We present high-resolution High Resolution Echelle Spectrometer (HIRES)/Keck spectra of HD 209458, and a Monte Carlo variation on the basic method used by other workers, to look for the excess in-transit absorption in the NaD doublet at 5893 angstrom due to the extrasolar planet. The HIRES data, binned by bandpass, allow a direct comparison with previous results. We find >3 sigma results in most test bandpasses around the NaD doublet, including relative absorption of (-108.8 +/- 25.7) x 10(-5) in the "narrow" bandpass used by other workers. This is approximate to 4.7 times larger than the "narrow" results reported by Charbonneau et al. for HD 209458b. However, >2 sigma absorption is detected in some weak Fe I and Ni I lines that were tested for comparison, raising concern about the uncertainties introduced by continuum-fitting and terrestrial atmosphere subtraction.

We investigate the possibility that the large orbital eccentricity of the transiting Neptune-mass planet Gliese 436b (Gl 436b) is maintained in the face of tidal dissipation by a second planet in the system. We find that the currently observed configuration can be understood if Gl 436b and a putative companion have evolved to a quasi-stationary fixed point in which the planets' orbital apses are co-linear and in which secular variations in the orbital eccentricities of the two planets have been almost entirely damped out. In our picture, the two planets are currently experiencing a long period of gradual orbital circularization. Specifically, if Gl 436b has a tidal Q similar to 300,000, similar to both the Jovian Q and to the upper limit for the Neptunian Q, then this circularization timescale can be of order tau similar to 8 Gyr given the presence of a favorably situated perturber. We adopt an octopole-order secular theory based on a Legendre expansion in the semimajor axis ratio a(1)/a(2) to delineate well-defined regions of (P-c, M-c, e(c)) space that can be occupied by a perturbing companion. This description includes the leading-order effects of general relativity, and retains accuracy for perturbing companion planets that have high eccentricity. We incorporate the evolutionary effect of tidal dissipation into our secular model of the system, and solve the resulting initial value problems for a large sample of the allowed configurations. We find a locus of apsidally aligned configurations that are (1) consistent with the currently published radial velocity data, (2) consistent with the current lack of observed transit timing variations (TTVs), (3) subject to rough constraint on dynamical stability, and which (4) have damping timescales consistent with the current multi-Gyr age of the star. We then polish the stationary configurations derived from secular theory with full numerical integrations, and compute the TTVs and radial velocity half-amplitudes induced by the resulting configurations. We present our results in the form of candidate companion planets to Gl 436b. For these candidates, radial velocity half-amplitudes, K-c, are of order 3 m s(-1), and the maximum amplitude of orbit-to-orbit TTVs are of order Delta t = 1 s to Delta t = 5 s. For the particular example case of a perturber with orbital period, P-c = 40d, mass, M-c = 8.5 M-circle plus, and eccentricity, e(c) = 0.58, we confirm our semianalytic calculations with a full numerical three-body integration of the orbital decay that includes tidal damping and spin evolution. Additionally, we discuss the possibility of many-perturber stationary configurations, utilizing modified Laplace-Lagrange secular theory. We then perform a proof-of-concept tidally dissipated numerical integration with three planets, which shows the system approaching a triply circular state.

We present the Systemic Console, a new all-in-one, general-purpose software package for the analysis and combined multiparameter fitting of Doppler radial velocity (RV) and transit timing observations. We give an overview of the computational algorithms implemented in the console, and describe the tools offered for streamlining the characterization of planetary systems. We illustrate the capabilities of the package by analyzing an updated radial velocity data set for the HD 128311 planetary system. HD 128311 harbors a pair of planets that appear to be participating in a 2:1 mean motion resonance. We show that the dynamical configuration cannot be fully determined from the current data. We find that if a planetary system like HD 128311 is found to undergo transits, then self-consistent Newtonian fits to combined radial velocity data and a small number of timing measurements of transit midpoints can provide an immediate and vastly improved characterization of the planet's dynamical state.

The Systemic Console is a software package for the fitting of Doppler radial velocity (RV) and transit timing observations arising from arbitrarily complex planetary systems. To illustrate its capabilities, we analyze a new RV dataset and synthetic datasets for the HD128311 planetary system and show that integrated fits that combine radial velocities and a small number of transit timing observations in a self-consistent fashion can greatly constrain the orbital parameters of a perturbing body.

By July 2014, the Automated Planet Finder (APF) at Lick Observatory on Mount Hamilton will have completed its first year of operation. This facility combines a modern 2.4m computer-controlled telescope with a flexible development environment that enables efficient use of the Levy Spectrometer for high cadence observations. The Levy provides both sub-meter per second radial velocity precision and high efficiency, with a peak total system throughput of 24%. The modern telescope combined with efficient spectrometer routinely yields over 100 observations of 40 stars in a single night, each of which has velocity errors of 0.7 to 1.4 meters per second, all with typical seeing of < 1 arc second full-width-half-maximum (FWHM). The whole observing process is automated using a common application programming interface (API) for inter-process communication which allows scripting to be done in a variety of languages (Python, Tel, bash, csh, etc.) The flexibility and ease-of-use of the common API allowed the science teams to be directly involved in the automation of the observing process, ensuring that the facility met their requirements. Since November 2013, the APF has been routinely conducting autonomous observations without human intervention.

We report the detection of a double planetary system around the evolved intermediate-mass star HD 47366 from precise radial-velocity measurements at the Okayama Astrophysical Observatory, Xinglong Station, and Australian Astronomical Observatory. The star is a K1 giant with a mass of 1.81 +/- 0.13 M-circle dot, a radius of 7.30 +/- 0.33 R-circle dot, and solar metallicity. The planetary system is composed of two giant planets with minimum masses of 1.75(-0.17)(+0.20) M-J and 1.86(-0.15)(+0.16) M-J, orbital periods of 363.3(-2.4)(+2.5) days and 684.7(-4.9)(+5.0) days, and eccentricities of 0.089(-0.060)(+0.079) and 0.278(-0.094)(+0.067), respectively, which are derived by a double Keplerian orbital fit to the radial-velocity data. The system adds to the population of multi-giant-planet systems with relatively small orbital separations, which are preferentially found around evolved intermediate-mass stars. Dynamical stability analysis for the system revealed, however, that the best-fit orbits are unstable in the case of a prograde configuration. The system could be stable if the planets were in 2: 1 mean-motion resonance, but this is less likely, considering the observed period ratio and eccentricity. A present possible scenario for the system is that both of the planets have nearly circular orbits, namely the eccentricity of the outer planet is less than similar to 0.15, which is just within 1.4 sigma of the best-fit value, or the planets are in a mutually retrograde configuration with a mutual orbital inclination larger than 160 degrees.

We report initial performance results emerging from 600 h of observations with the Automated Planet Finder (APF) telescope and Levy spectrometer located at UCO/Lick Observatory. We have obtained multiple spectra of 80 G, K, and M-type stars, which comprise 4954 individual Doppler radial velocity (RV) measurements with a median internal uncertainty of 1.35 ms(-1). We find a strong, expected correlation between the number of photons accumulated in the 5000 to 6200 angstrom iodine region of the spectrum and the resulting internal uncertainty estimates. Additionally, we find an offset between the population of G and K stars and the M stars within the dataset when comparing these parameters. As a consequence of their increased spectral line densities, M-type stars permit the same level of internal uncertainty with 2x fewer photons than G-type and K-type stars. When observing M stars, we show that the APF/Levy has essentially the same speed-on-sky as Keck/high resolution echelle spectrometer (HIRES) for precision RVs. In the interest of using the APF for long-duration RV surveys, we have designed and implemented a dynamic scheduling algorithm. We discuss the operation of the scheduler, which monitors ambient conditions and combines on-sky information with a database of survey targets to make intelligent, real-time targeting decisions. (C) The Authors. Published by SPIE under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. Distribution or reproduction of this work in whole or in part requires full attribution of the original publication, including its DOI.

The presence of Jupiter is crucial to the architecture of the Solar system and models underline this to be a generic feature of planetary systems. We find the detection of the difference between the position and motion recorded by the contemporary astrometric satellite Gaia and its precursor Hipparcos can be used to discover Jupiter-like planets. We illustrate how observations of the nearby star Indi A giving astrometric and radial velocity data can be used to independently find the orbit of its suspected companion. The radial velocity and astrometric data provide complementary detections which allow for a much stronger solution than either technique would provide individually. We quantify Indi A b as the closest Jupiterlike exoplanet with a mass of 3 MJup on a slightly eccentric orbit with an orbital period of 45 yr. While other long-period exoplanets have been discovered, Indi A b provides a wellconstrained mass and along with the well-studied brown dwarf binary in orbit around Indi A means that the system provides a benchmark case for our understanding of the formation of gas giant planets and brown dwarfs.

Chondrules in the metal-rich meteorites Hammadah al Hamra 237 and QUE 94411 have recorded highly energetic thermal events that resulted in complete vaporization of a dusty region of the solar nebula (dust/gas ratio of about 10 to 50 times solar). These chondrules formed under oxidizing conditions before condensation of iron-nickel metal, at temperatures greater than or equal to 1500 K, and were isolated from the cooling gas before condensation of moderately volatile elements such as manganese, sodium, potassium. and sulfur. This astrophysical environment is fundamentally different from conventional models for chondrule formation by localized, brief, repetitive heating events that resulted in incomplete melting of solid precursors initially residing at ambient temperatures below approximately 650 K.

Formation of the solar system may have been triggered by a stellar wind. From then on, the solar system would have followed a conventional evolutionary path, including the formation of a disk and bipolar jets. The now extinct short-lived radionuclides beryllium-10 and, possibly, manganese-53 that were present in meteorites probably resulted from energetic particle irradiation within the solar system. Calcium-aluminum-rich inclusions (the oldest known solar system solids) and chondrules could have been produced by the bipolar jets, but it is more likely that they formed during localized events in the asteroid belt. The chondritic meteorites formed within the temperature range (100 to 400 kelvin) inferred for the midplane of classical T Tauri disks at 2 to 3 astronomical units from their central stars. However, these meteorites may retain a chemical memory of earlier times when midplane temperatures were much higher. Dissipation of the solar nebula occurred within a few million years of solar system formation, whereas differentiation of asteroidal-sized bodies occurred within 5 to 15 million years. The terrestrial planets took approximately 100 million years to form. Consequently, they would have accreted already differentiated bodies, and their final assembly was not completed until after the solar nebula had dispersed. This implies that water-bearing asteroids and/or icy planetesimals that formed near Jupiter are the likely sources of Earth's water.