Related papers: The distribution of exoplanet masses
Cool L- and T-type objects were discovered first as companions to stars in 1988 and 1995, respectively. A certain example of the yet cooler Y-type spectral class (Teff <~ 500K?) has not been seen. Recent infrared imaging observations of…
M dwarfs, though the most abundant star in the galaxy, form only a small subset of stellar hosts with exoplanets with measured radii and masses. In this paper we analyze the Mass-Radius (M-R) relationship of planets around M dwarfs using…
The fundamental properties of low-mass stars are not as well understood as those of their more massive counterparts. The best method for constraining these properties, especially masses and radii, is to study eclipsing binary systems, but…
The distribution of multiplicity among low-mass stars is a key issue to understanding the formation of stars and brown dwarfs, and recent surveys have yielded large enough samples of nearby low-mass stars to study this issue statistically…
M dwarfs are prime targets in the hunt for habitable worlds around other stars. This is due to their abundance as well as their small radii and low masses and temperatures, which facilitate the detection of temperate, rocky planets in orbit…
We report infrared spectroscopic observations of a large, well-defined sample of main-sequence, single-lined spectroscopic binaries in order to detect the secondaries and derive the mass ratio distribution of short-period binaries. The…
We consider the unusual evolutionary state of the secondary star in Cygnus X-2. Spectroscopic data give a low mass ($M_2 \simeq 0.5 - 0.7\msun$) and yet a large radius ($R_2 \simeq 7\rsun$) and high luminosity ($L_2 \simeq 150\lsun$). We…
We perform three-dimensional numerical simulations of surface flows on the companion star in a semi-detached binary system and construct the corresponding Doppler maps. The mass ratio of the binary system, $q=M_2/M_1$, considered here is…
M dwarfs have become increasingly important in the detection of exoplanets and the study of Earth-sized planets and their habitability. However, 20-30% of M dwarfs have companions that can impact the formation and evolution of planetary…
We present a Mass-Luminosity Relation (MLR) for red dwarfs spanning a range of masses from 0.62 Msun to the end of the stellar main sequence at 0.08 Msun. The relation is based on 47 stars for which dynamical masses have been determined,…
We report the discovery of 24 spectroscopic binary companions to giant stars. We fully constrain the orbital solution for 6 of these systems. We cannot unambiguously derive the orbital elements for the remaining stars because the phase…
In recent years there have been many attempts to characterize the occurrence of stellar, BD and planetary-mass companions to solar-type stars, with the aim of constraining formation mechanisms. From RV observations a dearth of companions…
Considering probability distribution as a function of the average density $\bar{\rho}$ computed for 424 extrasolar planets we identify three log-normal Gaussian population components. The two most populous components at…
The mass domain where massive extrasolar planets and brown dwarfs lay is still poorly understood. Indeed, not even a clear dividing line between massive planets and brown dwarfs has been established yet. This is partly due to the paucity of…
Direct imaging has led to the discovery of several giant planet and brown dwarf companions. These imaged companions populate a mass, separation and age domain (mass>1MJup, orbits>5AU, age<1Gyr) quite distinct from the one occupied by…
Radial velocity (RV) observations of an exoplanet system giving a value of M_T sin(i) condition (i.e. give information about) not only the planet's true mass M_T but also the value of sin(i) (where i is the orbital inclination angle). Thus…
We have obtained HST Planetary Camera observations of a total of fifty-three low-mass (M < 0.3 M_solar) members of the Hyades cluster. Nine of these stars are resolved as binaries, with separations between 0.1 and 3.1 arcseconds, while a…
We constrain the properties of massive binaries by comparing radial velocity data of Cygnus OB2 with Monte Carlo models. Our comparisons test several popular prescriptions for massive binary parameters. We explore a range of true binary…
The radius-period distribution of exoplanets has been characterized by the \textit{Kepler} survey, and the empirical mass-radius relation by the subset of \textit{Kepler} planets with mass measurements. We combine the two in order to…
Detailed chemical composition of stars is of prime interest for a range of topics in modern stellar astrophysics, such as the chemical evolution of the Galaxy or the formation, composition, and structure of exoplanets. In this work, we…