The CARMENES search for exoplanets around M dwarfs HD147379 b: A nearby Neptune in the temperate zone of an early-M dwarf Articles uri icon

publication date

  • January 2018

start page

  • 1

end page

  • 7

volume

  • 609

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

  • 0004-6361

Electronic International Standard Serial Number (EISSN)

  • 1432-0746

abstract

  • We report on the first star discovered to host a planet detected by radial velocity (RV) observations obtained within the CARMENES survey for exoplanets around M dwarfs. HD 147379 (V = 8.9 mag, M = 0.58 +/- 0.08 M⊙), a bright M0.0 V star at a distance of 10.7 pc, is found to undergo periodic RV variations with a semi-amplitude of K = 5.1 +/- 0.4 m s-1 and a period of P = 86.54 +/- 0.06 d. The RV signal is found in our CARMENES data, which were taken between 2016 and 2017, and is supported by HIRES/Keck observations that were obtained since 2000. The RV variations are interpreted as resulting from a planet of minimum mass mp sini = 25 +/- 2 M⊕, 1.5 times the mass of Neptune, with an orbital semi-major axis a = 0.32 au and low eccentricity (e < 0.13). HD 147379 b is orbiting inside the temperate zone around the star, where water could exist in liquid form. The RV time-series and various spectroscopic indicators show additional hints of variations at an approximate period of 21.1 d (and its first harmonic), which we attribute to the rotation period of the star.

subjects

  • Astronomy
  • Telecommunications

keywords

  • stars: individual: hd 147379; planets and satellites: individual: hd 147379 b; stars: activity; stars: rotation; stars: late-type; stars: low-mass