A search for starlight reflected from HD 75289b

We have used a Doppler tomographic analysis to conduct a deep search for the starlight reflected from the planetary companion to HD 75289. In four nights on VLT(UT2)/UVES in 2003 January, we obtained 684 high-resolution echelle spectra with a total integration time of 26 h. We establish an upper limit on the geometric albedo of the planet   p < 0.12  (to the 99.9 per cent significance level) at the most probable orbital inclination   i ≃ 60°  , assuming a grey albedo, a Venus-like phase function and a planetary radius   R _p= 1.6 R_Jup  . We are able to rule out some combinations of the predicted planetary radius and atmospheric albedo models with high, reflective cloud decks.     

A search for Ca ii emission enhancement in stars resulting from nearby giant planets

We present a search for periodicities ( P _chr) in the chromospheric Ca  ii infrared triplet emission of several stars ( τ Boo, 51 Peg, υ And, ρ ¹ Cnc, ρ CrB, 70 Vir and GL 876) which may be directly attributable to interaction with close-in giant planets. Activity enhancements could arise from increased non-radiative heating and dynamo action in planet-induced tidal bulges (with P _chr≈ P _orb/2), or from interactions between the stellar and planetary magnetic fields (with P _chr≈ P _orb). We compare both P _chr and the phase dependence of the activity with the planetary orbital period P _orb, the orbital phase, and models. No significant P _chr or phase dependence attributable to planets can be clearly identified. We place approximate upper limits on the amplitude of any planet-induced activity. We identify a possible stellar rotation period for GL 876, and support previous period determinations for four other stars. We discuss the results and possible directions of future research.     

A search for periodicities in the radio emission from XTE J1118+480

A search for modulation of the 15-GHz radio flux density at the orbital period from the X-ray nova XTE J1118+480 during its outburst in 2000 April–June found no signal ≳ a few per cent of the mean. No orbital modulation was found in the RXTE ASM data over the same interval.     

A search for planets transiting the M-dwarf debris disc host, AU Microscopii

We present high-cadence, high-precision multiband photometry of the young, M1Ve, debris disc star, AU Microscopii. The data were obtained in three continuum filters spanning a wavelength range from 4500 to 6600 Å, plus Hα, over 28 nights in 2005. The light curves show intrinsic stellar variability due to star-spots with an amplitude in the blue band of 0.051 mag and a period of 4.847 d. In addition, three large flares were detected in the data which all occur near the minimum brightness of the star. We remove the intrinsic stellar variability and combine the light curves of all the filters in order to search for transits by possible planetary companions orbiting in the plane of the nearly edge-on debris disc. The combined final light curve has a sampling of 0.35 min and a standard deviation of 6.8 mmag. We performed Monte Carlo simulations by adding fake transits to the observed light curve and find with 95 per cent significance that there are no Jupiter mass planets orbiting in the plane of the debris disc on circular orbits with periods,   P ≤ 5  d. In addition, there are no young Neptune like planets (with radii 2.5 times smaller than the young Jupiter) on circular orbits with periods,   P ≤ 3  d.     

Accounting for velocity jitter in planet search surveys

The role of radial velocity (RV) jitter in extrasolar planet search surveys is discussed. Based on the maximum-likelihood principle, improved statistical algorithms for RV fitting and period search are developed. These algorithms incorporate a built-in jitter determination, so that resulting estimations of planetary parameters account for this jitter automatically. This approach is applied to RV data for several extrasolar planetary systems. It is shown that many RV planet search surveys suffer from periodic systematic errors which increase effective RV jitter and can lead to erroneous conclusions. For instance, the planet candidate HD 74156 d may be a false detection made due to annual systematic errors.     

Near-infrared spectroscopic search for the close orbiting planet HD 75289b

We present a search for the near-infrared spectroscopic signature of the close orbiting extrasolar giant planet HD 75289b. We obtained ∼230 spectra in the wavelength range 2.18–2.19 μm using the Phoenix spectrograph at Gemini South. By considering the direct spectrum, derived from irradiated model atmospheres, we search for the absorption profile signature present in the combined star and planet light. Since the planetary spectrum is separated from the stellar spectrum at most phases, we apply a phase-dependent orbital model and tomographic techniques to search for absorption signatures.
Because the absorption signature lies buried in the noise of a single exposure we apply a multiline deconvolution to the spectral lines available in order to boost the effective signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) of the data. The wavelength coverage of 80 Å is expected to contain ∼100 planetary lines, enabling a mean line with S/N of 800 to be achieved after deconvolution. We are nevertheless unable to detect the presence of the planet in the data and carry out further simulations to show that broader wavelength coverage should enable a planet like HD 75289b to be detected with 99.9 per cent confidence. We investigate the sensitivity of our method and estimate detection tolerances for mismatches between observed and model planetary atmospheres.     

A search for optical polarization from the narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxy RE J1034+396

We present spectropolarimetry data on RE J1034+396, an ultra-soft X-ray narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxy, and find an upper limit of ∼ 0.4 to the linear polarization in the optical band. This suggests that there is no synchrotron emission in this AGN, and thus it is unlikely that RE J1034+396 is related to BL Lac objects. Furthermore, any other polarization arising from transmission through dust, or reflection from dust and electrons, must be cancelled out by geometrical effects or diluted to a high degree by unpolarized radiation.     

A survey for planetary transits in the field of NGC 7789

We present results from 30 nights of observations of the open cluster NGC 7789 with the Wide Field Camera on the Isaac Newton Telescope, La Palma. From ∼900 epochs, we obtained light curves and Sloan   r '− i '  colours for ∼33 000 stars, with ∼2400 stars having better than 1 per cent precision. We expected to detect ∼2 transiting hot Jupiter planets if 1 per cent of stars host such a companion and a typical hot Jupiter radius is  ∼1.2  R _J  . We find 24 transit candidates, 14 of which we can assign a period. We rule out the transiting planet model for 21 of these candidates using various robust arguments. For two candidates, we are unable to decide on their nature, although it seems most likely that they are eclipsing binaries as well. We have one candidate exhibiting a single eclipse, for which we derive a radius of  1.81^+0.09_−0.00  R _J  . Three candidates remain that require follow-up observations in order to determine their nature.