The HARPS search for southern extra-solar planets. IX. Exoplanets orbiting HD 100777, HD 190647, and HD 221287

TL;DR

This paper reports the discovery of three new exoplanets orbiting Solar-type stars using the HARPS spectrograph, providing valuable data to understand planet formation and orbital characteristics.

Contribution

First detailed orbital solutions for three exoplanets around Solar-type stars from the HARPS survey, enhancing the statistical sample of known exoplanets.

Findings

HD 100777 hosts a 1.1 M_Jup planet on a 384-day eccentric orbit

HD 190647 hosts a 1.9 M_Jup planet on a 1038-day orbit

HD 221287 hosts a 3.1 M_Jup planet on a 456-day orbit

Abstract

The HARPS high-resolution high-accuracy spectrograph is offered to the astronomical community since the second half of 2003. Since then, we have been using this instrument for monitoring radial velocities of a large sample of Solar-type stars (~1400 stars) in order to search for their possible low-mass companions. Amongst the goals of our survey, one is to significantly increase the number of detected extra-solar planets in a volume-limited sample to improve our knowledge of their orbital elements distributions and thus obtain better constraints for planet-formation models. In this paper, we present the HARPS radial-velocity data and orbital solutions for 3 Solar-type stars: HD 100777, HD 190647, and HD 221287. The radial-velocity data of HD 100777 is best explained by the presence of a 1.1 M_Jup planetary companion on a 384--day eccentric orbit (e=0.36). The orbital fit obtained for the slightly evolved star HD 190647 reveals the presence of a long-period (P=1038 d) 1.9 M_Jup planetary companion on a moderately eccentric orbit (e=0.18). HD 221287 is hosting a 3.1 M_Jup planet on a 456--day orbit. The shape of this orbit is not very well constrained because of our non-optimal temporal coverage and because of the presence of abnormally large residuals. We find clues for these large residuals to result from spectral line profile variations probably induced by stellar activity related processes.