Astrophysics> Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
arXiv:0912.2599 (astro-ph)
[Submitted on 14 Dec 2009]
Title:A Super-Earth and two Neptunes Orbiting the Nearby Sun-like star 61 Virginis
Authors:Steven S. Vogt, Robert A. Wittenmyer, R. Paul Butler, Simon O'Toole, Gregory W. Henry, Eugenio J. Rivera, Stefano Meschiari, Gregory Laughlin, C. G. Tinney, Hugh R. A. Jones, Jeremy Bailey, Brad D. Carter, Konstantin Batygin
View PDF
Abstract: We present precision radial velocity (RV) data that reveal a multiple exoplanet system orbiting the bright nearby G5V star 61 Virginis. Our 4.6 years of combined Keck/HIRES and Anglo-Australian Telescope precision RVs indicate the hitherto unknown presence of at least three planets orbiting this well-studied star. These planets are all on low-eccentricity orbits with periods of 4.2, 38.0, and 124.0 days, and projected masses (M sini) of 5.1, 18.2, and 24.0 M_Earth, respectively. Test integrations of systems consistent with the RV data suggest that the configuration is dynamically stable. Depending on the effectiveness of tidal dissipation within the inner planet, the inner two planets may have evolved into an eccentricity fixed-point configuration in which the apsidal lines of all three planets corotate. This conjecture can be tested with additional observations. We present a 16-year time series of photometric observations of 61 Virginis, which comprise 1194 individual measurements, and indicate that it has excellent photometric stability. No significant photometric variations at the periods of the proposed planets have been detected. This new system is the first known example of a G-type Sun-like star hosting a Super-Earth mass planet. It joins HD 75732 (55 Cnc), HD 69830, GJ 581, HD 40307, and GJ 876 as a growing group of exoplanet systems that have multiple planets orbiting with periods less than an Earth-year. The ubiquity of such systems portends that space-based transit-search missions such as KEPLER and COROT will find many multi-transiting systems.
| Comments: | 43 pages, 8 figures |
| Subjects: | Earth and Planetary Astrophysics (astro-ph.EP) |
| Cite as: | arXiv:0912.2599 [astro-ph.EP] |
| (or arXiv:0912.2599v1 [astro-ph.EP] for this version) | |
| https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.0912.2599
arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite
|
|
| Journal reference: | Astrophys.J.708:1366-1375,2010 |
| Related DOI: | https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/708/2/1366
DOI(s) linking to related resources
|
Current browse context:
astro-ph.EP
Change to browse by:
References & Citations
export BibTeX citation
Loading...
BibTeX formatted citation
×
Data provided by:
Bibliographic and Citation Tools
Bibliographic Explorer (What is the Explorer?)
Connected Papers (What is Connected Papers?)
Litmaps (What is Litmaps?)
scite Smart Citations (What are Smart Citations?)
Code, Data and Media Associated with this Article
alphaXiv (What is alphaXiv?)
CatalyzeX Code Finder for Papers (What is CatalyzeX?)
DagsHub (What is DagsHub?)
Gotit.pub (What is GotitPub?)
Hugging Face (What is Huggingface?)
Papers with Code (What is Papers with Code?)
ScienceCast (What is ScienceCast?)
Demos
Recommenders and Search Tools
Influence Flower (What are Influence Flowers?)
CORE Recommender (What is CORE?)
IArxiv Recommender
(What is IArxiv?)
arXivLabs: experimental projects with community collaborators
arXivLabs is a framework that allows collaborators to develop and share new arXiv features directly on our website.
Both individuals and organizations that work with arXivLabs have embraced and accepted our values of openness, community, excellence, and user data privacy. arXiv is committed to these values and only works with partners that adhere to them.
Have an idea for a project that will add value for arXiv's community? Learn more about arXivLabs.