FOREVER ALONE? TESTING SINGLE ECCENTRIC PLANETARY SYSTEMS FOR MULTIPLE COMPANIONS
- Department of Astrophysics, School of Physics, Faculty of Science, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052 (Australia)
- Department of Astronomy and Key Laboratory of Modern Astronomy and Astrophysics in Ministry of Education, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093 (China)
- Department of Terrestrial Magnetism, Carnegie Institution of Washington, 5241 Broad Branch Road, NW, Washington, DC 20015-1305 (United States)
- University of Hertfordshire, Centre for Astrophysics Research, Science and Technology Research Institute, College Lane, AL10 9AB Hatfield (United Kingdom)
- Australian Astronomical Observatory, P.O. Box 915, North Ryde, NSW 1670 (Australia)
Determining the orbital eccentricity of an extrasolar planet is critically important for understanding the system's dynamical environment and history. However, eccentricity is often poorly determined or entirely mischaracterized due to poor observational sampling, low signal-to-noise, and/or degeneracies with other planetary signals. Some systems previously thought to contain a single, moderate-eccentricity planet have been shown, after further monitoring, to host two planets on nearly circular orbits. We investigate published apparent single-planet systems to see if the available data can be better fit by two lower-eccentricity planets. We identify nine promising candidate systems and perform detailed dynamical tests to confirm the stability of the potential new multiple-planet systems. Finally, we compare the expected orbits of the single- and double-planet scenarios to better inform future observations of these interesting systems.
- OSTI ID:
- 22136521
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal, Supplement Series, Vol. 208, Issue 1; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0067-0049
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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