THE PROPOSED GIANT PLANET ORBITING VB 10 DOES NOT EXIST
- Institut fuer Astrophysik, Georg-August-Universitaet, Friedrich-Hund-Platz 1, 37077 Goettingen (Germany)
- Lund Observatory, Lund University, P.O. Box 43, 22100 Lund (Sweden)
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA 30302 (United States)
- Hamburger Sternwarte, Gojenbergsweg 112, 21029 Hamburg (Germany)
We present high-precision relative radial velocities of the very low mass star VB 10 that were obtained over a time span of 0.61 years as part of an ongoing search for planets around stars at the end of the main sequence. The radial velocities were measured from high-resolution near-infrared spectra obtained using the CRIRES instrument on the Very Large Telescope with an ammonia gas cell. The typical internal precision of the measurements is 10 m s{sup -1}. These data do not exhibit significant variability and are essentially constant at a level consistent with the measurement uncertainties. Therefore, we do not detect the radial velocity variations of VB 10 expected due to the presence of an orbiting giant planet similar to that recently proposed by Pravdo and Shaklan based on apparent astrometric perturbations. In addition, we do not confirm the {approx}1 km s{sup -1} radial velocity variability of the star tentatively detected by Zapatero Osorio and colleagues with lower precision measurements. Our measurements rule out planets with M {sub p} > 3 M {sub Jup} and the orbital period and inclination suggested by Pravdo and Shaklan at better than 5{sigma} confidence. We conclude that the planet detection claimed by Pravdo and Shaklan is spurious on the basis of this result. Although the outcome of this work is a non-detection, it illustrates the potential of using ammonia cell radial velocities to detect planets around very low mass stars.
- OSTI ID:
- 21305118
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal Letters, Vol. 711, Issue 1; Other Information: DOI: 10.1088/2041-8205/711/1/L19; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 2041-8205
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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