In the present era of large-scale surveys, big data present new challenges to the discovery process for anomalous data. Such data can be indicative of systematic errors, extreme (or rare) forms of known phenomena, or most interestingly, truly novel phenomena that exhibit as-of-yet unobserved behaviours. In this work, we present an outlier scoring methodology to identify and characterize the most promising unusual sources to facilitate discoveries of such anomalous data. We have developed a data mining method based on k-nearest neighbour distance in feature space to efficiently identify the most anomalous light curves. We test variations of this method including using principal components of the feature space, removing select features, the effect of the choice of k, and scoring to subset samples. We evaluate the performance of our scoring on known object classes and find that our scoring consistently scores rare (<1000) object classes higher than common classes. We have applied scoring to all long cadence light curves of Quarters 1–17 of Kepler’s prime mission and present outlier scores for all 2.8 million light curves for the roughly 200k objects.
We present the discovery and validation of a three-planet system orbiting the nearby (31.1 pc) M2 dwarf star TOI-700 (TIC 150428135). TOI-700 lies in the TESS continuous viewing zone in the Southern Ecliptic Hemisphere; observations spanning 11 sectors reveal three planets with radii ranging from 1 R ? to 2.6 R ? and orbital periods ranging from 9.98 to 37.43 days. Ground-based follow-up combined with diagnostic vetting and validation tests enables us to rule out common astrophysical false-positive scenarios and validate the system of planets. The outermost planet, TOI-700 d, has a radius of 1.19 ± 0.11 R ? and resides within a conservative estimate of the host star’s habitable zone, where it receives a flux from its star that is approximately 86% of Earth’s insolation. In contrast to some other low-mass stars that host Earth-sized planets in their habitable zones, TOI-700 exhibits low levels of stellar activity, presenting a valuable opportunity to study potentially rocky planets over a wide range of conditions affecting atmospheric escape. While atmospheric characterization of TOI-700 d with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) will be challenging, the larger sub-Neptune, TOI-700 c (R = 2.63 R ?), will be an excellent target for JWST and future space-based observatories. TESS is scheduled to once again observe the Southern Hemisphere, and it will monitor TOI-700 for an additional 11 sectors in its extended mission. These observations should allow further constraints on the known planet parameters and searches for additional planets and transit timing variations in the system.
VPL Scientist Dr. Lucianne Walkowicz (Adler Planetarium) was recently featured on the Ask an Astrobiologist program! Dr. Lucianne Walkowicz is…
We present the results of a search for white-light flares on ~23,000 cool dwarfs in the Kepler Quarter 1 long cadence data. We have identified 373 flaring stars, some of which flare multiple times during the observation period. We calculate relative flare energies, flare rates, and durations and compare these with the quiescent photometric variability of our sample. We find that M dwarfs tend to flare more frequently but for shorter durations than K dwarfs and that they emit more energy relative to their quiescent luminosity in a given flare than K dwarfs. Stars that are more photometrically variable in quiescence tend to emit relatively more energy during flares, but variability is only weakly correlated with flare frequency. We estimate distances for our sample of flare stars and find that the flaring fraction agrees well with other observations of flare statistics for stars within 300 pc above the Galactic plane. These observations provide a more rounded view of stellar flares by sampling stars that have not been pre-selected by their activity, and are informative for understanding the influence of these flares on planetary habitability.
We provide an overview of stellar variability in the first quarter data from the Kepler mission. The intent of this paper is to examine the entire sample of over 150,000 target stars for periodic behavior in their light curves and relate this to stellar characteristics. This data set constitutes an unprecedented study of stellar variability given its great precision and complete time coverage (with a half hour cadence). Because the full Kepler pipeline is not currently suitable for a study of stellar variability of this sort, we describe our procedures for treating the “raw” pipeline data. About half of the total sample exhibits convincing periodic variability up to two weeks, with amplitudes ranging from differential intensity changes of less than 10–4 up to more than 10%. K and M dwarfs have a greater fraction of period behavior than G dwarfs. The giants in the sample have distinctive quasi-periodic behavior, but are not periodic in the way we define it. Not all periodicities are due to rotation, and the most significant period is not necessarily the rotation period. We discuss properties of the light curves, and in particular look at a sample of very clearly periodic G dwarfs. It is clear that a large number of them do vary because of rotation and starspots, but it will take further analysis to fully exploit this.
Main sequence M stars pose an interesting problem for astrobiology: their abundance in our galaxy makes them likely targets in the hunt for habitable planets, but their strong chromospheric activity produces high-energy radiation and charged particles that may be detrimental to life. We studied the impact of the 1985 April 12 flare from the M dwarf AD Leonis (AD Leo), simulating the effects from both UV radiation and protons on the atmospheric chemistry of a hypothetical, Earth-like planet located within its habitable zone. Based on observations of solar proton events and the Neupert effect, we estimated a proton flux associated with the flare of 5.9 × 108 protons cm−2 sr−1 s−1 for particles with energies >10 MeV. Then we calculated the abundance of nitrogen oxides produced by the flare by scaling the production of these compounds during a large solar proton event called the Carrington event. The simulations were performed with a 1-D photochemical model coupled to a 1-D radiative/convective model. Our results indicate that the UV radiation emitted during the flare does not produce a significant change in the ozone column depth of the planet. When the action of protons is included, the ozone depletion reaches a maximum of 94% two years after the flare for a planet with no magnetic field. At the peak of the flare, the calculated UV fluxes that reach the surface, in the wavelength ranges that are damaging for life, exceed those received on Earth during less than 100 s. Therefore, flares may not present a direct hazard for life on the surface of an orbiting habitable planet. Given that AD Leo is one of the most magnetically active M dwarfs known, this conclusion should apply to planets around other M dwarfs with lower levels of chromospheric activity. Key Words: M dwarf—Flare—Habitable zone—Planetary atmospheres. Astrobiology 10, 751–771.
We report the results of our Hubble Space Telescope (HST) snapshot survey with the ACS HRC PR200L prism, designed to measure the near-UV emission in a sample of nearby M dwarfs. Thirty-three stars were observed, spanning the mass range from 0.1 to 0.6 solar masses (Teff ~ 2200-4000 K) where the UV energy distributions vary widely between active and inactive stars. These observations provide much needed constraints on models of the habitability zone and the atmospheres of possible terrestrial planets orbiting M dwarf hosts and will be useful in refining the target selection for future space missions such as Terrestrial Planet Finder (TPF). We compare our data with a new generation of M dwarf atmospheric models and discuss their implications for the chromospheric energy budget. These NUV data will also be valuable in conjunction with existing optical, FUV, and X-ray data to explore unanswered questions regarding the dynamo generation and magnetic heating in low-mass stars.