Gliese 49: Activity evolution and detection of a super-Earth: A HADES and CARMENES collaboration

Abstract

Context. Small planets around low-mass stars often show orbital periods in a range that corresponds to the temperate zones of their host stars which are therefore of prime interest for planet searches. Surface phenomena such as spots and faculae create periodic signals in radial velocities and in observational activity tracers in the same range, so they can mimic or hide true planetary signals. Aims. We aim to detect Doppler signals corresponding to planetary companions, determine their most probable orbital configurations, and understand the stellar activity and its impact on different datasets. Methods. We analyzed 22 yr of data of the M1.5 V-type star Gl 49 (BD+61 195) including HARPS-N and CARMENES spectrographs, complemented by APT2 and SNO photometry. Activity indices are calculated from the observed spectra, and all datasets are analyzed with periodograms and noise models. We investigated how the variation of stellar activity imprints on our datasets. We further tested the origin of the signals and investigate phase shifts between the different sets. To search for the best-fit model we maximize the likelihood function in a Markov chain Monte Carlo approach. Results. As a result of this study, we are able to detect the super-Earth Gl 49b with a minimum mass of 5.6 M. It orbits its host star with a period of 13.85 d at a semi-major axis of 0.090 au and we calculate an equilibrium temperature of 350 K and a transit probability of 2.0%. The contribution from the spot-dominated host star to the different datasets is complex, and includes signals from the stellar rotation at 18.86 d, evolutionary timescales of activity phenomena at 40-80 d, and a long-term variation of at least four years.© 2019 ESO. ; M.P., I.R., J.C. M,D.B., E.H, and M.L., acknowledge support from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO) and the Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER) through grant ESP2016-80435-C2-1-R, as well as the support of the Generalitat de Catalunya/CERCA program. G.S. acknowledges financial support from >Accordo ASI-INAF> No. 2013-016-R. 0 July 9, 2013 and July 9, 2015. The Italian Telescopio Nazionale Galileo (TNG) is operated on the island of La Palma by the INAF -Fundacion Galileo Galilei at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory of the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias (IAC). The HARPS-N Project is a collaboration between the Astronomical Observatory of the Geneva University (lead), the CfA in Cambridge, the Universities of St. Andrews and Edinburgh, the Queen's University of Belfast, and the TNG-INAF Observatory. CARMENES is an instrument for the Centro Astronomico Hispano-Aleman de Calar Alto (CAHA, Almeria, Spain). CARMENES is funded by the German Max-PlanckGesellschaft (MPG), the Spanish Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas (CSIC), the European Union through FEDER/ERF FICTS-2011-02 funds, and the members of the CARMENES Consortium (Max-Planck-Institut fur Astronomie, Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia, Landessternwarte Konigstuhl, Institut de Ciencies de l'Espai, Insitut fur Astrophysik Gottingen, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Thuringer Landessternwarte Tautenburg, Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias, Hamburger Sternwarte, Centro de Astrobiologia and Centro Astronomico Hispano-Aleman), with additional contributions by the Spanish Ministry of Science through projects RYC2013-14875, AYA2015-69350C3-2-P, AYA2016-79425-C3-1/2/3-P, ESP2016-80435-C2-1-R, ESP2017-87143R, ESP2017-87676-C05-1/2/5-R, and AYA2017-86389-P, the German Science Foundation through the Major Research Instrumentation Program and DFG Research Unit FOR2544 >Blue Planets around Red Stars>, the Klaus Tschira Stiftung, the states of Baden-Wurttemberg and Niedersachsen, and by the Junta de Andalucia. Additional support was provided by the European Union FP7/2007-2013 program under grant agreement No. 313014 (ETAEARTH), the Progetto Premiale INAF 2015 FRONTIER, and the >Center of Excellence Severo Ochoa> award for the Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia (SEV-2017-0709). ; Peer Reviewed