The CARMENES search for exoplanets around M dwarfs: Characterization of the nearby ultra-compact multiplanetary system YZ Ceti

Abstract

Table B.1 is only available at the CDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or via http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr/viz-bin/cat/J/A+A/636/A119. ; Context. The nearby ultra-compact multiplanetary system YZ Ceti consists of at least three planets, and a fourth tentative signal. The orbital period of each planet is the subject of discussion in the literature due to strong aliasing in the radial velocity data. The stellar activity of this M dwarf also hampers significantly the derivation of the planetary parameters. Aims. With an additional 229 radial velocity measurements obtained since the discovery publication, we reanalyze the YZ Ceti system and resolve the alias issues. Methods. We use model comparison in the framework of Bayesian statistics and periodogram simulations based on a method by Dawson and Fabrycky to resolve the aliases. We discuss additional signals in the RV data, and derive the planetary parameters by simultaneously modeling the stellar activity with a Gaussian process regression model. To constrain the planetary parameters further we apply a stability analysis on our ensemble of Keplerian fits. Results. We find no evidence for a fourth possible companion. We resolve the aliases: the three planets orbit the star with periods of 2.02 d, 3.06 d, and 4.66 d. We also investigate an effect of the stellar rotational signal on the derivation of the planetary parameters, in particular the eccentricity of the innermost planet. Using photometry we determine the stellar rotational period to be close to 68 d and we also detect this signal in the residuals of a three-planet fit to the RV data and the spectral activity indicators. From our stability analysis we derive a lower limit on the inclination of the system with the assumption of coplanar orbits which is imin = 0.9 deg. From the absence of a transit event with TESS, we derive an upper limit of the inclination of imax = 87.43 deg. Conclusions. YZ Ceti is a prime example of a system where strong aliasing hindered the determination of the orbital periods of exoplanets. Additionally, stellar activity influences the derivation of planetary parameters and modeling them correctly is important for the reliable estimation of the orbital parameters in this specific compact system. Stability considerations then allow additional constraints to be placed on the planetary parameters. © 2020 ESO. ; This work was supported by the DFG Research Unit FOR2544 "Blue Planets around Red Stars", project no. RE 2694/4-1. CARMENES is an instrument for the Centro Astronomico Hispano-Aleman de Calar Alto (CAHA, Almeria, Spain). CARMENES is funded by the German Max-Planck-Gesellschaft (MPG), the Spanish Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas (CSIC), the European Union through FEDER/ERF FICTS -2011 -02 funds, and the members of the CARMENES Consortium (Max-Planck-Institut fur Astronomie, Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia, Landessternwarte Konigstuhl, Institut de Ciencies de l'Espai, Insitut fur Astrophysik Gottingen, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Thuringer Landessternwarte Tautenburg, Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias, Hamburger Sternwarte, Centro de Astrobiologia and Centro Astronomico Hispano -Aleman), with additional contributions by the Spanish Ministry of Economy, the German Science Foundation through the Major Research Instrumentation Programme and DFG Research Unit FOR2544 "Blue Planets around Red Stars", the Klaus Tschira Stiftung, the states of Baden-Wurttemberg and Niedersachsen, and by the Junta de Andalucia. The authors acknowledge support by the High Performance and Cloud Computing Group at the Zentrum fur Datenverarbeitung of the University of Tubingen, the state of Baden-Wurttemberg through bwHPC and the German Research Foundation (DFG) through grant no. INST 37/935 -1 FUGG. We acknowledge financial support from the Agencia Estatal de Investigacion of the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovacion y Universidades and the European FEDER/ERF funds through projects AYA2015-69350-C3-2-P, AYA2016-79425-C3-1/2/3-P, ESP2017-87676-C5-2-R, ESP2017-87143-R and the Centre of Excellence "Severo Ochoa" and "Maria de Maeztu" awards to the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias (SEV-2015-0548), Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia (SEV-2017-0709), and Centro de Astrobiologia (MDM-2017-0737), and the Generalitat de Catalunya/CERCA programme. This work is supported by the Science and Technology Facilities Council [ST/M001008/1 and ST/P000584/1]. J.S.J. acknowledges support by Fondecyt grant 1161218 and partial support by CATA-Basal (PB06, CONICYT). Z.M.B acknowledges funds from CONICYT-FONDECYT/Chile Postdoctorado 3180405. M.H.L. was supported in part by Hong Kong RGC grant HKU 17305618. T.H. acknowledges support from the European Research Council under the Horizon 2020 Framework Program via the ERC Advanced Grant Origins 83 24 28. Data were partly collected with the robotic 40-cm telescope ASH2 at the SPACEOBS observatory (San Pedro de Atacama, Chile) and the 90-cm telescope at Sierra Nevada Observatory (Granada, Spain) both operated by the Instituto de Astrofifica de Andalucia (IAA). This work has made use of the Exo-Striker tool (Trifonov 2019).