On the Inclination and Habitability of the HD 10180 System

TL;DR

This paper analyzes the HD 10180 multi-planet system, focusing on how orbital inclination affects planetary properties and habitability, and proposes methods to resolve inclination ambiguity, highlighting the potential habitability of planet g.

Contribution

It provides a new orbital solution allowing eccentric orbits and explores how inclination impacts planetary mass, radius, and habitability, especially for planet g.

Findings

Inclination significantly affects planetary mass and radius estimates.

Detection of phase signatures can resolve inclination ambiguity.

Planet g remains within the Habitable Zone throughout its eccentric orbit.

Abstract

There are numerous multi-planet systems that have now been detected via a variety of techniques. These systems exhibit a range of both planetary properties and orbital configurations. For those systems without detected planetary transits, a significant unknown factor is the orbital inclination. This produces an uncertainty in the mass of the planets and their related properties, such as atmospheric scale height. Here we investigate the HD~10180 system which was discovered using the radial velocity technique. We provide a new orbital solution for the system which allows for eccentric orbits for all planets. We show how the inclination of the system affects the mass/radius properties of the planets and how the detection of phase signatures may resolve the inclination ambiguity. We finally evaluate the Habitable Zone properties of the system and show that the g planet spends 100\% of an eccentric orbit within the Habitable Zone.