English

Dynamical Architectures of S-type Transiting Planets in Binaries II: A Dichotomy in Orbital Alignment of Small Planets in Close Binary Systems

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics 2026-01-13 v2 Solar and Stellar Astrophysics

Abstract

Stellar multiplicity plays a crucial role in shaping planet formation and dynamical evolution. We present a survey of 54 TESS Objects of Interest (TOIs) within 300 pc that exhibit significant Hipparcos-Gaia astrometric accelerations. We identified 35 TOIs with stellar companions at projected separations between 0.10.1^{\prime\prime} to 22^{\prime\prime} (or 1020010-200 AU). We also identified 12 TOIs that could host planetary-mass or brown dwarf companions, including 6 that are newly discovered. Furthermore, we perform three-dimensional orbital characterization for 12 binaries hosting confirmed planets or planet candidates, allowing us to constrain the line-of-sight mutual inclination, ΔIlos\Delta I_{\mathrm{los}}, between the planetary and binary orbits. Combining our sample with previous measurements, we apply Bayesian hierarchical analysis to a total of 26 binary systems with S-type transiting planets (rp<5Rr_p<5R_{\oplus}). Specifically, we fit the ΔIlos\Delta I_{\mathrm{los}} distribution with both single (Rayleigh) and mixture models (two-component Rayleigh and Rayleigh-isotropic mixture). We find the mixture models are strongly favored (logZ13.9\log Z\gtrsim13.9, or \approx5σ\sigma), indicating the observed planet-binary ΔIlos\Delta I_{\mathrm{los}} values likely originate from two underlying populations: one nearly aligned (σ1=2.40.9+0.7\sigma_1 = 2^{\circ}.4^{+0.7}_{-0.9}) and one with more scattered mutual inclinations (σ2=23.67.1+8.8\sigma_2 = 23^{\circ}.6^{+8.8}_{-7.1}). Alternatively, the misaligned systems can be equally well described by an isotropic distribution of inclinations. This observed dichotomy likely reflects different dynamical histories. Notably, the misaligned population only emerges in systems with stellar periastron distances >40>40 AU while systems with close-in or eccentric stellar companions (periastron distances <40<40 AU) preserve planet-binary alignment.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2509.25332,
  title  = {Dynamical Architectures of S-type Transiting Planets in Binaries II: A Dichotomy in Orbital Alignment of Small Planets in Close Binary Systems},
  author = {Jingwen Zhang and Daniel Huber and Michael Bottom and Lauren M. Weiss and Jerry W. Xuan and Adam L. Kraus and Chih-Chun Hsu and Jason J. Wang and Fei Dai and Katelyn Horstman and Ashley Baker and Randall Bartos and Benjamin Calvin and Sylvain Cetre and Catherine A. Clark and David R. Ciardi and Jacques-Robert Delorme and Gregory W. Doppmann and Daniel Echeverri and Luke Finnerty and Michael P. Fitzgerald and Steve B. Howell and Howard Isaacson and Nemanja Jovanovic and Kathryn V. Lester and Joshua Liberman and Ronald A. López and Dimitri Mawet and Evan Morris and Jacklyn Pezzato-Rovner and Jean-Baptiste Ruffio and Ben Sappey and Tobias Schofield and Andrew Skemer and J. Kent Wallace and Ji Wang and Yinzi Xin and Judah Van Zandt},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2509.25332},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

Accepted by AJ