Bibcode
Ment, K.; Dittmann, Jason; Astudillo-Defru, Nicola; Charbonneau, David; Irwin, Jonathan; Bonfils, Xavier; Murgas, F.; Almenara, Jose-Manuel; Forveille, Thierry; Agol, Eric; Ballard, Sarah; Berta-Thompson, Zachory; Bouchy, Francois; Cloutier, Ryan; Delfosse, Xavier; Doyon, René; Dressing, Courtney; Esquerdo, Gilbert; Haywood, Raphaëlle; Kipping, David M.; Latham, David W.; Lovis, Christophe; Newton, Elisabeth; Pepe, Francesco; Rodriguez, Joseph; Santos, Nuno; Tan, Thiam-Guan; Udry, Stephane; Winters, Jennifer; Wünsche, Anaël
Bibliographical reference
American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #233, id.#218.02
Advertised on:
1
2019
Citations
0
Refereed citations
0
Description
LHS 1140 is a nearby mid-M dwarf known to host a temperate rocky
super-Earth (LHS 1140 b) on a 24.737-day orbit. Based on photometric
observations by MEarth and Spitzer as well as Doppler spectroscopy from
HARPS, we present the discovery of an additional transiting rocky
companion (LHS 1140 c) with a mass of 1.81 ± 0.39 Earth masses
and a radius of 1.282 ± 0.024 Earth radii on a tighter,
3.77795-day orbit. We also obtain more precise estimates of the mass and
radius of LHS 1140 b to be 6.98 ± 0.98 Earth masses and 1.727
± 0.032 Earth radii. The mean densities of planets b and c are
7.5 ± 1.0 g/cm3 and 4.7 ± 1.1 g/cm3, respectively, both
consistent with the Earth's ratio of iron to magnesium silicate. The
orbital eccentricities of LHS 1140 b and c are consistent with circular
orbits and constrained to be below 0.06 and 0.31, respectively, with 90%
confidence. Because the orbits of the two planets are co-planar and
because we know from previous analyses of Kepler data that compact
systems of small planets orbiting M dwarfs are commonplace, a search for
more transiting planets in the LHS 1140 system could be fruitful. LHS
1140 c is one of the few known nearby terrestrial planets whose
atmosphere could be studied with the upcoming James Webb Space
Telescope. This work was made possible with support from the David and
Lucile Packard Foundation, the National Science Foundation, the John
Templeton Foundation, NASA, and the Heising-Simons Foundation.