Teegarden's Star

Coordinates: Sky map 02h 53m 00.89133s, +16° 52′ 52.6421″
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Teegarden's Star

Teegarden's Star (top, center) is the 24th-nearest known star (system) to the Solar System.
Observation data
Epoch J2000      Equinox J2000
Constellation Aries
Right ascension 02h 53m 00.89179s[1]
Declination +16° 52′ 52.6322″[1]
Apparent magnitude (V) 15.13[2]
Characteristics
Spectral type M7.0 V[3]
Apparent magnitude (B) ~17.21[4]
Apparent magnitude (V) ~15.40[4]
Apparent magnitude (R) ~14.1[5]
Apparent magnitude (I) ~10.4[5]
Apparent magnitude (J) 8.394 ± 0.027[6]
Apparent magnitude (H) 7.883 ± 0.040[6]
Apparent magnitude (K) 7.585 ± 0.046[6]
Astrometry
Radial velocity (Rv)68.3[7] km/s
Proper motion (μ) RA: +3,429.083 mas/yr[1]
Dec.: −3,805.541 mas/yr[1]
Parallax (π)260.9884 ± 0.0934 mas[1]
Distance12.497 ± 0.004 ly
(3.832 ± 0.001 pc)
Absolute magnitude (MV)17.22[8]
Details
Mass0.097±0.010[9] M
Radius0.120±0.012[9] R
Luminosity0.000722±0.000005[9] L
Surface gravity (log g)5.19±0.2[9] cgs
Temperature3,034±45[9] K
Metallicity [Fe/H]−0.11±0.28[9] dex
Rotation99.6±1.4 days[10]
Rotational velocity (v sin i)<2[11] km/s
Age>8[11] Gyr
Other designations
Teegarden's Star, GJ 10393,[12] 2MASS J02530084+1652532, APM EO0425-0315372, FBS L 14-17, FBS 0250+167, GAT 1370, LSPM J0253+1652, SO J025300.5+165258, USNO-A2.0 1050-00774305, USNO-B1.0 1068-00028941[4]
Database references
SIMBADdata
Teegarden's Star is located in the constellation Aries.
Teegarden's Star is located in the constellation Aries.
Teegarden's Star
Location of Teegarden's Star in the constellation Aries

Teegarden's Star /ˈtɡɑːrdənz/ (SO J025300.5+165258, 2MASS J02530084+1652532, LSPM J0253+1652) is an M-type red dwarf[3] in the constellation Aries, 12.5 light-years (3.8 parsecs) from the Solar System. Although it is near Earth it is a dim magnitude 15 and can only be seen through large telescopes. This star was found to have a very large proper motion of about 5 arcseconds per year. Only seven stars with such large proper motions are currently known.[4] Teegarden's Star hosts a planetary system with at least three planets.[9]

Discovery[edit]

Teegarden's star showing proper motion at two year intervals

Teegarden's Star was discovered in 2003 using asteroid-tracking data that had been collected years earlier. This data set is a digital archive created from optical images taken over a five-year period by the Near-Earth Asteroid Tracking (NEAT) program using two 1 m telescopes on Maui, Hawaii. The star is named after the discovery team leader, Bonnard J. Teegarden, an astrophysicist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.[13]

Astronomers have long thought it was quite likely that many undiscovered dwarf stars exist within 20 light-years of Earth, because stellar-population surveys show the count of known nearby dwarf stars to be lower than otherwise expected and these stars are dim and easily overlooked. Teegarden's team thought that these dim stars might be found by data mining some of the huge optical sky survey data sets taken by various programs for other purposes in previous years. So they reexamined the NEAT asteroid tracking data set and found this star. The star was then precovered on photographic plates from the Palomar Sky Survey taken in 1951. This discovery is significant as the team did not have direct access to any telescopes and did not include professional astronomers at the time of the discovery.[13]

Properties[edit]

Teegarden's Star is classified as a red dwarf as its approximate calculated mass of just over 0.09 times that of the Sun is narrowly above the limit of brown dwarfs.[14] The inherently low temperature of such objects explains why it was not discovered earlier,[15] since it has an apparent magnitude of only 15.1[2] (and an absolute magnitude of 17.22[8]). Like most red and brown dwarfs it emits most of its energy in the infrared spectrum.[16]

The parallax was initially measured as 0.43 ± 0.13 arcseconds. This would have placed its distance at only 7.50 light-years, making Teegarden's Star only the third star system in order of distance from the Sun, ranking between Barnard's Star and Wolf 359.[13] However, even at that time the anomalously low luminosity (the absolute magnitude would have been 18.5) and high uncertainty in the parallax suggested that it was in fact somewhat farther away, still one of the Sun's nearest neighbors but not nearly as high in the ranking in order of distance. A more accurate parallax measurement of 0.2593 arcseconds was made by George Gatewood in 2009, yielding a distance of 12.578 light-years,[17] very close to the value now accepted.[11]

Planetary system[edit]

Observations by the ROPS survey in 2010, published in 2012, showed variation in Teegarden's star's radial velocity, though there was insufficient data to make claims of planet detection at that time.[18]

In June 2019, scientists conducting the CARMENES survey at the Calar Alto Observatory announced evidence of two Earth-mass exoplanets orbiting the star within its habitable zone;[11][19] Teegarden's Star b orbits inside the optimistic habitable zone—the equivalent in the Solar System would be in between Earth and Venus—whereas Teegarden's Star c orbits on the outer edge of the conservative habitable zone, similarly to Mars.[11]

A 2024 study refined the parameters of the two previously known planets, and detected a third planet orbiting farther out, with a period of 26 days and a minimum mass slightly less than Earth's mass. This third planet, Teegarden's Star d, orbits beyond the habitable zone and would have temperatures similar to the icy moons of Jupiter. Two longer-period radial velocity signals were also detected; a 96-day signal corresponds to the star's rotation, while the origin of a 172-day signal is uncertain.[9]

According to one group of researchers, who were specifically studying this star, both habitable-zone planets could have maintained a dense atmosphere and so therefore there would be a high likelihood that at least one may harbour liquid water.[20] However, another group of scientists, looking at Earth-sized planets in general in the habitable zones of stars, specifically in a likely tidally locked scenario, give Teegarden's Star b a 3% chance, and Teegarden's Star c only a 2% chance, of having even retained an atmosphere.[21]

While TESS observations confirm that the planets of Teegarden's Star do not transit their star as seen from Earth,[9] during the period from 2044-2496, Earth would transit the Sun as seen from Teegarden's Star.[11]

The Teegarden's Star planetary system[9]
Companion
(in order from star)
Mass Semimajor axis
(AU)
Orbital period
(days)
Eccentricity Inclination Radius
b ≥1.16+0.12
−0.11
 M🜨
0.0259+0.0008
−0.0009
4.90634±0.00041 0.03+0.04
−0.02
c ≥1.05+0.14
−0.13
 M🜨
0.0455+0.0015
−0.0016
11.416±0.003 0.04+0.07
−0.03
d ≥0.82±0.17 M🜨 0.0791+0.0025
−0.0027
26.13+0.03
−0.04
0.07+0.10
−0.05

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d Vallenari, A.; et al. (Gaia collaboration) (2023). "Gaia Data Release 3. Summary of the content and survey properties". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 674: A1. arXiv:2208.00211. Bibcode:2023A&A...674A...1G. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202243940. S2CID 244398875. Gaia DR3 record for this source at VizieR.
  2. ^ a b Lépine, Sébastien; Hilton, Eric J.; Mann, Andrew W.; Wilde, Matthew; Rojas-Ayala, Bárbara; Cruz, Kelle L.; Gaidos, Eric (2013). "A Spectroscopic Catalog of the Brightest (J < 9) M Dwarfs in the Northern Sky". The Astronomical Journal. 145 (4): 102. arXiv:1206.5991. Bibcode:2013AJ....145..102L. doi:10.1088/0004-6256/145/4/102. S2CID 117144290.
  3. ^ a b Davison, Cassy L.; White, R. J.; Henry, T. J.; Riedel, A. R.; Jao, W.-C.; Bailey, J. I.; Quinn, S. N.; Cantrell, J. R.; Subasavage, J. P.; Winters, J. G. (2015). "A 3D Search for Companions to 12 Nearby M Dwarfs". The Astronomical Journal. 149 (3): 106. arXiv:1501.05012. Bibcode:2015AJ....149..106D. doi:10.1088/0004-6256/149/3/106. S2CID 9719725.
  4. ^ a b c d "2MASS J02530084+1652532 -- Brown Dwarf (M<0.08solMass)". SIMBAD – Centre de Données astronomiques de Strasbourg. Retrieved 2012-01-01.
  5. ^ a b Monet, David G.; et al. (February 2003), "The USNO-B Catalog", The Astronomical Journal, 125 (2): 984–993, arXiv:astro-ph/0210694, Bibcode:2003AJ....125..984M, doi:10.1086/345888, S2CID 55896673
  6. ^ a b c Cutri, R. M.; et al. (June 2003), "2MASS All Sky Catalog of point sources", The IRSA 2MASS All-Sky Point Source Catalog, NASA/IPAC, Bibcode:2003tmc..book.....C
  7. ^ Tanner, Angelle; et al. (November 2012), "Keck NIRSPEC Radial Velocity Observations of Late-M Dwarfs", The Astrophysical Journal Supplement, 203 (1): 7, arXiv:1209.1772, Bibcode:2012ApJS..203...10T, doi:10.1088/0067-0049/203/1/10, S2CID 50864060.
  8. ^ a b Henry, Todd J.; et al. (December 2006), "The Solar Neighborhood. XVII. Parallax Results from the CTIOPI 0.9 m Program: 20 New Members of the RECONS 10 Parsec Sample", The Astronomical Journal, 132 (6): 2360–2371, arXiv:astro-ph/0608230, Bibcode:2006AJ....132.2360H, doi:10.1086/508233, S2CID 15002841.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Dreizler, S.; Luque, R. (February 2024). "Teegarden's Star revisited: A nearby planetary system with at least three planets". Astronomy & Astrophysics. arXiv:2402.00923.
  10. ^ Terrien, Ryan C.; Keen, Allison; Oda, Katy; Parts, Winter; Stefánsson, Guðmundur; Mahadevan, Suvrath; Robertson, Paul; Ninan, Joe P.; Beard, Corey; Bender, Chad F.; Cochran, William D.; Cunha, Katia; Diddams, Scott A.; Fredrick, Connor; Halverson, Samuel; Hearty, Fred; Ickler, Adam; Kanodia, Shubham; Libby-Roberts, Jessica E.; Lubin, Jack; Metcalf, Andrew J.; Olsen, Freja; Ramsey, Lawrence W.; Roy, Arpita; Schwab, Christian; Smith, Verne V.; Turner, Ben (3 March 2022). "Rotational Modulation of Spectroscopic Zeeman Signatures in Low-mass Stars". The Astrophysical Journal. 927 (1): 11. arXiv:2201.11288. Bibcode:2022ApJ...927L..11T. doi:10.3847/2041-8213/ac4fc8. S2CID 246294876.
  11. ^ a b c d e f Caballero, J. A.; Reiners, Ansgar; Ribas, I.; Dreizler, S.; Zechmeister, M.; et al. (12 June 2019). "The CARMENES search for exoplanets around M dwarfs. Two temperate Earth-mass planet candidates around Teegarden's Star". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 627: A49. arXiv:1906.07196. Bibcode:2019A&A...627A..49Z. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201935460. ISSN 0004-6361. S2CID 189999121.
  12. ^ Golovin, Alex; Reffert, Sabine; Just, Andreas; Jordan, Stefan; Vani, Akash; Jahreiß, Hartmut (November 2022). "The Fifth Catalogue of Nearby Stars (CNS5)". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 670: A19. arXiv:2211.01449. Bibcode:2023A&A...670A..19G. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202244250. S2CID 253264922. Catalogue can be accessed here.
  13. ^ a b c Teegarden, B. J.; et al. (May 20, 2003). "Discovery of a New Nearby Star". The Astrophysical Journal Letters. 589 (1): L51–L53. arXiv:astro-ph/0302206. Bibcode:2003ApJ...589L..51T. doi:10.1086/375803. S2CID 119438487.
  14. ^ Schweitzer, A.; et al. (May 2019). "The CARMENES search for exoplanets around M dwarfs. Different roads to radii and masses of the target stars". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 625: 16. arXiv:1904.03231. Bibcode:2019A&A...625A..68S. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201834965. S2CID 102351979. A68.
  15. ^ Reid, Neill I.; Hawley, Suzanne L. (2013), New Light on Dark Stars: Red Dwarfs, Low-Mass Stars, Brown Dwarfs, Springer Praxis Books, p. 342, ISBN 978-1-4471-3663-7.
  16. ^ Kaler, James B. (2011), Stars and Their Spectra: An Introduction to the Spectral Sequence, Cambridge University Press, pp. 126, 132, ISBN 978-0-521-89954-3.
  17. ^ George Gatewood; et al. (January 2009). "Allegheny Observatory Parallaxes for Late M Dwarfs and White Dwarfs". The Astronomical Journal. 137 (1): 402–405. Bibcode:2009AJ....137..402G. doi:10.1088/0004-6256/137/1/402.
  18. ^ Barnes J.R.; et al. (July 2012). "ROPS: A New Search for Habitable Earths in the Southern Sky". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 424 (1): 591–604. arXiv:1204.6283. Bibcode:2012MNRAS.424..591B. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2012.21236.x. S2CID 8606148.
  19. ^ University of Göttingen (18 June 2019). "View of the Earth in front of the Sun – International research team discovers two new Earth-like planets near Teegarden's star". EurekAlert!. Retrieved 18 June 2019.
  20. ^ Wandel, Amri; Tal-Or, Lev (2019). "On the Habitability of Teegarden's Star Planets". The Astrophysical Journal. 880 (2): L21. arXiv:1906.07704. Bibcode:2019ApJ...880L..21W. doi:10.3847/2041-8213/ab2df7. ISSN 2041-8213. S2CID 189999985.
  21. ^ Rodriguez-Mozos, J. M.; Moya, A. (October 2019). "Erosion of an exoplanetary atmosphere caused by stellar winds". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 630. Table A.4. arXiv:1908.06695. Bibcode:2019A&A...630A..52R. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201935543. S2CID 201070171.

External links[edit]