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Francesco Pepe

Publications and source records attributed to Francesco Pepe.

9 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2020

TOI-1235 b: A Keystone Super-Earth for Testing Radius Valley Emergence Models around Early M Dwarfs

Small planets on close-in orbits tend to exhibit envelope mass fractions of either effectively zero or up to a few percent depending on their size and orbital period. Models of thermally driven atmospheric mass loss and of terrestrial planet formation in a gas-poor environment make distinct predictions regarding the location of this rocky/nonrocky transition in period–radius space. Here we present the confirmation of TOI-1235 b (P = 3.44 days, r(p)=1.738(+0.087,-0.076)R(ꚛ)), a planet whose size and period are intermediate between the competing model predictions, thus making the system an important test case for emergence models of the rocky/nonrocky transition around early M dwarfs (R(s) = 0.630 ± 0.015 R(ꙩ), M(s) = 0.640 ± 0.016 M(ꙩ)). We confirm the TESS planet discovery using reconnaissance spectroscopy, ground-based photometry, high-resolution imaging, and a set of 38 precise radial velocities (RVs) from HARPS-N and HIRES. We measure a planet mass of 6.91(+0.75,-0.85) M(ꚛ), which implies an iron core mass fraction of 20(+15,-12)% in the absence of a gaseous envelope. The bulk composition of TOI-1235 b is therefore consistent with being Earth-like, and we constrain an H/He envelope mass fraction to be <0.5% at 90% confidence. Our results are consistent with model predictions from thermally driven atmospheric mass loss but not with gas-poor formation, suggesting that the former class of processes remains efficient at sculpting close-in planets around early M dwarfs. Our RV analysis also reveals a strong periodicity close to the first harmonic of the photometrically determined stellar rotation period that we treat as stellar activity, despite other lines of evidence favoring a planetary origin (P=21.8(+0.9,-0.8) days, m(p) sin i= 13.0(+3.8,-5.3)M(ꚛ)) that cannot be firmly ruled out by our data.

Ryan Cloutier↗
NASA NTRS2020

TOI-1235 b: A Keystone Super-Earth for Testing Radius Valley Emergence Models around Early M Dwarfs

Small planets on close-in orbits tend to exhibit envelope mass fractions of either effectively zero or up to a few percent depending on their size and orbital period. Models of thermally driven atmospheric mass loss and of terrestrial planet formation in a gas-poor environment make distinct predictions regarding the location of this rocky/nonrocky transition in period–radius space. Here we present the confirmation of TOI-1235 b (P = 3.44 days, r(p)=1.738 (+0.087, -0.076) Rꚛ), a planet whose size and period are intermediate between the competing model predictions, thus making the system an important test case for emergence models of the rocky/nonrocky transition around early M dwarfs (R(s) = 0.630 ± 0.015 Rꙩ, M(s) = 0.640 ± 0.016 Mꙩ}$). We confirm the TESS planet discovery using reconnaissance spectroscopy, ground-based photometry, high-resolution imaging, and a set of 38 precise radial velocities (RVs) from HARPS-N and HIRES. We measure a planet mass of 6.91 (+0.75, -0.85) Mꚛ, which implies an iron core mass fraction of 20 (+15,-12)% in the absence of a gaseous envelope. The bulk composition of TOI-1235 b is therefore consistent with being Earth-like, and we constrain an H/He envelope mass fraction to be <0.5% at 90% confidence. Our results are consistent with model predictions from thermally driven atmospheric mass loss but not with gas-poor formation, suggesting that the former class of processes remains efficient at sculpting close-in planets around early M dwarfs. Our RV analysis also reveals a strong periodicity close to the first harmonic of the photometrically determined stellar rotation period that we treat as stellar activity, despite other lines of evidence favoring a planetary origin P= 21.8(+0.9, _0.8) days, m(p)sin i= 13.0 (+3.8,-5.3) Mꚛ) that cannot be firmly ruled out by our data.

Ryan Cloutier↗
NASA NTRS2020

TOI-1338: TESS’ First Transiting Circumbinary Planet

We report the detection of the first circumbinary planet (CBP) found by Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). The target, a known eclipsing binary, was observed in sectors 1 through 12 at 30 minute cadence and in sectors 4 through 12 at 2 minute cadence. It consists of two stars with masses of 1.1M(ʘ) and 0.3M(ʘ) on a slightly eccentric (0.16), 14.6 day orbit, producing prominent primary eclipses and shallow secondary eclipses. The planet has a radius of ∼6.9R(⊕) and was observed to make three transits across the primary star of roughly equal depths (∼0.2%) but different durations—a common signature of transiting CBPs. Its orbit is nearly circular (e≈0.09) with an orbital period of 95.2 days. The orbital planes of the binary and the planet are aligned to within ∼1°. To obtain a complete solution for the system, we combined the TESS photometry with existing ground-based radialvelocity observations in a numerical photometric-dynamical model. The system demonstrates the discovery potential of TESS for CBPs and provides further understanding of the formation and evolution of planets orbiting close binary stars.

Veselin B. Kostov↗
NASA NTRS2019

Three Red Suns in the Sky: A Transiting, Terrestrial Planet in a Triple M-dwarf System at 6.9 pc

We present the discovery from Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) data of LTT 1445Ab. At a distance of 6.9 pc, it is the second nearest transiting exoplanet system found to date, and the closest one known for which the primary is an M dwarf. The host stellar system consists of three mid-to-late M dwarfs in a hierarchical configuration, which are blended in one TESS pixel. We use MEarth data and results from the Science Processing Operations Center data validation report to determine that the planet transits the primary star in the system. The planet has a radius of {1.38}_{-0.12}^{+0.13} {R}_{\oplus }, an orbital period of {5.35882}_{-0.00031}^{+0.00030} days, and an equilibrium temperature of {433}_{-27}^{+28} K. With radial velocities from the High Accuracy Radial Velocity Planet Searcher, we place a 3σ upper mass limit of 8.4 {M}_{\oplus } on the planet. LTT 1445Ab provides one of the best opportunities to date for the spectroscopic study of the atmosphere of a terrestrial world. We also present a detailed characterization of the host stellar system. We use high-resolution spectroscopy and imaging to rule out the presence of any other close stellar or brown dwarf companions. Nineteen years of photometric monitoring of A and BC indicate a moderate amount of variability, in agreement with that observed in the TESS light-curve data. We derive a preliminary astrometric orbit for the BC pair that reveals an edge-on and eccentric configuration. The presence of a transiting planet in this system hints that the entire system may be co-planar, implying that the system may have formed from the early fragmentation of an individual protostellar core.

Binaries↗
NASA NTRS2019

HD 2685 b: a hot Jupiter orbiting an early F-type star detected by TESS

We report on the confirmation of a transiting giant planet around the relatively hot (T(eff) = 6801 ± 76 K) star HD2685, whose transit signal was detected in Sector 1 data of NASA’s TESS mission. We confirmed the planetary nature of the transit signal using Doppler velocimetric measurements with CHIRON, CORALIE, and FEROS, as well as using photometric data obtained with the Chilean-Hungarian Automated Telescope and the Las Cumbres Observatory. From the joint analysis of photometry and radial velocities, we derived the following parameters for HD2685 b: P = 4.12688(+0.00005,-0.00004) days, e = 0.091(+0.039, -0.047), MP = 1.17 ± 0.12 M(J) , and R(P) =1.44 ± 0.05 R(J). This system is a typical example of an inflated transiting hot Jupiter in a low-eccentricity orbit. Based on the apparent visual magnitude (V = 9.6 mag) of the host star, this is one of the brightest known stars hosting a transiting hot Jupiter, and it is a good example of the upcoming systems that will be detected by TESS during the two-year primary mission. This is also an excellent target for future ground- and space-based atmospheric characterization as well as a good candidate for measuring the projected spin-orbit misalignment angle through the Rossiter–McLaughlin effect.

Matías I. Jones↗