The nearest exoplanets to the Sun are our best possibilities for detailed characterization. We report the discovery of a compact multi-planet system of super-Earths orbiting the nearby red dwarf GJ 887, using radial velocity measurements. The planets have orbital periods of 9.3 and 21.8~days. Assuming an Earth-like albedo, the equilibrium temperature of the 21.8 day planet is approx 350 K; which is interior, but close to the inner edge, of the liquid-water habitable zone. We also detect a further unconfirmed signal with a period of 50 days which could correspond to a third super-Earth in a more temperate orbit. GJ 887 is an unusually magnetically quiet red dwarf with a photometric variability below 500 parts-per-million, making its planets amenable to phase-resolved photometric characterization.
@article{arxiv.2006.16372,
title = {A multiple planet system of super-Earths orbiting the brightest red dwarf star GJ887},
author = {S. V. Jeffers and S. Dreizler and J. R. Barnes and C. A. Haswell and R. P. Nelson and E. Rodríguez and M. J. Lopez-Gonzalez and N. Morales and R. Luque and M. Zechmeister and S. S. Vogt and J. S. Jenkins and E. Palle and Z. M. Berdinas and G. A. L. Coleman and M. R. Diaz and I. Ribas and H. R. A. Jones and R. P. Butler and C. G. Tinney and J. Bailey and B. D. Carter and S. ~O'Toole and R. A. Wittenmyer and J. D. Crane and F. Feng and S. A. Shectman and J. Teske and A. Reiners and P. J. Amado and G. Anglada-Escude and .},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2006.16372},
year = {2020}
}