+0.41}_{-0.34}$ M$_{\oplus}$, and a period of 4.85 days. TOI-431d likely has an extended atmosphere and is one of the most well-suited TESS discoveries for atmospheric characterisation, while the super-Earth TOI-431b may be a stripped core. These planets straddle the radius gap, presenting an interesting case-study for atmospheric evolution, and TOI-431b is a prime TESS discovery for the study of rocky planet phase curves.

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arXiv2020

A remnant planetary core in the hot-Neptune desert

The interiors of giant planets remain poorly understood. Even for the planets in the Solar System, difficulties in observation lead to large uncertainties in the properties of planetary cores. Exoplanets that have undergone rare evolutionary processes provide a route to understanding planetary interiors. Planets found in and near the typically barren hot-Neptune 'desert' (a region in mass-radius space that contains few planets) have proved to be particularly valuable in this regard. These planets include HD149026b, which is thought to have an unusually massive core, and recent discoveries such as LTT9779b and NGTS-4b, on which photoevaporation has removed a substantial part of their outer atmospheres. Here we report observations of the planet TOI-849b, which has a radius smaller than Neptune's but an anomalously large mass of $39.1^{+2.7}_{-2.6}$ Earth masses and a density of $5.2^{+0.7}_{-0.8}$ grams per cubic centimetre, similar to Earth's. Interior structure models suggest that any gaseous envelope of pure hydrogen and helium consists of no more than $3.9^{+0.8}_{-0.9}$ per cent of the total planetary mass. The planet could have been a gas giant before undergoing extreme mass loss via thermal self-disruption or giant planet collisions, or it could have avoided substantial gas accretion, perhaps through gap opening or late formation. Although photoevaporation rates cannot account for the mass loss required to reduce a Jupiter-like gas giant, they can remove a small (a few Earth masses) hydrogen and helium envelope on timescales of several billion years, implying that any remaining atmosphere on TOI-849b is likely to be enriched by water or other volatiles from the planetary interior. We conclude that TOI-849b is the remnant core of a giant planet.

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