Prospects from TESS and Gaia to constrain the flatness of planetary systems

TL;DR

This study explores how Gaia astrometry can detect and characterize cold Jupiters in systems with TESS planets, helping to understand their formation by measuring mutual inclinations.

Contribution

It demonstrates the potential of Gaia to detect and measure the inclinations of cold Jupiters in TESS systems, providing new insights into planetary system dynamics.

Findings

Gaia can detect ~200 cold Jupiters in TESS systems during its 5-year mission.

Orbital inclinations can be measured with a precision of σ_{cos i}<0.2 in about 120 systems.

Gaia data can distinguish between dynamically cold and hot planetary systems based on mutual inclinations.

Abstract

The mutual inclination between planets orbiting the same star provides key information to understand the formation and evolution of multi-planet systems. In this work, we investigate the potential of Gaia astrometry in detecting and characterizing cold Jupiters in orbits exterior to the currently known TESS planet candidates. According to our simulations, out of the $\sim 3350$ systems expected to have cold Jupiter companions, Gaia, by its nominal 5-year mission, should be able to detect $\sim 200$ cold Jupiters and measure the orbital inclinations with a precision of $\sigma_{\cos i}<0.2$ in $\sim 120$ of them. These numbers are estimated under the assumption that the orbital orientations of the CJs follow an isotropic distribution, but these only vary slightly for less broad distributions. We also discuss the prospects from radial velocity follow-ups to better constrain the derived properties and provide a package to do quick forecasts using our Fisher matrix analysis. Overall, our simulations show that Gaia astrometry of cold Jupiters orbiting stars with TESS planets can distinguish dynamically cold (mean mutual inclination $\lesssim5^\circ$) from dynamically hot systems (mean mutual inclination $\gtrsim 20^\circ$), placing a new set of constraints on their formation and evolution.