Related papers: Mass Limit on Nemesis
We present an updated dynamical and statistical analysis of outer Oort cloud cometary evidence suggesting the sun has a wide-binary Jovian mass companion. The results support a conjecture that there exists a companion of mass ~ 1-4 M_Jup…
The hypothesis of a companion object (Nemesis) orbiting the Sun was motivated by the claim of a terrestrial extinction periodicity, thought to be mediated by comet showers. The orbit of a distant companion to the Sun is expected to be…
Giant planets are usually thought to form within a few tens of AU of their host stars, and hence it came as a surprise when we found what appeared to be a planetary mass (~0.008 Msun) companion around the 5 Myr-old solar mass star 1RXS…
The $\sim$$2100$d Long Secondary Period of Betelgeuse's optical lightcurve and radial velocity motivated the prediction of a low-mass stellar companion, expected to be at maximal apparent separation from Betelgeuse around December 2024. We…
We report limits in the planetary-mass regime for companions around the nearest single white dwarf to the Sun, van Maanen's star (vMa 2), from deep J-band imaging with Gemini North and Spitzer IRAC mid-IR photometry. We find no resolved…
We analyse 11 years of precise radial velocities for 76 solar type stars from the Lick survey. Eight stars in this sample have previously reported planetary-mass companions, all with mass (m sin i) less than 8 Jupiter masses (MJ). For the…
Betelgeuse -- the closest M-supergiant to the Sun -- has recently been predicted to host a lower-mass stellar companion that orbits the primary with a period of $\sim 6$ years. The putative stellar companion is thought to cause the long…
We revisit the distant future of the Sun and the solar system, based on stellar models computed with a thoroughly tested evolution code. For the solar giant stages, mass-loss by the cool (but not dust-driven) wind is considered in detail.…
We present the discovery of a substellar companion to the primary host lens in the microlensing event MOA-2012-BLG-006. The companion-to-host mass ratio is 0.016, corresponding to a companion mass of $\approx8~M_{\rm Jup} (M_*/0.5M_\odot)$.…
We search for signatures of planets in 43 intensively monitored microlensing events that were observed between 1995 and 1999. Planets would be expected to cause a short duration (~1 day) deviation on the smooth, symmetric light curve…
A body in Solar orbit beyond the Kuiper belt exhibits an annual parallax that exceeds its apparent proper motion by up to many orders of magnitude. Apparent motion of this body along the parallactic ellipse will deflect the angular position…
The recent discovery of an earth-like planet around Proxima Centauri has drawn much attention to this star and its environment. We performed a series of observations of Proxima Centauri using SPHERE, the planet finder instrument installed…
The system V350 Sgr has a classical Cepheid for the primary. Interferometry is presented for the system and the full orbit is determined. The mass of the companion has been determined from an {\it IUE} spectrum and comparison with the…
The radiative and particulate loss of mass by the Sun, -9.13*10^-14 Solar masses per year or more causes the orbits of the planets to expand at the same rate, and their periods to lengthen at twice this rate. Unfortunately, under the…
We place the first constraints on the obliquity of a planetary-mass companion (PMC) outside of the Solar System. Our target is the directly imaged system 2MASS J01225093-2439505 (2M0122), which consists of a 120 Myr 0.4 M_sun star hosting a…
We investigate the distribution of mass M and orbital period P of extra-solar planets, taking account of selection effects due to the limited velocity precision and duration of existing surveys. We fit the data on 63 planets to a power-law…
We report identification of the optical counterpart to the companion of the millisecond pulsar J2317+1439. At the timing position of the pulsar, we find an object with $g=22.96\pm0.05$, $r=22.86\pm0.04$ and $i=22.82\pm0.05$. The magnitudes…
In this article we present preliminary results on the upper limits to the mass of a companion for 8 apparently single subdwarf B stars, derived from high-precision radial velocity measurements obtained from Harps-N spectra. These limits,…
The bright K1 III-IV star gamma Cep has been reported previously to have a companion in a 2.5-yr orbit that is possibly substellar, and also has a stellar companion at a larger separation that has never been seen. Here we determine for the…
We present preliminary results from a coronagraphic survey of young nearby Sun-like stars using the Palomar and Keck adaptive optics systems. We have targeted 251 solar analogs (F5-K5) at 20-160 pc from the Sun, spanning the 3-3000 Myr age…