Non-transiting exoplanets as a means of understanding star-planet interactions in close-in systems

Abstract

Previous studies showed evidence of a dearth of close-in exoplanets around fast rotators, which can be explained by the combined action of intense tidal and magnetic interactions between planets and their host star. Detecting more exoplanets experiencing such interactions, with orbits evolving on short timescales, is therefore crucial to improve our understanding of the underlying physical mechanisms. For this purpose, we performed a new search for close-in non-transiting substellar companions in the Kepler data, focusing on orbital periods below 2.3 days. We focused on main-sequence solar-type stars and subgiant stars for which a surface rotation period was measured. For each star, we looked for an excess in the power spectral density of the light curve, which could correspond to the signature of a close-in non-transiting companion. We compared our candidates with existing catalogues to eliminate potential contaminants in our sample, and we visually inspected the phase-folded light curve and its wavelet decomposition. We identify 88 stars exhibiting a signature consistent with the presence of a close non-transiting substellar companion. We show that the objects in our sample are located mostly within the dearth zone, emphasising the importance of performing follow-up of such systems in order to gather observational evidence of star-planet interactions.

arXiv comment14 pages, 13 figures. Accepted in A&A

References in corpus (37)

• SciPy 1.0--Fundamental Algorithms for Scientific Computing in Python
• Array Programming with NumPy
• The Astropy Project: Sustaining and Growing a Community-oriented Open-source Project and the Latest Major Release (v5.0) of the Core Package
• Gaia Data Release 3: Summary of the content and survey properties
• The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite
• The K2 Mission: Characterization and Early results
• The NASA Exoplanet Archive: Data and Tools for Exoplanet Research
• Kepler Input Catalog: Photometric Calibration and Stellar Classification
• False positive probabilties for all Kepler Objects of Interest: 1284 newly validated planets and 428 likely false positives
• Revised Radii of Kepler Stars and Planets Using Gaia Data Release 2
• Revised Stellar Properties of Kepler Targets for the Q1-17 (DR25) Transit Detection Run
• Preparation of Kepler lightcurves for asteroseismic analyses
• Stellar Rotation Periods of the Kepler Objects of Interest: A Dearth of Close-in Planets around Fast Rotators
• The Apparently Decaying Orbit of WASP-12
• Optical Phase Curves of Kepler Exoplanets
• Asteroseismology of solar-type stars
• Surface rotation and photometric activity for Kepler targets. II. G and F main-sequence stars, and cool subgiant stars
• Surface rotation and photometric activity for Kepler targets I. M and K main-sequence stars
• Impact on asteroseismic analyses of regular gaps in Kepler data
• Observational Evidence for Tidal Interaction in Close Binary Systems
• Hot Jupiters: Origins, Structure, Atmospheres
• Gap interpolation by inpainting methods : Application to Ground and Space-based Asteroseismic data
• The astrophysics of visible-light orbital phase curves in the space age
• Hierarchical Bayesian calibration of tidal orbit decay rates among hot Jupiters
• The all-sky PLATO input catalogue
• Evolution of star-planet systems under magnetic braking and tidal interaction
• The Kepler Asteroseismic Investigation: Scientific goals and the first results
• Magnetic and tidal migration of close-in planets. Influence of secular evolution on their population
• Validation of small Kepler transiting planet candidates in or near the habitable zone
• Deciphering stellar chorus: apollinaire, a Python 3 module for Bayesian peakbagging in helio- and asteroseismology
• Supervised Learning Detection of Sixty Non-Transiting Hot Jupiter Candidates
• On the orbital decay of the gas giant Kepler-1658b
• Hunting for anti-solar differentially rotating stars using the Rossby number -- An application to the Kepler field
• Stellar spectral-type (mass) dependence of the dearth of close-in planets around fast-rotating stars. Architecture of Kepler confirmed single-exoplanet systems compared to star-planet evolution models
• A dearth of close-in planets around rapidly rotating stars or a dearth of data?
• Higher Order Harmonics in the Light Curves of Eccentric Planetary Systems
• Follow-up of non-transiting planets detected by Kepler. Confirmation of three hot-Jupiters and validation of three other planets