We report high-precision, high-cadence photometric measurements of the star HD 209458, which is known from radial velocity measurements to have a planetary-mass companion in a close orbit. We detect two separate transit events at times that are consistent with the radial velocity measurements. In both cases, the detailed shape of the transit curve due to both the limb darkening of the star and the finite size of the planet is clearly evident. Assuming stellar parameters of 1.1 R⊙ and 1.1 M⊙, we find that the data are best interpreted as a gas giant with a radius of 1.27 ± 0.02 RJup in an orbit with an inclination of 871 ± 02. We present values for the planetary surface gravity, escape velocity, and average density and discuss the numerous observations that are warranted now that a planet is known to transit the disk of its parent star.

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Detection of Planetary Transits Across a Sun-like Star.

Searching for planets around stars with different masses helps us to assess the outcome of planetary formation for different initial conditions. The low-mass M dwarfs are also the most frequent stars in our Galaxy and potentially therefore, the most frequent planet hosts. Aims. We present observations of 102 southern nearby M dwarfs, using a fraction of our guaranteed time on the ESO/HARPS spectrograph. We observed for 460 h and gathered 1965 precise (~1-3 m/s) radial velocities (RVs), spanning the period from Feb. 11, 2003 to Apr. 1, 2009. Methods. For each star observed, we derive a time series and its precision as well as its variability. We apply systematic searches for long-term trends, periodic signals, and Keplerian orbits (from one to four planets). We analyze the subset of stars with detected signals and apply several diagnostics to discriminate whether the observed Doppler shifts are caused by either stellar surface inhomogeneities or the radial pull of orbiting planets. To prepare for the statistical view of our survey, we also compute the limits on possible unseen signals, and derive a first estimate of the frequency of planets orbiting M dwarfs. Results. We recover the planetary signals of 9 planets announced by our group (Gl 176 b, Gl 581 b, c, d & e, Gl 674 b, Gl 433 b, Gl 667C b, and Gl 667C c). We present radial velocities confirming that GJ 849 hosts a Jupiter-mass planet, plus a long-term radial-velocity variation. We also present RVs that precise the planetary mass and period of Gl 832b. We detect long-term RV changes for Gl 367, Gl 680, and Gl 880, which are indicative of yet unknown long-period companions. We identify candidate signals in the radial-velocity time series of 11 other M dwarfs. Spectral diagnostics and/or photometric observations demonstrate however that these signals are most probably caused by stellar surface inhomogeneities. Finally, we find that our survey is sensitive to a few Earth-mass planets for periods up to several hundred days. We derive a first estimate of the occurrence of M-dwarf planets as a function of their minimum mass and orbital period. In particular, we find that giant planets (msini = 100 − 1000 M⊕) have a low frequency (e.g. f ≲ 1% for P = 1 − 10 d and f = 0.02+0.03-0.01 for P = 10 − 100 d), whereas super-Earths (msini = 1 − 10 M⊕) are likely very abundant (f = 0.36+0.25-0.10 for P = 1 − 10 d and f = 0.52+0.50-0.16 for P = 10 − 100 d). We also obtained η⊕ = 0.41+0.54-0.13, which is the frequency of habitable planets orbiting M dwarfs (1 ≤ msini ≤ 10 M⊕). For the first time, η⊕ is a direct measure and not a number extrapolated from the statistics of more massive and/or shorter-period planets.

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The HARPS search for southern extra-solar planets - XXXI. The M-dwarf sample

LAMOST (Large sky Area Multi-Object fiber Spectroscopic Telescope) is a Chinese national scientific research facility operated by National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences (NAOC). After two years of commissioning beginning in 2009, the telescope, instruments, software systems and operations are nearly ready to begin the main science survey. Through a spectral survey of millions of objects in much of the northern sky, LAMOST will enable research in a number of contemporary cutting edge topics in astrophysics, such as discovery of the first generation stars in the Galaxy, pinning down the formation and evolution history of galaxies — especially the Milky Way and its central massive black hole, and looking for signatures of the distribution of dark matter and possible sub-structures in the Milky Way halo. To maximize the scientific potential of the facility, wide national participation and international collaboration have been emphasized. The survey has two major components: the LAMOST ExtraGAlactic Survey (LEGAS) and the LAMOST Experiment for Galactic Understanding and Exploration (LEGUE). Until LAMOST reaches its full capability, the LEGUE portion of the survey will use the available observing time, starting in 2012. An overview of the LAMOST project and the survey that will be carried out in the next five to six years is presented in this paper. The science plan for the whole LEGUE survey, instrumental specifications, site conditions, and the descriptions of the current on-going pilot survey, including its footprints and target selection algorithm, will be presented as separate papers in this volume.

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1674-4527/12/7/002/pdf

LAMOST spectral survey — An overview

We present the discovery of two Saturn-mass companions to HD108147 and HD168746. Both belong to the lightest ever discovered planets. The minimum mass of the companion to HD168746 is of only 0.77 the mass of Saturn and its orbital period is 6.4 days. The companion to HD108147 orbits its parent star in 10.9 days and its minimum mass is 1.34 that of Saturn. Its orbit is characterized by a high eccentricity, e=0.50, indicating possibly the presence of a second companion. The detection of Saturn-mass planets by means of the Doppler technique demands high radial-velocity measurement precision. The two new candidates were discovered by means of the CORALIE echelle spectrograph. The instrumental accuracy of CORALIE combined with the simultaneous ThAr-reference technique has reached a level better than 3m/s. On many observed objects the precision is now limited by photon noise. We present in this paper the weighted cross-correlation technique, which leads to an improvement in the photon noise of the computed radial velocity. We discuss as well a modification of the numerical cross-correlation mask which reduces significantly the residual perturbation effects produced by telluric absorption lines.

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The CORALIE survey for southern extra-solar planets VII. Two short-period Saturnian companions to HD108147 and HD168746

We report radial velocities for 844 FGKM-type main-sequence and subgiant stars and 45 K giants, most of which had either low-precision velocity measurements or none at all. These velocities differ from the stand- ard stars of Udry et al. by 0.035 km s � 1 (rms) for the 26 FGK standard stars in common. The zero point of our velocities differs from that of Udry et al.: hVPresentVUdry i¼þ 0:053 km s � 1 . Thus, these new velocities agree with the best known standard stars both in precision and zero point, to well within 0.1 km s � 1 . Nonetheless, both these velocities and the standards suffer from three sources of systematic error, namely, convective blueshift, gravitational redshift, and spectral type mismatch of the reference spectrum. These sys- tematic errors are here forced to be zero for G2 V stars by using the Sun as reference, with Vesta and day sky as proxies. But for spectral types departing from solar, the systematic errors reach 0.3 km s � 1 in the F and K stars and 0.4 km s � 1 in M dwarfs. Multiple spectra were obtained for all 889 stars during 4 years, and 782 of them exhibit velocity scatter less than 0.1 km s � 1 . These stars may serve as radial velocity standards if they remain constant in velocity. We found 11 new spectroscopic binaries and report orbital parameters for them. Subject headings: binaries: spectroscopic — catalogs — stars: fundamental parameters — stars: kinematics — stars: late-type — techniques: radial velocities — techniques: spectroscopic On-line material: machine-readable tables

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Radial Velocities for 889 Late-Type Stars*

The bre{fed echelle spectrograph of Observatoire de Haute{Provence, ELODIE, is presented. This instrument has been in operation since the end of 1993 on the 1.93 m telescope. ELODIE is designed as an updated version of the cross{correlation spectrometer CORAVEL, to perform very accurate radial velocity measurements such as needed in the search, by Doppler shift, for brown{dwarfs or giant planets orbiting around nearby stars. In one single exposure a spectrum at a resolution of 42000 (=) ranging from 3906 A to 6811 Ai s recorded on a 10241024 CCD. This performance is achieved by using a tan = 4 echelle grating and a combination of a prism and a grism as cross{disperser. An automatic on{line data treatment reduces all the ELODIE echelle spectra and computes cross{correlation functions. The instrument design and the data reduction algorithms are described in this paper. The eciency and accuracy of the instrument and its long term instrumental stability allow us to measure radial velocities with an accuracy better than 15 m s 1 for stars up to 9th magnitude in less than 30 minutes exposure time. Observations of 16th magnitude stars are also possible to measure velocities at about 1 km s 1 accuracy. For classic spectroscopic studies (S=N>100) 9th magnitude stars can be observed in one hour exposure time.

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ELODIE: A spectrograph for accurate radial velocity measurements

SOPHIE is a new fiber-fed echelle spectrograph in operation since October 2006 at the 1.93-m telescope of Observatoire de Haute-Provence. Benefiting from experience acquired on HARPS (3.6-m ESO), SOPHIE was designed to obtain accurate radial velocities (~3 m/s over several months) with much higher optical throughput than ELODIE (by a factor of 10). These enhanced capabilities have actually been achieved and have proved invaluable in asteroseismology and exoplanetology. We present here the optical concept, a double-pass Schmidt echelle spectrograph associated with a high efficiency coupling fiber system, and including simultaneous wavelength calibration. Stability of the projected spectrum has been obtained by the encapsulation of the dispersive components in a constant pressure tank. The main characteristics of the instrument are described. We also give some technical details used in reaching this high level of performance.

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G. Knispel

Papers

ELODIE: A spectrograph for accurate radial velocity measurements

The SOPHIE spectrograph: design and technical key-points for high throughput and high stability