Characterizing planetary systems with SPIRou: a temperate sub-Neptune exoplanet orbiting the nearby fully-convective star GJ 1289 and a candidate around GJ 3378

TL;DR

This study reports the discovery of two potential sub-Neptune exoplanets orbiting nearby fully convective stars using infrared radial velocity measurements, with magnetic field characterizations and analysis of stellar activity.

Contribution

First detection of sub-Neptune exoplanet candidates around fully convective stars using infrared RV data, including magnetic field measurements and activity analysis.

Findings

GJ 3378 b is a candidate planet with 5.26 Mearth in a 24.73-day orbit.

GJ 1289 b is a confirmed planet with 6.27 Mearth in a 111.74-day orbit.

Both stars exhibit strong, mostly dipolar magnetic fields.

Abstract

We report the discovery of two new exoplanet systems around fully convective stars, found from the radial-velocity (RV) variations of their host stars measured with the nIR spectropolarimeter CFHT/SPIRou over multiple years. GJ 3378 b is a planet with minimum mass of $5.26^{+0.94}_{-0.97}$ Mearth in an eccentric 24.73-day orbit around an M4V star of 0.26 Msun. GJ 1289 b has a minimum mass of $6.27\pm1.25$ Mearth in a 111.74-day orbit, in a circular orbit around an M4.5V star of mass 0.21 Msun. Both stars are in the solar neighbourhood, at respectively 7.73 and 8.86 pc. The low-amplitude RV signals are detected after line-by-line post-processing treatment. These potential sub-Neptune class planets around cool stars may have temperate atmospheres and be interesting nearby systems for further studies. We also recovered the large-scale magnetic field of both stars, found to be mostly axisymmetric and dipolar, and with a polar strength of 20-30 G and 200-240 G for GJ 3378 (in 2019-21) and GJ 1289 (in 2022-23), respectively. The rotation periods measured with the magnetic field differ from the orbital periods, and in general, stellar activity is not seen in the studied nIR RV time series of both stars. GJ 3378 b detection is not confirmed by optical RVs and is therefore considered a candidate at this point.