A Search for Giant Planet Companions to T Tauri Stars
Abstract
We present results from an ongoing multiwavelength radial velocity (RV) survey of the Taurus-Auriga star-forming region as part of our effort to identify pre-main-sequence giant planet hosts. These 1-3 Myr old T Tauri stars present significant challenges to traditional RV surveys. The presence of strong magnetic fields gives rise to large, cool star spots. These spots introduce significant RV jitter which can mimic the velocity modulation from a planet-mass companion. To distinguish between spot-induced and planet-induced RV modulation, we conduct observations at ~6700 Å and ~2.3 μm and measure the wavelength dependence (if any) in the RV amplitude. CSHELL observations of the known exoplanet host Gl 86 demonstrate our ability to detect not only hot Jupiters in the near-infrared but also secular trends from more distant companions. Observations of nine very young stars reveal a typical reduction in RV amplitude at the longer wavelengths by a factor of ~2-3. While we cannot confirm the presence of planets in this sample, three targets show different periodicities in the two wavelength regions. This suggests different physical mechanisms underlying the optical and the K-band variability.
Additional Information
© 2012 American Astronomical Society. Received 2012 August 16; accepted 2012 November 4; published 2012 December 5. The authors thank our anonymous referee for a thorough and enthusiastic review. We acknowledge the SIM Young Planets Key Project for research support; funding was also provided by NASA Origins grants 05-SSO05-86 and 07-SSO07- 86. This work made use of the SIMBAD database, the NASA Astrophysics Data System, and the Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS), a joint project of the University of Massachusetts and IPAC/Caltech, funded by NASA and the NSF. Some of the data presented herein were obtained at the W.M. Keck Observatory, which is operated as a scientific partnership among the California Institute of Technology, the University of California and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The Observatory was made possible by the generous financial support of the W.M. Keck Foundation. We recognize the significant cultural role that Mauna Kea plays in the indigenous Hawaiian community and are grateful for the opportunity to observe there. Facilities: IRTF (CSHELL), Keck:II (NIRSPEC), Smith (Tull)Attached Files
Published - 0004-637X_761_2_164.pdf
Files
| Name | Size | Download all |
|---|---|---|
|
md5:6b9f177b97799b07536259bae0eb041c
|
1.1 MB | Preview Download |
Additional details
- Eprint ID
- 36342
- Resolver ID
- CaltechAUTHORS:20130114-084816769
- 05-SSO05-86
- NASA Origins Grant
- 07-SSO07-86
- NASA Origins Grant
- NASA
- NSF
- W. M. Keck Foundation
- Created
-
2013-01-14Created from EPrint's datestamp field
- Updated
-
2021-11-09Created from EPrint's last_modified field