The M dwarf planet search programme at the ESO VLT + UVES. A search for terrestrial planets in the habitable zone of M dwarfs

Abstract

We present radial velocity (RV) measurements of our sample of 40 M dwarfs from our planet search programme with VLT+UVES begun in 2000. Although with our RV precision down to 2 - 2.5 m/s and timebase line of up to 7 years, we are capable of finding planets of a few Earth masses in the close-in habitable zones of M dwarfs, there is no detection of a planetary companion. To demonstrate this we present mass detection limits allowing us to exclude Jupiter-mass planets up to 1 AU for most of our sample stars. We identified 6 M dwarfs that host a brown dwarf or low-mass stellar companion. With the exception of these, all other sample stars show low RV variability with an rms < 20 m/s. Some high proper motion stars exhibit a linear RV trend consistent with their secular acceleration. Furthermore, we examine our data sets for a possible correlation between RVs and stellar activity as seen in variations of the Halpha line strength. For Barnard's star we found a significant anticorrelation, but most of the sample stars do not show such a correlation.

13 pages, 12 figures, 5 tables, accepted by A&A

References in corpus (16)

• Validation of the new Hipparcos reduction
• The generalised Lomb-Scargle periodogram. A new formalism for the floating-mean and Keplerian periodograms
• The Keck Planet Search: Detectability and the Minimum Mass and Orbital Period Distribution of Extrasolar Planets
• Microlens OGLE-2005-BLG-169 Implies Cool Neptune-Like Planets are Common
• A New Planet Around an M Dwarf: Revealing a Correlation Between Exoplanets and Stellar Mass
• Detection of transits of the nearby hot Neptune GJ 436 b
• The HARPS search for southern extra-solar planets. X. A m sin i = 11 Mearth planet around the nearby spotted M dwarf GJ 674
• Exploring The Frequency Of Close-In Jovian Planets Around M Dwarfs
• A Long-Period Jupiter-Mass Planet Orbiting the Nearby M Dwarf GJ849
• The HARPS search for southern extra-solar planets: XIV. Gl 176b, a super-Earth rather than a Neptune, and at a different period
• A Jupiter-like Planet Orbiting the Nearby M Dwarf GJ832
• Rapid Formation of Super-Earths around M Dwarf Stars
• An m sin i = 24 Earth Mass Planetary Companion To The Nearby M Dwarf GJ 176
• The MEarth project: searching for transiting habitable super-Earths around nearby M-dwarfs
• Toward detection of terrestrial planets in the habitable zone of our closest neighbor: Proxima Centauri
• A probable close brown dwarf companion to GJ 1046 (M2.5V)

Cited by in corpus (102)

• A terrestrial planet candidate in a temperate orbit around Proxima Centauri
• The HARPS search for southern extra-solar planets XXXI. The M-dwarf sample
• The Occurrence Rate of Small Planets around Small Stars
• Spectrum radial velocity analyser (SERVAL). High-precision radial velocities and two alternative spectral indicators
• The habitability of Proxima Centauri b. I. Irradiation, rotation and volatile inventory from formation to the present
• Long-term magnetic activity of a sample of M-dwarf stars from the HARPS program I. Comparison of activity indices
• The NIRSPEC Ultracool Dwarf Radial Velocity Survey
• The Solar Neighborhood XLV. The Stellar Multiplicity Rate of M Dwarfs Within 25 pc
• CARMENES input catalogue of M dwarfs. I. Low-resolution spectroscopy with CAFOS
• Bayesian search for low-mass planets around nearby M dwarfs. Estimates for occurrence rate based on global detectability statistics
• CARMENES input catalogue of M dwarfs V. Luminosities, colours, and spectral energy distributions
• The CRIRES Search for Planets Around the Lowest-Mass Stars. I. High-Precision Near-Infrared Radial Velocities with an Ammonia Gas Cell
• The HARPS search for southern extra-solar planets XLI. A dozen planets around the M dwarfs GJ 3138, GJ 3323, GJ 273, GJ 628, and GJ 3293
• The CARMENES search for exoplanets around M dwarfs -- Planet occurrence rates from a subsample of 71 stars
• Tidal Venuses: Triggering a Climate Catastrophe via Tidal Heating
• The CARMENES search for exoplanets around M dwarfs. First visual-channel radial-velocity measurements and orbital parameter updates of seven M-dwarf planetary systems
• A candidate super-Earth planet orbiting near the snow line of Barnard's star
• Stellar chromospheric activity of 1,674 FGK stars from the AMBRE-HARPS sample I. A catalogue of homogeneous chromospheric activity
• Planetary system around the nearby M dwarf GJ 357 including a transiting, hot, Earth-sized planet optimal for atmospheric characterization
• Long-term magnetic activity of a sample of M-dwarf stars from the HARPS program II. Activity and radial velocity
• H-alpha Activity of Old M Dwarfs: Stellar Cycles and Mean Activity Levels For 93 Low-Mass Stars in the Solar Neighborhood
• The CARMENES search for exoplanets around M dwarfs. Guaranteed time observations Data Release 1 (2016-2020)
• The CARMENES search for exoplanets around M dwarfs -- Photospheric parameters of target stars from high-resolution spectroscopy. II. Simultaneous multiwavelength range modeling of activity insensitive lines
• Color difference makes a difference: four planet candidates around tau Ceti
• A temperate exo-Earth around a quiet M dwarf at 3.4 parsecs
• The HARPS search for southern extra-solar planets XXXV. Super-Earths around the M-dwarf neighbors Gl433 and Gl667C
• The HARPS search for southern extrasolar planets XXV. Results from the metal-poor sample
• The HARPS search for southern extra-solar planets. XXXIV. A planetary system around the nearby M dwarf GJ163, with a super-Earth possibly in the habitable zone
• HADES RV Programme with HARPS-N at TNG. VII. Rotation and activity of M-Dwarfs from time-series high-resolution spectroscopy of chromospheric indicators
• The planet search programme at the ESO CES and HARPS. IV. The search for Jupiter analogues around solar-like stars
• Climate instability on tidally locked exoplanets
• Precision radial velocities of 15 M5 - M9 dwarfs
• The CARMENES search for exoplanets around M dwarfs: Radial-velocity variations of active stars in visual-channel spectra
• Deep exploration of $\epsilon$ Eridani with Keck Ms-band vortex coronagraphy and radial velocities: mass and orbital parameters of the giant exoplanet
• RV-detected planets around M dwarfs: Challenges for core accretion models
• A More Precise Mass for GJ 1214 b and the Frequency of Multi-Planet Systems Around Mid-M Dwarfs
• Radial-velocity discovery of a second planet in the TOI-1338/BEBOP-1 circumbinary system
• The Gaia spectrophotometric standard stars survey. I. Preliminary results
• A planetary system with gas giants and super-Earths around the nearby M dwarf GJ 676A. Optimizing data analysis techniques for the detection of multi-planetary systems
• A pair of Sub-Neptunes transiting the bright K-dwarf TOI-1064 characterised with CHEOPS
• On the long-term correlation between the flux in the Ca II H & K and Halpha lines for FGK stars
• Astrometry and radial velocities of the planet host M dwarf GJ 317: new trigonometric distance, metallicity and upper limit to the mass of GJ 317b
• Agatha: disentangling periodic signals from correlated noise in a periodogram framework
• The CARMENES search for exoplanets around M dwarfs. Measuring precise radial velocities in the near infrared: the example of the super-Earth CD Cet b
• A Goldilocks principle for modeling radial velocity noise
• GJ 273: On the formation, dynamical evolution and habitability of a planetary system hosted by an M dwarf at 3.75 parsec
• No Conclusive Evidence for Transits of Proxima b in MOST photometry
• A planetary system with two transiting mini-Neptunes near the radius valley transition around the bright M dwarf TOI-776
• Comparison of different exoplanet mass detection limit methods using a sample of main-sequence intermediate-type stars
• Precise radial velocities of giant stars XVI. Planet occurrence rates from the combined analysis of the Lick, EXPRESS, and PPPS giant star surveys
• The CARMENES search for exoplanets around M dwarfs. A Neptune-mass planet traversing the habitable zone around HD 180617
• Stellar Activity and its Implications for Exoplanet Detection on GJ 176
• Constraints on the mass and atmospheric composition and evolution of the low-density young planet DS Tuc A b
• A detailed analysis of the Gl 486 planetary system
• ROPS: A New Search for Habitable Earths in the Southern Sky
• Proxima Centauri as a Benchmark for Stellar Activity Indicators in the Near Infrared
• Exomoons in the habitable zones of M dwarfs
• Fundamental Performance of a Dispersed Fixed Delay Interferometer In Searching For Planets Around M Dwarfs
• Design and Construction of Absorption Cells for Precision Radial Velocities in the K Band using Methane Isotopologues
• The CARMENES search for exoplanets around M dwarfs: The warm super-Earths in twin orbits around the mid-type M dwarfs Ross 1020 (GJ 3779) and LP 819-052 (GJ 1265)
• Search for Nearby Earth Analogs. II. detection of five new planets, eight planet candidates, and confirmation of three planets around nine nearby M dwarfs
• Characterisation of stellar activity of M dwarfs. I. Long-timescale variability in a large sample and detection of new cycles
• The White Dwarf Binary Pathways Survey VI: two close post common envelope binaries with TESS light curves
• The CARMENES search for exoplanets around M dwarfs, Wolf 1069 b: Earth-mass planet in the habitable zone of a nearby, very low-mass star
• Proxima Centauri b is not a transiting exoplanet
• The Solar Neighborhood XLIX: New Discoveries and Orbits of M Dwarf Multiples with Speckle Interferometry at SOAR
• The GAPS Programme with HARPS-N at TNG XVII. Line profile indicators and kernel regression as diagnostics of radial-velocity variations due to stellar activity in solar-like stars
• The CARMENES search for exoplanets around M dwarfs. A long-period planet around GJ 1151 measured with CARMENES and HARPS-N data
• The APACHE Project
• On High-Contrast Characterization of Nearby, Short-Period Exoplanets with Giant Segmented-Mirror Telescopes
• A super-Earth orbiting the nearby M-dwarf GJ 536
• GJ357: A low-mass planetary system uncovered by precision radial-velocities and dynamical simulations
• Photometric transit search for planets around cool stars from the western Italian Alps: A pilot study
• On the Nature of Small Planets around the Coolest Kepler Stars
• High-cadence spectroscopy of M-dwarfs - II. Searching for stellar pulsations with HARPS
• Precise Doppler Monitoring of Barnard's Star
• The CARMENES search for exoplanets around M dwarfs. Dynamical characterization of the multiple planet system GJ 1148 and prospects of habitable exomoons around GJ 1148 b
• The Mt John University Observatory Search For Earth-mass Planets In The Habitable Zone Of Alpha Centauri
• The CARMENES search for exoplanets around M dwarfs: Spectroscopic orbits of nine M-dwarf multiple systems, including two triples, two brown dwarf candidates, and one close M-dwarf-white dwarf binary
• The CARMENES search for exoplanets around M dwarfs. Telluric absorption corrected high S/N optical and near-infrared template spectra of 382 M dwarf stars
• The CARMENES search for exoplanets around M dwarfs - The enigmatic planetary system GJ 4276: One eccentric planet or two planets in a 2:1 resonance?
• Upper limits for Mass and Radius of objects around Proxima Cen from SPHERE/VLT
• Keck NIRSPEC Radial Velocity Observations of Late-M dwarfs
• A quarter century of spectroscopic monitoring of the nearby M dwarf Gl 514. A super-Earth on an eccentric orbit moving in and out of the habitable zone
• The CARMENES search for exoplanets around M dwarfs. Rotational variation in activity indicators of Ross 318, YZ CMi, TYC 3529-1437-1, and EV Lac
• Search for radial velocity variations in eight M-dwarfs with NIRSPEC/Keck II
• TOI-179: a young system with a transiting compact Neptune-mass planet and a low-mass companion in outer orbit
• Retrieval of Precise Radial Velocities from Near-Infrared High Resolution Spectra of Low Mass Stars
• The HARPS search for southern extra-solar planets XL. Searching for Neptunes around metal-poor stars
• Discovery of 16 New Members of the Solar Neighborhood using Proper Motions from CatWISE2020
• Radial velocity homogeneous analysis of M dwarfs observed with HARPS I. Exoplanet detection and candidates
• A super-Earth on a close-in orbit around the M1V star GJ 740. A HADES and CARMENES collaboration
• The CARMENES search for exoplanets around M dwarfs. Revisiting the GJ 581 multi-planetary system with new Doppler measurements from CARMENES, HARPS, and HIRES
• The CARMENES search for exoplanets around M dwarfs. Occurrence rates of Earth-like planets around very low-mass stars
• The CARMENES search for exoplanets around M dwarfs. A sub-Neptunian mass planet in the habitable zone of HN Lib
• The post-disk (or primordial) spin distribution of M dwarf stars
• Planetary system architectures with low-mass inner planets: Direct imaging exploration of mature systems beyond 1 au
• Astrometric radial velocities for nearby stars
• CARMENES input catalog of M dwarfs VI. A time-resolved Ca II H&K catalog from archival data
• BEBOP II: Sensitivity to sub-Saturn circumbinary planets using radial-velocities
• Assessing the Climate and Habitability of Tidally Locked Rocky Exoplanets
• A spectral differential approach to characterizing low-mass companions to late-type stars