Search Publications
The Stellar Velocity Distribution Function in the Milky Way Galaxy
Majewski, Steven R.; Beers, Timothy C.; Hayes, Christian R. +6 more
The stellar velocity distribution function in the solar vicinity is reexamined using data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE) survey's DR16 and Gaia DR2. By exploiting APOGEE's ability to chemically discriminate with great reliability the thin-disk, thick-disk, and (accreted) halo popul…
Exploring the Mass-loss Histories of the Red Supergiants
Humphreys, Roberta M.; Jones, Terry J.; Gordon, Michael S. +1 more
We report mid- to far-infrared imaging and photometry from 7 to 37 µm with SOFIA/FORCAST and 2 µm adaptive optics imaging with LBTI/LMIRCam of a large sample of red supergiants (RSGs) in four Galactic clusters: RSGC1, RSGC2 = Stephenson 2, RSGC3, and NGC 7419. The RSGs in these clusters cover their expected range in luminosity and init…
Transits of Known Planets Orbiting a Naked-eye Star
Butler, R. Paul; Kristiansen, Martti H.; Vanderburg, Andrew +45 more
Some of the most scientifically valuable transiting planets are those that were already known from radial velocity (RV) surveys. This is primarily because their orbits are well characterized and they preferentially orbit bright stars that are the targets of RV surveys. The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) provides an opportunity to sur…
Moderate-resolution K-band Spectroscopy of Substellar Companion κ Andromedae b
Macintosh, Bruce; Barman, Travis S.; Marois, Christian +5 more
We present moderate-resolution (R ∼ 4000) K-band spectra of the "super-Jupiter," κ Andromedae b. The data were taken with the OSIRIS integral field spectrograph at Keck Observatory. The spectra reveal resolved molecular lines from H2O and CO, and are compared to a custom PHOENIX atmosphere model grid appropriate for young planetary-mass…
An Updated Visual Orbit of the Directly Imaged Exoplanet 51 Eridani b and Prospects for a Dynamical Mass Measurement with Gaia
Duchêne, Gaspard; Esposito, Thomas M.; Hom, Justin +51 more
We present a revision to the visual orbit of the young, directly imaged exoplanet 51 Eridani b using four years of observations with the Gemini Planet Imager. The relative astrometry is consistent with an eccentric (e={0.53}-0.13+0.09) orbit at an intermediate inclination (i={136}-11+10 °), although circ…
KELT-11 b: Abundances of Water and Constraints on Carbon-bearing Molecules from the Hubble Transmission Spectrum
Tsiaras, A.; Waldmann, I. P.; Tinetti, G. +4 more
In the past decade, the analysis of exoplanet atmospheric spectra has revealed the presence of water vapor in almost all the planets observed, with the exception of a fraction of overcast planets. Indeed, water vapor presents a large absorption signature in the wavelength coverage of the Hubble Space Telescope's (HST) Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3), w…
HATS-71b: A Giant Planet Transiting an M3 Dwarf Star in TESS Sector 1
Kim, J.; Butler, R. P.; Winn, J. N. +41 more
We report the discovery of HATS-71b, a transiting gas giant planet on a $P=3.7955$ day orbit around a $G=15.35$ mag M3 dwarf star. HATS-71 is the coolest M dwarf star known to host a hot Jupiter. The loss of light during transits is 4.7%, more than in any other confirmed transiting planet system. The planet was identified as a candidate by the gro…
An Investigation of Poorly Studied Open Cluster NGC 4337 Using Multicolor Photometric and Gaia DR2 Astrometric Data
Bisht, D.; Rangwal, Geeta; Yadav, R. K. S. +5 more
We present a comprehensive analysis (photometric and kinematical) of the poorly studied open cluster NGC 4337 using 2MASS, WISE, APASS, and Gaia DR2 databases. By determining the membership probabilities of stars, we identified the 624 most probable members with membership probability higher than 50% by using proper motion and parallax data taken …
TESS Reveals a Short-period Sub-Neptune Sibling (HD 86226c) to a Known Long-period Giant Planet
Butler, R. Paul; Torres, Guillermo; Barclay, Thomas +44 more
The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite mission was designed to find transiting planets around bright, nearby stars. Here, we present the detection and mass measurement of a small, short-period (≈4 days) transiting planet around the bright (V = 7.9), solar-type star HD 86226 (TOI-652, TIC 22221375), previously known to host a long-period (∼1600 …
Loose Ends for the Exomoon Candidate Host Kepler-1625b
Angus, Ruth; Howard, Andrew W.; Kipping, David +2 more
The claim of an exomoon candidate in the Kepler-1625b system has generated substantial discussion regarding possible alternative explanations for the purported signal. In this work, we examine these possibilities in detail. First, the effect of more flexible trend models is explored, and we show that sufficiently flexible models are capable of att…