High eccentricity planets from the Anglo-Australian Planet Search

We report first results from the Anglo-Australian Telescope Rocky Planet Search - an intensive, high-precision Doppler planet search targeting low-mass exoplanets in contiguous 48 night observing blocks. On this run we targeted 24 bright, nearby and intrinsically stable Sun-like stars selected from the Anglo-Australian Planet Search's main sample. These observations have already detected one low-mass planet reported elsewhere (HD16417b), and here we reconfirm the detection of...

We present results of a Bayesian analysis of radial velocity (RV) data for the star HIP 5158, confirming the presence of two companions and also constraining their orbital parameters. Assuming Keplerian orbits, the two-companion model is found to be e^{48} times more probable than the one-planet model, although the orbital parameters of the second companion are only weakly constrained. The derived orbital periods are 345.6 +/- 2.0 d and 9017.8 +/- 3180.7 d respectively, and t...

An automatic Bayesian Kepler periodogram has been developed for identifying and characterizing multiple planetary orbits in precision radial velocity data. The periodogram is powered by a parallel tempering MCMC algorithm which is capable of efficiently exploring a multi-planet model parameter space. The periodogram employs an alternative method for converting the time of an observation to true anomaly that enables it to handle much larger data sets without a significant incr...

We present two exoplanets detected at Keck Observatory. HD 179079 is a G5 subgiant that hosts a hot Neptune planet with Msini = 27.5 M_earth in a 14.48 d, low-eccentricity orbit. The stellar reflex velocity induced by this planet has a semiamplitude of K = 6.6 m/s. HD 73534 is a G5 subgiant with a Jupiter-like planet of Msini = 1.1 M_jup and K = 16 m/s in a nearly circular 4.85 yr orbit. Both stars are chromospherically inactive and metal-rich. We discuss a known, classical b...

Five new planets orbiting G and K dwarfs have emerged from the Magellan velocity survey. These companions are jovian-mass planets in eccentric (e \geq 0.24) intermediate and long-period orbits. HD 86226b orbits a solar metallicity G2 dwarf. The MP sin i mass of the planet is 1.5 MJUP, the semi-major axis is 2.6 AU, and the eccentricity 0.73. HD 129445b orbits a metal rich G6 dwarf. The minimum mass of the planet is MP sin i =1.6 MJUP, the semi-major axis is 2.9 AU, and the ec...

We report the detection of a extrasolar planet candidate orbiting the G1 V star HD 39091. The orbital period is 2083 d and the eccentricity is 0.62. With a minimum (M sin $i$) mass of 10.3 M$_{\rm JUP}$ this object falls near the high mass end of the observed planet mass function, and may plausibly be a brown dwarf. Other characteristics of this system, including orbital eccentricity and metallicity, are typical of the well populated class of radial velocity planets in eccent...

The third Gaia data release includes a catalog of exoplanets and exoplanet candidates identified via the star's astrometric motion. This paper reports on tests for consistency between the Gaia two-body orbital solutions and precise Doppler velocities, for the stars currently amenable to such a comparison. For BD 17-0063, HD 81040, and HD 132406, the Gaia orbital solution and the Doppler data were found to be consistent, and were fitted jointly to obtain the best possible cons...

We report the detection of transits by the 3.1 M_Jup companion to the V=8.17 G0V star HD 17156. The transit was observed by three independant observers on Sept. 9/10, 2007 (two in central Italy and one in the Canary Islands), who obtained detections at confidence levels of 3.0 sigma, 5.3 sigma, and 7.9 sigma, respectively. The observations were carried out under the auspices of the Transitsearch.org network, which organizes follow-up photometric transit searches of known plan...

With about 2000 extrasolar planets confirmed, the results show that planetary systems have a whole range of unexpected properties. We present a full investigation of the HD219828 system, a bright metal-rich star for which a hot neptune has previously been detected. We used a set of HARPS, SOPHIE, and ELODIE radial velocities to search for the existence of orbiting companions to HD219828. A dynamical analysis is also performed to study the stability of the system and to constr...

We present radial-velocity measurements obtained with the ELODIE and AFOE spectrographs for GJ 777 A (HD 190360), a metal-rich ([Fe/H]=0.25) nearby (d=15.9 pc) star in a stellar binary system. A long-period low radial-velocity amplitude variation is detected revealing the presence of a Jovian planetary companion. Some of the orbital elements remain weakly constrained because of the smallness of the signal compared to our instrumental precision. The detailed orbital shape is t...