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We present a pattern emerging from stellar obliquity measurements in single-star systems: planets with high planet-to-star mass ratios ($M_{\rm p}/M{_*}$$>$ $2\times10^{-3}$) -- such as super-Jupiters, brown dwarf companions, and M-dwarfs hosting Jupiter-like planets -- tend to be aligned, even around hot stars. This alignment represents a 3.7$\sigma$ deviation from the obliquity distribution observed in systems with lower mass ratios ($M_{\rm p}/M{_*}$$<$ $2\times10^{-3}$), which predominantly include Jupiters and sub-Saturns. The only known outlier system, XO-3, exhibits misalignment confirmed via our newly collected Rossiter-McLaughlin effect measurement ($\lambda=41.8^{+2.1}_{-2.0}$ degrees). However, the relatively large $\textit{Gaia}$ Renormalized Unit Weight Error (RUWE) of XO-3 suggests that it may harbor an undetected binary companion, potentially contributing to its misalignment. Given that tidal realignment mechanisms are weak for hot stars, the observed alignment in high $M_{\rm p}/M{_*}$ systems is likely $\textit{primordial}$ rather than resulting from tidal interactions. One possible explanation is that only dynamically isolated planets can continue accreting gas and evolve into super-Jupiters while maintaining their primordial alignment. Conversely, planets formed in compact configurations may be unable to grow beyond the gap-opening mass, for which our work suggests an empirical boundary $M_{\rm p}/M{_*}$$=$ $2\times10^{-3}$, identified between aligned high $M_{\rm p}/M{_*}$ systems and misaligned low $M_{\rm p}/M{_*}$ systems, with dynamical instabilities contributing to the diverse spin-orbit misalignments observed in the latter., Comment: 15 pages, 2 figures, 2 tables

Super Jupiters are giant planets with several Jupiter masses. It remains an open question whether these planets originate with such high masses or grow through collisions. Previous work demonstrates that warm super Jupiters tend to have more eccentric orbits compared to regular-mass warm Jupiters. This correlation between mass and eccentricity may indicate that planet-planet interactions significantly influence the warm giant planet demographics. Here we conducted a detailed characterization of a warm super Jupiter, TOI-2145b. This analysis utilized previous observations from TESS and Keck/HIRES, enhanced by new Rossiter-McLaughlin effect data from the NEID spectrometer on the 3.5 m WIYN Telescope. TOI-2145b is a $5.68^{+0.37}_{-0.34} M_{\rm Jup}$ planet on a moderate eccentricity ($e = 0.214^{+0.014}_{-0.014}$), 10.26-day orbit, orbiting an evolved A-star. We constrain the projected stellar obliquity to be $\lambda = 6.8^{+2.9}_{-3.8}$$^\circ$ from two NEID observations. Our $N$-body simulations suggest that the formation of super Jupiter TOI-2145b could involve either of two scenarios: a high initial mass or growth via collisions. On a population level, however, the collision scenario can better describe the mass-eccentricity distribution of observed warm Jupiters., Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures, 1 table, AJ accepted

The stellar obliquity distribution of warm-Jupiter systems is crucial for constraining the dynamical history of Jovian exoplanets, as the warm Jupiters' tidal detachment likely preserves their primordial obliquity. However, the sample size of warm-Jupiter systems with measured stellar obliquities has historically been limited compared to that of hot Jupiters, particularly in hot-star systems. In this work, we present newly obtained sky-projected stellar obliquity measurements for warm-Jupiter systems, TOI-559, TOI-2025, TOI-2031, TOI-2485, TOI-2524, and TOI-3972, derived from the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect, and show that all six systems display alignment with a median measurement uncertainty of 13 degrees. Combining these new measurements with the set of previously reported stellar obliquity measurements, our analysis reveals that single-star warm-Jupiter systems tend to be aligned, even around hot stellar hosts. This alignment exhibits a 3.4-$\sigma$ deviation from the $T_{\rm eff}-\lambda$ dependency observed in hot-Jupiter systems, where planets around cool stars tend to be aligned, while those orbiting hot stars show considerable misalignment. The current distribution of spin-orbit measurements for Jovian exoplanets indicates that misalignments are neither universal nor primordial phenomena affecting all types of planets. The absence of misalignments in single-star warm-Jupiter systems further implies that many hot Jupiters, by contrast, have experienced a dynamically violent history., Comment: 18 pages, 2 figures, accepted for publication in ApJL

Brown dwarfs occupy a middle ground in mass space between gaseous giant planets and ultra-cool dwarf stars, and the characterisation of their orbital orientations may shed light on how these neighbouring objects form. We present an analysis of the Rossiter-McLaughlin (RM) effect across the transit of TOI-2533 $b$, a brown dwarf on a moderately eccentric ($e_b = 0.2476\pm0.0090$) and wide-separation ($a_b/R_\star = 13.34\pm0.30$) orbit around an F8-type star, using data from the NEID/WIYN spectrograph in combination with archival photometry and radial velocity observations. Spin-orbit analyses of brown dwarfs are relatively rare, and TOI-2533 stands out as the fifth brown dwarf system with a measured spin-orbit constraint. We derive a sky-projected stellar obliquity of $\lambda = -7\pm14^{\circ}$ for TOI-2533 $b$, finding that the brown dwarf is consistent with spin-orbit alignment. Our joint model also indicates that TOI-2533 $b$ falls near the lower bound of the hydrogen-burning minimum mass range (M$_b$ = $74.9\pm5.3$ M$_{\rm \tiny Jup}$). Ultimately, we find that TOI-2533 $b$ is consistent with formation from disc fragmentation in a primordially spin-orbit aligned orientation, although we cannot rule out the possibility that the system has been tidally realigned during its lifetime., Comment: 13 pages, 3 figures. Original submission 5/24/24; accepted 8/2/24

The distribution of stellar obliquities provides critical insight into the formation and evolution pathways of exoplanets. In the past decade, it was found that hot stars hosting hot Jupiters are more likely to have high obliquities than cool stars, but it is not clear whether this trend exists only for hot Jupiters or holds for other types of planets. In this work, we extend the study of the obliquities of hot (6250-7000\,K) stars with transiting super-Earth and sub-Neptune-sized planets. We constrain the obliquity distribution based on measurements of the stars' projected rotation velocities. Our sample consists of 170 TESS and \textit{Kepler} planet-hosting stars and 180 control stars chosen to have indistinguishable spectroscopic characteristics. In our analysis, we find evidence suggesting that the planet hosts have a systematically higher $\langle \sin i \rangle$ compared to the control sample. This result implies that the planet hosts tend to have lower obliquities. However, the observed difference in $\langle \sin i \rangle$ is not significant enough to confirm spin-orbit alignment, as it is 3.8$\sigma$ away from perfect alignment. We also find evidence that within the planet-hosting stars there is a trend of higher obliquity (lower $\langle \sin i\rangle$) for the hotter stars ($\teff > 6250$ K) than for the cooler stars in the sample. This suggests that hot stars hosting smaller planets exhibit a broader obliquity distribution($\langle \sin i\rangle = 0.79 \pm 0.053$) than cooler planet-hosting stars, indicating that high obliquities are not exclusive to hot Jupiters and instead are more broadly tied to hot stars., Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJL

The ubiquity of "peas-in-a-pod" architectural patterns and the existence of the radius valley each present a striking population-level trend for planets with $R_{p} \leq 4 R_{\oplus}$ that serves to place powerful constraints on the formation and evolution of these subgiant worlds. As it has yet to be determined whether the strength of this peas-in-a-pod uniformity differs on either side of the radius valley, we separately assess the architectures of systems containing only small ($R_{p} \leq 1.6 R_{\oplus}$), rocky planets from those harboring only intermediate-size ($1.6 R_{\oplus} < R_{p} \leq 4 R_{\oplus}$), volatile-rich worlds to perform a novel statistical comparison of intra-system planetary uniformity across compositionally distinct regimes. We find that, compared to their volatile-rich counterparts, rocky systems are less uniform in mass ($2.6\sigma$), but more uniform in size ($4.0\sigma$) and spacing ($3.0\sigma$). We provide further statistical validation for these results, demonstrating that they are not substantially influenced by the presence of mean motion resonances, low-mass host stars, alternative bulk compositional assumptions, sample size effects, or detection biases. We also obtain tentative evidence ($>2 \sigma$ significance) that the enhanced size uniformity of rocky systems is dominated by the presence of super-Earths ($1 R_{\oplus} \leq R_{p} \leq 1.6 R_{\oplus}$), while their enhanced mass diversity is driven by the presence of sub-Earth ($R_{p} < 1 R_{\oplus}$) worlds., Comment: Accepted to ApJ Letters (May 2024). 17 pages (including 3 for Appendix), 4 figures, 3 tables

Despite decades of effort, the mechanisms by which the spin axis of a star and the orbital axes of its planets become misaligned remain elusive. Particularly, it is of great interest whether the large spin-orbit misalignments observed are driven primarily by high-eccentricity migration -- expected to have occurred for short-period, isolated planets -- or reflect a more universal process that operates across systems with a variety of present-day architectures. Compact multi-planet systems offer a unique opportunity to differentiate between these competing hypotheses, as their tightly-packed configurations preclude violent dynamical histories, including high-eccentricity migration, allowing them to trace the primordial disk plane. In this context, we report measurements of the sky-projected stellar obliquity ($\lambda$) via the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect for two sub-Saturns in multiple-transiting systems: TOI-5126 b ($\lambda=1\pm 48 ^\circ$) and TOI-5398 b ($\lambda=-8.1^{+5.3 \circ}_{-6.3}$). Both are spin-orbit aligned, joining a fast-growing group of just three other compact sub-Saturn systems, all of which exhibit spin-orbit alignment. In aggregate with archival data, our results strongly suggest that sub-Saturn systems are primordially aligned and become misaligned largely in the post-disk phase, as appears to be the case increasingly for other exoplanet populations., Comment: Accepted to AJ, 13 pages, 2 figures, 2 tables

TOI-677 b is part of an emerging class of ``tidally-detached'' gas giants ($a/R_\star \gtrsim 11$) that exhibit large orbital eccentricities and yet low stellar obliquities. Such sources pose a challenge for models of giant planet formation, which must account for the excitation of high eccentricities without large changes in the orbital inclination. In this work, we present a new Rossiter-McLaughlin (RM) measurement for the tidally-detached warm Jupiter TOI-677 b, obtained using high-precision radial velocity observations from the PFS/Magellan spectrograph. Combined with previously published observations from the ESPRESSO/VLT spectrograph, we derive one of the most precisely constrained sky-projected spin-orbit angle measurements to date for an exoplanet. The combined fit offers a refined set of self-consistent parameters, including a low sky-projected stellar obliquity of $\lambda=3.2^{+1.6}_{-1.5}$ deg and a moderately high eccentricity of $e=0.460^{+0.019}_{-0.018}$, that further constrains the puzzling architecture of this system. We examine several potential scenarios that may have produced the current TOI-677 orbital configuration, ultimately concluding that TOI-677 b most likely had its eccentricity excited through disk-planet interactions. This system adds to a growing population of aligned warm Jupiters on eccentric orbits around hot ($T_{\rm eff}>6100$ K) stars., Comment: 16 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in the Astronomical Journal

In protoplanetary disks, sufficiently massive planets excite pressure bumps, which can then be preferred locations for forming new planet cores. We discuss how this loop may affect the architecture of multi-planet systems, and compare our predictions with observation. Our main prediction is that low-mass planets and giant planets can each be divided into two subpopulations with different levels of mass uniformity. Low-mass planets that can and cannot reach the pebble isolation mass (the minimum mass required to produce a pressure bump) develop into intra-similar "Super-Earths" and more diverse "Earths", respectively. Gas giants that do and do not accrete envelope quickly develop into intra-similar "Jupiters" and more diverse "Saturns", respectively. Super-Earths prefer to form long chains via repeated pressure-bump planet formation, while Jupiter formation is usually terminated at pairs or triplets due to dynamical instability. These predictions are broadly consistent with observations. In particular, we discover a previously overlooked mass uniformity dichotomy among the observed populations of both low-mass planets (Earths vs. Super-Earths) and gas giants (Saturns vs. Jupiters). For low-mass planets, planets well below the pebble isolation mass ($\lesssim 3M_\oplus$ or $\lesssim 1.5 R_\oplus$ for sun-like stars) show significantly higher intra-system pairwise mass difference than planets around the pebble isolation mass. For gas giants, the period ratios of intra-system pairs show a bimodal distribution, which can be interpreted as two subpopulations with different levels of mass uniformity. These findings suggest that pressure-bump planet formation could be an important ingredient in shaping planetary architectures., Comment: 15 pages, 6 figures. Accepted for publication in ApJL

We report an attempt to detect molecular and atomic species in the atmosphere of the ultra-hot Jupiter WASP-33b using the high-resolution echelle spectrograph NEID with a wavelength coverage of 380$-$930 nm. By analyzing the transmission spectrum of WASP-33b using the line-by-line technique and the cross-correlation technique, we confirm previous detection of H$\alpha$, H$\beta$, H$\gamma$, and Ca II infrared triplets. We find no evidence for a significant day-to-night wind in WASP-33b, taking into account the effects of stellar pulsations using a relatively novel GP method and poorly constrained systemic velocity measurements. We also detect the previously reported pre-transit absorption signal, which may be a pulsation mode induced by the planet. Combined with previous CARMENES and HARPS-N observations, we report the non-detection of TiO, Ti I, and V I in the transmission spectrum, while they were already detected in the dayside atmosphere of WASP-33b. This implies a difference in the chemical compositions and abundances between the dayside and terminator atmospheres of WASP-33b, and certainly requires further improvements in the sensitivity of the detection methods., Comment: 18 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in AJ

The geometries of near-resonant planetary systems offer a relatively pristine window into the initial conditions of exoplanet systems. Given that near-resonant systems have likely experienced minimal dynamical disruptions, the spin-orbit orientations of these systems inform the typical outcomes of quiescent planet formation, as well as the primordial stellar obliquity distribution. However, few measurements have been made to constrain the spin-orbit orientations of near-resonant systems. We present a Rossiter-McLaughlin measurement of the near-resonant warm Jupiter TOI-2202 b, obtained using the Carnegie Planet Finder Spectrograph (PFS) on the 6.5m Magellan Clay Telescope. This is the eighth result from the Stellar Obliquities in Long-period Exoplanet Systems (SOLES) survey. We derive a sky-projected 2D spin-orbit angle $\lambda=26^{+12}_{-15}$ $^{\circ}$ and a 3D spin-orbit angle $\psi=31^{+13}_{-11}$ $^{\circ}$, finding that TOI-2202 b - the most massive near-resonant exoplanet with a 3D spin-orbit constraint to date - likely deviates from exact alignment with the host star's equator. Incorporating the full census of spin-orbit measurements for near-resonant systems, we demonstrate that the current set of near-resonant systems with period ratios $P_2/P_1\lesssim4$ is generally consistent with a quiescent formation pathway, with some room for low-level ($\lesssim20^{\circ}$) protoplanetary disk misalignments or post-disk-dispersal spin-orbit excitation. Our result constitutes the first population-wide analysis of spin-orbit geometries for near-resonant planetary systems., Comment: 14 pages, 4 figures, 4 tables, accepted to AJ

We report the discovery of a hot Jupiter on a 3.28-day orbit around a 1.08 M$_{Sun}$ G0 star that is the secondary component in a loose binary system. Based on follow-up radial velocity observations of TOI-858 B with CORALIE on the Swiss 1.2 m telescope and CHIRON on the 1.5 m telescope at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), we measured the planet mass to be $1.10\pm 0.08$ M$_{J}$ . Two transits were further observed with CORALIE to determine the alignment of TOI-858 B b with respect to its host star. Analysis of the Rossiter-McLaughlin signal from the planet shows that the sky-projected obliquity is $\lambda = 99.3\pm 3.8$. Numerical simulations show that the neighbour star TOI-858 A is too distant to have trapped the planet in a Kozai-Lidov resonance, suggesting a different dynamical evolution or a primordial origin to explain this misalignment. The 1.15 Msun primary F9 star of the system (TYC 8501-01597-1, at $\rho$ ~11") was also observed with CORALIE in order to provide upper limits for the presence of a planetary companion orbiting that star., Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A

Although close-orbiting, massive exoplanets -- known as hot and warm Jupiters -- are among the most observationally accessible known planets, their formation pathways are still not universally agreed upon. One method to constrain the possible dynamical histories of such planets is to measure the systems' sky-projected spin-orbit angles using the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect. By demonstrating whether planets orbit around the stellar equator or on offset orbits, Rossiter-McLaughlin observations offer clues as to whether the planet had a quiescent or violent formation history. Such measurements are, however, only a reliable window into the history of the system if the planet in question orbits sufficiently far from its host star; otherwise, tidal interactions with the host star can erase evidence of past dynamical upheavals. We present a WIYN/NEID Rossiter-McLaughlin measurement of the tidally detached ($a/R_* = 13.18^{+0.35}_{-0.37}$) warm Jupiter WASP-106 b, which orbits a star along the Kraft break ($T_{\mathrm{eff}}=6002\pm164$ K). We find that WASP-106 b is consistent with a low spin-orbit angle ($\lambda=6^{+17}_{-16}\,^{\circ}$ and $\psi = 26^{+12}_{-17}\,^{\circ}$), suggesting a relatively quiescent formation history for the system. We conclude by comparing the stellar obliquities of hot and warm Jupiter systems, with the WASP-106 system included, to gain insight into the possible formation routes of these populations of exoplanets., Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures. Submitted 8/7/23; accepted to AJ 10/6/23

Super-Earths within the same close-in, compact planetary system tend to exhibit a striking degree of uniformity in their radius, mass, and orbital spacing, and this 'peas-in-a-pod' phenomenon itself serves to provide one of the strongest constrains on planet formation at large. While it has been recently demonstrated from independent samples that such planetary uniformity occurs for both configurations near and distant from mean motion resonance, the question thus remains if the strength of this uniformity itself differs between near-resonant and nonresonant configurations such that the two modes may be astrophysically distinct in their evolution. We thus provide in this work a novel comparative size uniformity analysis for 48 near-resonant and 251 nonresonant multi-planet systems from the California Kepler Survey catalog, evaluating uniformity both across systems and between planetary pairs within the same system. We find that while multiplanet configurations exhibit strong peas-in-a-pod size uniformity regardless of their proximity to resonance, near-resonant configurations display enhanced intra-system size uniformity as compared to their analogous nonresonant counterparts at the level of both entire systems and subsystem planetary pairs and chains. These results are broadly consistent with a variety of formation paradigms for multiplanet systems, such as convergent migration within a turbulent protoplanetary disk or planet-planet interactions incited by postnebular dynamical instabilities. Nevertheless, further investigation is necessary to ascertain whether the nonresonant and near-resonant planetary configurations respectively evolve via a singular process or mechanisms that are dynamically distinct., Comment: 15 pages, 6 figures. Accepted to ApJ July 2023

Warm Jupiters are close-in giant planets with relatively large planet-star separations (i.e., $10< a/R_\star <100$). Given their weak tidal interactions with their host stars, measurements of stellar obliquity may be used to probe the initial obliquity distribution and dynamical history for close-in gas giants. Using spectroscopic observations, we confirm the planetary nature of TOI-1859b and determine the stellar obliquity of TOI-1859 to be $\lambda = 38.9^{+2.8}_{-2.7}\deg$ relative to its planetary companion using the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect. TOI-1859b is a 64-day warm Jupiter orbiting around a late-F dwarf and has an orbital eccentricity of $0.57^{+0.12}_{-0.16}$, inferred purely from transit light curves. The eccentric and misaligned orbit of TOI-1859b is likely an outcome of dynamical interactions, such as planet-planet scattering and planet-disk resonance crossing., Comment: 15 pages, 7 figures, 1 table; accepted to ApJL

The mechanisms responsible for generating spin-orbit misalignments in exoplanetary systems are still not fully understood. It is unclear whether these misalignments are related to the migration of hot Jupiters or are a consequence of general star and planet formation processes. One promising method to address this question is to constrain the distribution of spin-orbit angle measurements for a broader range of planets beyond hot Jupiters. In this work, we present the sky-projected obliquity ($\lambda=-68.1_{-14.7}^{+21.2} \,^{\circ}$) for the warm sub-Saturn TOI-1842b, obtained through a measurement of the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect using WIYN/NEID. Using the projected obliquity, the stellar rotation period obtained from the TESS light curve, and the projected rotation velocity from spectral analysis, we infer the 3D spin-orbit angle ($\psi$) to be $\psi=73.3^{+16.3}_{-12.9} \,^{\circ}$. As the first spin-orbit angle determination made for a sub-Saturn-mass planet around a massive ($M_{\rm *}=1.45 \,{\rm M_\odot}$) star, our result presents an opportunity to examine the orbital geometries for new regimes of planetary systems. When combined with archival measurements, our observations of TOI-1842b support the hypothesis that the previously established prevalence of misaligned systems around hot, massive stars may be driven by planet-planet dynamical interactions. In massive stellar systems, multiple gas giants are more likely to form and can then dynamically interact with each other to excite spin-orbit misalignments., Comment: 8 pages, 2 tables, 2 figures, accepted for publication in ApJL

The first discovered extrasolar worlds -- giant, ``hot Jupiter'' planets on short-period orbits -- came as a surprise to solar-system-centric models of planet formation, prompting the development of new theories for planetary system evolution. The near-absence of observed nearby planetary companions to hot Jupiters has been widely quoted as evidence in support of high-eccentricity tidal migration: a framework in which hot Jupiters form further out in their natal protoplanetary disks before being thrown inward with extremely high eccentricities, stripping systems of any close-in planetary companions. In this work, we present new results from a search for transit timing variations across the full four-year Kepler dataset, demonstrating that at least $12\pm6\%$ of hot Jupiters have a nearby planetary companion. This subset of hot Jupiters is expected to have a quiescent dynamical history such that the systems could retain their nearby companions. We also demonstrate a ubiquity of nearby planetary companions to warm Jupiters ($\geq70\pm{16}\%$), indicating that warm Jupiters typically form quiescently. We conclude by combining our results with existing observational constraints to propose an ``eccentric migration'' framework for the formation of short-period giant planets through post-disk dynamical sculpting in compact multi-planet systems. Our framework suggests that hot Jupiters constitute the natural end stage for giant planets spanning a wide range of eccentricities, with orbits that reach small enough periapses -- either from their final orbital configurations in the disk phase, or from eccentricity excitation in the post-disk phase -- to trigger efficient tidal circularization., Comment: 19 pages, 5 figures, Accepted for publication in the Astronomical Journal

We confirm the planetary nature of two gas giants discovered by TESS to transit M dwarfs with stellar companions at wide separations. TOI-3984 A ($J=11.93$) is an M4 dwarf hosting a short-period ($4.353326 \pm 0.000005$ days) gas giant ($M_p=0.14\pm0.03~\mathrm{M_{J}}$ and $R_p=0.71\pm0.02~\mathrm{R_{J}}$) with a wide separation white dwarf companion. TOI-5293 A ($J=12.47$) is an M3 dwarf hosting a short-period ($2.930289 \pm 0.000004$ days) gas giant ($M_p=0.54\pm0.07~\mathrm{M_{J}}$ and $R_p=1.06\pm0.04~\mathrm{R_{J}}$) with a wide separation M dwarf companion. We characterize both systems using a combination of ground-based and space-based photometry, speckle imaging, and high-precision radial velocities from the Habitable-zone Planet Finder and NEID spectrographs. TOI-3984 A b ($T_{eq}=563\pm15$ K and $\mathrm{TSM}=138_{-27}^{+29}$) and TOI-5293 A b ($T_{eq}=675_{-30}^{+42}$ K and $\mathrm{TSM}=92\pm14$) are two of the coolest gas giants among the population of hot Jupiter-sized gas planets orbiting M dwarfs and are favorable targets for atmospheric characterization of temperate gas giants and three-dimensional obliquity measurements to probe system architecture and migration scenarios., Comment: Published in AJ, 46 pages, 16 figures, 6 tables, updated to reflect published version. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:2201.09963

NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) mission, has been uncovering a growing number of exoplanets orbiting nearby, bright stars. Most exoplanets that have been discovered by TESS orbit narrow-line, slow-rotating stars, facilitating the confirmation and mass determination of these worlds. We present the discovery of a hot Jupiter orbiting a rapidly rotating ($v\sin{(i)}= 35.1\pm1.0$km/s) early F3V-dwarf, HD115447 (TOI-778). The transit signal taken from Sectors 10 and 37 of TESS's initial detection of the exoplanet is combined with follow-up ground-based photometry and velocity measurements taken from Minerva-Australis, TRES, CORALIE and CHIRON to confirm and characterise TOI-778b. A joint analysis of the light curves and the radial velocity measurements yield a mass, radius, and orbital period for TOI-778b of $2.76^{+0.24}_{-0.23}$Mjup, $1.370\pm0.043$Rjup and $\sim4.63$ days, respectively. The planet orbits a bright ($V = 9.1$mag) F3-dwarf with $M=1.40\pm0.05$Msun, $R=1.70\pm0.05$Rsun, and $\log g=4.05\pm0.17$. We observed a spectroscopic transit of TOI-778b, which allowed us to derive a sky-projected spin-orbit angle of $18^{\circ}\pm11^{\circ}$, consistent with an aligned planetary system. This discovery demonstrates the capability of smaller aperture telescopes such as Minerva-Australis to detect the radial velocity signals produced by planets orbiting broad-line, rapidly rotating stars., Comment: 18 pages, 9 figures, and 4 tables. Submitted to the Astronomical Journal

The evolutionary history of an extrasolar system is, in part, fossilized through its planets' orbital orientations relative to the host star's spin axis. However, spin-orbit constraints for warm Jupiters -- particularly in binary star systems, which are amenable to a wide range of dynamical processes -- are relatively scarce. We report a measurement of the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect, observed with the Keck/HIRES spectrograph, across the transit of Qatar-6 A b: a warm Jupiter orbiting one star within a binary system. From this measurement, we obtain a sky-projected spin-orbit angle $\lambda={0.1\pm2.6}^{\circ}$. Combining this new constraint with the stellar rotational velocity of Qatar-6 A that we measure from TESS photometry, we derive a true obliquity $\psi={21.82^{+8.86}_{-18.36}}^{\circ}$ -- consistent with near-exact alignment. We also leverage astrometric data from Gaia DR3 to show that the Qatar-6 binary star system is edge-on ($i_{B}={90.17^{+1.07}_{-1.06}}^{\circ}$), such that the stellar binary and the transiting exoplanet orbit exhibit line-of-sight orbit-orbit alignment. Ultimately, we demonstrate that all current constraints for the 3-body Qatar-6 system are consistent with both spin-orbit and orbit-orbit alignment. High-precision measurements of the projected stellar spin rate of the host star and the sky-plane geometry of the transit relative to the binary plane are required to conclusively verify the full 3D configuration of the system., Comment: 17 pages, 7 figures, accepted to AJ

Convergent disk migration has long been suspected to be responsible for forming planetary systems with a chain of mean-motion resonances (MMR). Dynamical evolution over time could disrupt the delicate resonant configuration. We present TOI-1136, a 700-Myr-old G star hosting at least 6 transiting planets between $\sim$2 and 5 $R_\oplus$. The orbital period ratios deviate from exact commensurability by only $10^{-4}$, smaller than the $\sim$\,$10^{-2}$ deviations seen in typical Kepler near-resonant systems. A transit-timing analysis measured the masses of the planets (3-8$M_\oplus$) and demonstrated that the planets in TOI-1136 are in true resonances with librating resonant angles. Based on a Rossiter-McLaughlin measurement of planet d, the star's rotation appears to be aligned with the planetary orbital planes. The well-aligned planetary system and the lack of detected binary companion together suggest that TOI-1136's resonant chain formed in an isolated, quiescent disk with no stellar fly-by, disk warp, or significant axial asymmetry. With period ratios near 3:2, 2:1, 3:2, 7:5, and 3:2, TOI-1136 is the first known resonant chain involving a second-order MMR (7:5) between two first-order MMR. The formation of the delicate 7:5 resonance places strong constraints on the system's migration history. Short-scale (starting from $\sim$0.1 AU) Type-I migration with an inner disk edge is most consistent with the formation of TOI-1136. A low disk surface density ($\Sigma_{\rm 1AU}\lesssim10^3$g~cm$^{-2}$; lower than the minimum-mass solar nebula) and the resultant slower migration rate likely facilitated the formation of the 7:5 second-order MMR. TOI-1136's deep resonance suggests that it has not undergone much resonant repulsion during its 700-Myr lifetime. One can rule out rapid tidal dissipation within a rocky planet b or obliquity tides within the largest planets d and f., Comment: 48 pages, 23 figures, 8 tables. Accepted to AAS journals. Comments welcome!

We present an estimate of the occurrence rate of hot Jupiters ($7\ R_{\oplus}\leq R_{p}\leq 2\ R_{J}$, $0.8 \leq P_{b}\leq 10$ days) around early-type M dwarfs based on stars observed by TESS during its Primary Mission. We adopt stellar parameters from the TESS Input Catalog, and construct a sample of 60,819 M dwarfs with $10.5 \leq T_{\rm mag}\leq 13.5$, effective temperature $2900 \leq T_{\rm eff}\leq 4000\ K$ and stellar mass $0.45\leq M_{\ast}\leq 0.65\ M_{\odot}$. We conduct a uninformed transit search using a detection pipeline based on the box least square search and characterize the searching completeness through an injection and recovery experiment. We combine a series of vetting steps including light centroid measurement, odd/even and secondary eclipse analysis, rotation and transit period synchronization tests as well as inspecting the ground-based photometric, spectroscopic and imaging observations. Finally, we find a total of nine planet candidates, all of which are known TESS objects of interest. We obtain an occurrence rate of $0.27\pm0.09\%$ for hot Jupiters around early-type M dwarfs that satisfy our selection criteria. Compared with previous studies, the occurrence rate of hot Jupiters around early-type M dwarfs is smaller than all measurements for FGK stars, although they are consistent within 1--2$\sigma$. Combining results from transit, radial velocity and microlensing surveys, we find that hot Jupiters around early-type M dwarfs possibly show a steeper decrease in occurrence rate per logarithmic semi-major axis bin (${{\rm d}N}/{\rm d}\log_{10} a$) when compared with FGK stars., Comment: 34 pages, 18 figures, accepted for publication in AJ

The distribution of spin-orbit angles for systems with wide-separation, tidally detached exoplanets offers a unique constraint on the prevalence of dynamically violent planetary evolution histories. Tidally detached planets provide a relatively unbiased view of the primordial stellar obliquity distribution, since they cannot tidally realign within the system lifetime. We present the third result from our Stellar Obliquities in Long-period Exoplanet Systems (SOLES) survey: a measurement of the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect across two transits of the tidally detached warm Jupiter TOI-1478 b with the WIYN/NEID and Keck/HIRES spectrographs, revealing a sky-projected spin-orbit angle $\lambda=6.2^{+5.9}_{-5.5}$ degrees. Combining this new measurement with the full set of archival obliquity measurements, including two previous constraints from the SOLES survey, we demonstrate that, in single-star systems, tidally detached warm Jupiters are preferentially more aligned than closer-orbiting hot Jupiters. This finding has two key implications: (1) planets in single-star systems tend to form within aligned protoplanetary disks, and (2) warm Jupiters form more quiescently than hot Jupiters, which, in single-star systems, are likely perturbed into a misaligned state through planet-planet interactions in the post-disk-dispersal phase. We also find that lower-mass Saturns span a wide range of spin-orbit angles, suggesting a prevalence of planet-planet scattering and/or secular mechanisms in these systems., Comment: Accepted for publication in AJ. 20 pages, 7 figures, 4 tables

It has been demonstrated that planets belonging to the same close-in, compact multiple-planet system tend to exhibit a striking degree of uniformity in their sizes. A similar trend has also been found to hold for the masses of such planets, but considerations of such intra-system mass uniformity have generally been limited to statistical samples wherein a majority of systems have constituent planetary mass measurements obtained via analysis of transit timing variations (TTVs). Since systems with strong TTV signals typically lie in or near mean motion resonance, it remains to be seen whether intra-system mass uniformity is still readily emergent for non-resonant systems with non-TTV mass provenance. We thus present in this work a mass uniformity analysis of 17 non-TTV systems with masses measured via radial velocity (RV) measurements. Using the Gini index, a common statistic for economic inequality, as our primary metric for uniformity, we find that our sample of 17 non-TTV systems displays intra-system mass uniformity at a level of $\sim 2.5 \sigma$ confidence. We provide additional discussion of possible statistical and astrophysical underpinnings for this result. We also demonstrate the existence of a correlation ($r = 0.25$) between characteristic solid surface density ($\Sigma_0$) of the minimum mass extrasolar nebula (MMEN) and system mass Gini index, suggesting that more massive disks may generally form systems with more unequal planetary masses., Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures. Accepted to ApJ

We present 12 new transit light curves and 16 new out-of-transit radial velocity measurements for the XO-3 system. By modelling our newly collected measurements together with archival photometric and Doppler velocimetric data, we confirmed the unusual configuration of the XO-3 system, which contains a massive planet ($M_P=11.92^{+0.59}_{-0.63} M_J$) on a relatively eccentric ($e=0.2853^{+0.0027}_{-0.0026}$) and short-period ($3.19152 \pm 0.00145\,$day) orbit around a massive star ($M_*=1.219^{+0.090}_{-0.095} M_{\odot}$). Furthermore, we find no strong evidence for a temporal change of either $V\sin i_{*}$ (and by extension, the stellar spin vector of XO-3), or the transit profile (and thus orbital angular momentum vector of XO-3b). We conclude that the discrepancy in previous Rossiter-McLaughlin measurements ($70.0^{\circ} \pm 15.0^{\circ}$ (Hebrard et al. 2008); $37.3^{\circ} \pm 3.7^{\circ}$ (Winn et al. 2009); $37.3^{\circ} \pm 3.0^{\circ}$ (Hirano et al. 2011)) may have stemmed from systematic noise sources., Comment: Accepted for publication by The Astronomical Journal on January 18, 2022

We explore the transit timing variations (TTVs) of the young (22 Myr) nearby AU Mic planetary system. For AU Mic b, we introduce three Spitzer (4.5 $\mu$m) transits, five TESS transits, 11 LCO transits, one PEST transit, one Brierfield transit, and two transit timing measurements from Rossiter-McLaughlin observations; for AU Mic c, we introduce three TESS transits. We present two independent TTV analyses. First, we use EXOFASTv2 to jointly model the Spitzer and ground-based transits and to obtain the midpoint transit times. We then construct an O--C diagram and model the TTVs with Exo-Striker. Second, we reproduce our results with an independent photodynamical analysis. We recover a TTV mass for AU Mic c of 10.8$^{+2.3}_{-2.2}$ M$_{E}$. We compare the TTV-derived constraints to a recent radial-velocity (RV) mass determination. We also observe excess TTVs that do not appear to be consistent with the dynamical interactions of b and c alone, and do not appear to be due to spots or flares. Thus, we present a hypothetical non-transiting "middle-d" candidate exoplanet that is consistent with the observed TTVs, the candidate RV signal, and would establish the AU Mic system as a compact resonant multi-planet chain in a 4:6:9 period commensurability. These results demonstrate that the AU Mic planetary system is dynamically interacting producing detectable TTVs, and the implied orbital dynamics may inform the formation mechanisms for this young system. We recommend future RV and TTV observations of AU Mic b and c to further constrain the masses and to confirm the existence of possible additional planet(s)., Comment: Corrected typos; revised Section 3, 4, and 5 to reflect reanalysis, results unchanged. Submitted to AAS Journals Nov 11th, 2020; favorable referee report received Jan 3rd; final draft accepted for publication in the AJ Apr 19th

The obliquity of a star, or the angle between its spin axis and the average orbit normal of its companion planets, provides a unique constraint on that system's evolutionary history. Unlike the Solar System, where the Sun's equator is nearly aligned with its companion planets, many hot Jupiter systems have been discovered with large spin-orbit misalignments, hosting planets on polar or retrograde orbits. We demonstrate that, in contrast to stars harboring hot Jupiters on circular orbits, those with eccentric companions follow no population-wide obliquity trend with stellar temperature. This finding can be naturally explained through a combination of high-eccentricity migration and tidal damping. Furthermore, we show that the joint obliquity and eccentricity distributions observed today are consistent with the outcomes of high-eccentricity migration, with no strict requirement to invoke the other hot Jupiter formation mechanisms of disk migration or in-situ formation. At a population-wide level, high-eccentricity migration can consistently shape the dynamical evolution of hot Jupiter systems., Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures, accepted to ApJL

We present spectroscopic measurements of the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect for WASP-148b, the only known hot Jupiter with a nearby warm-Jupiter companion, from the WIYN/NEID and Keck/HIRES instruments. This is one of the first scientific results reported from the newly commissioned NEID spectrograph, as well as the second obliquity constraint for a hot Jupiter system with a close-in companion, after WASP-47. WASP-148b is consistent with being in alignment with the sky-projected spin axis of the host star, with $\lambda=-8^{\circ}.2^{{+8^{\circ}.7}}_{-9^{\circ}.7}$. The low obliquity observed in the WASP-148 system is consistent with the orderly-alignment configuration of most compact multi-planet systems around cool stars with obliquity constraints, including our solar system, and may point to an early history for these well-organized systems in which migration and accretion occurred in isolation, with relatively little disturbance. By contrast, previous results have indicated that high-mass and hot stars appear to more commonly host a wide range of misaligned planets: not only single hot Jupiters, but also compact systems with multiple super-Earths. We suggest that, to account for the high rate of spin-orbit misalignments in both compact multi-planet and isolated-hot-Jupiter systems orbiting high-mass and hot stars, spin-orbit misalignments may be caused by distant giant planet perturbers, which are most common around these stellar types., Comment: 13 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in ApJL

High-eccentricity tidal migration is a possible way for giant planets to be emplaced in short-period orbits. If it commonly operates, one would expect to catch proto-Hot Jupiters on highly elliptical orbits that are undergoing high-eccentricity tidal migration. As of yet, few such systems have been discovered. Here, we introduce TOI-3362b (TIC-464300749b), an 18.1-day, 5 $M_{\rm Jup}$ planet orbiting a main-sequence F-type star that is likely undergoing high-eccentricity tidal migration. The orbital eccentricity is 0.815$^{+0.023}_{-0.032}$. With a semi-major axis of 0.153$^{+0.002}_{-0.003}$ au, the planet's orbit is expected to shrink to a final orbital radius of 0.051$^{+0.008}_{-0.006}$ au after complete tidal circularization. Several mechanisms could explain the extreme value of the planet's eccentricity, such as planet-planet scattering and secular interactions. Such hypotheses can be tested with follow-up observations of the system, e.g., measuring the stellar obliquity and searching for companions in the system with precise, long-term radial velocity observations. The variation in the planet's equilibrium temperature as it orbits the host star and the tidal heating at periapse make this planet an intriguing target for atmospheric modeling and observation. Because the planet's orbital period of 18.1 days is near the limit of TESS's period sensitivity, even a few such discoveries suggest that proto-Hot Jupiters may be quite common., Comment: 14 pages, 4 figures, 2 tables. submitted to ApJL, revised in response to referee report

Obliquity measurements for stars hosting relatively long-period giant planets with weak star-planet tidal interactions may play a key role in distinguishing between formation theories for shorter-period hot Jupiters. Few such obliquity measurements have been made to date due to the relatively small sample of known wide-orbiting, transiting Jovian-mass planets and the challenging nature of these targets, which tend to have long transit durations and orbit faint stars. We report a measurement of the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect across the transit of K2-140 b, a Jupiter-mass planet with period $P=6.57$ days orbiting a $V=12.6$ star. We find that K2-140 is an aligned system with projected spin-orbit angle $\lambda=0.5\pm9.7$ degrees, suggesting a dynamically cool formation history. This observation builds towards a population of tidally detached giant planet spin-orbit angles that will enable a direct comparison with the distribution of close-orbiting hot Jupiter orbital configurations, elucidating the prevalent formation mechanisms of each group., Comment: Accepted for publication in AJ; 8 pages, 4 figures

We present 127 new transit light curves for 39 hot Jupiter systems, obtained over the span of five years by two ground-based telescopes. A homogeneous analysis of these newly collected light curves together with archived spectroscopic, photometric, and Doppler velocimetric data using EXOFASTv2 leads to a significant improvement in the physical and orbital parameters of each system. All of our stellar radii are constrained to accuracies of better than 3\%. The planetary radii for 37 of our 39 targets are determined to accuracies of better than $5\%$. Compared to our results, the literature eccentricities are preferentially overestimated due to the Lucy-Sweeney bias. Our new photometric observations therefore allow for significant improvement in the orbital ephemerides of each system. Our correction of the future transit window amounts to a change exceeding $10\,{\rm min}$ for ten targets at the time of JWST's launch, including a $72\,{\rm min}$ change for WASP-56. The measured transit mid-times for both literature light curves and our new photometry show no significant deviations from the updated linear ephemerides, ruling out in each system the presence of companion planets with masses greater than $0.39 - 5.0\, rm M_{\oplus}$, $1.23 - 14.36\, \rm M_{\oplus}$, $1.65 - 21.18\, \rm M_{\oplus}$, and $0.69 - 6.75\, \rm M_{\oplus}$ near the 1:2, 2:3, 3:2, and 2:1 resonances with the hot Jupiters , respectively, at a confidence level of $\pm 1\,\sigma$. The absence of resonant companion planets in the hot Jupiter systems is inconsistent with the conventional expectation from disk migration., Comment: 28 pages,9 figures, accepted for publication in ApJS

Measuring the obliquity distribution of stars hosting warm Jupiters may help us to understand the formation of close-orbiting gas giants. Few such measurements have been performed due to practical difficulties in scheduling observations of the relatively infrequent and long-duration transits of warm Jupiters. Here, we report a measurement of the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect for K2-232b, a warm Jupiter (M_P=0.39 M_Jup) on an 11.17-day orbit with an eccentricity of 0.26. The data were obtained with the Automated Planet Finder during two separate transits. The planet's orbit appears to be well-aligned with the spin axis of the host star, with a projected spin-orbit angle of lambda = -11.1+/-6.6 deg. Combined with the other available data, we find that high obliquities are almost exclusively associated with planets that either have an orbital separation greater than 10 stellar radii or orbit stars with effective temperatures hotter than 6,000K. This pattern suggests that the obliquities of the closest-orbiting giant planets around cooler stars have been damped by tidal effects., Comment: Accepted for publication in AJ, 8 Pages, 4 Figures

We present the discovery of a highly irradiated and moderately inflated ultra-hot Jupiter, TOI-1431b/MASCARA-5b (HD 201033b), first detected by NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite mission (TESS) and the Multi-site All-Sky CAmeRA (MASCARA). The signal was established to be of planetary origin through radial velocity measurements obtained using SONG, SOPHIE, FIES, NRES, and EXPRES, which show a reflex motion of $K=294.1\pm1.1$ m s$^{-1}$. A joint analysis of the TESS and ground-based photometry and radial velocity measurements reveals that TOI-1431b has a mass of $M_{p}=3.12\pm0.18$ $\rm{M_J}$ ($990\pm60$ M$_{\oplus}$), an inflated radius of $R_{p}=1.49\pm0.05$ $\rm{R_J}$ ($16.7\pm0.6$ R$_{\oplus}$), and an orbital period of $P=2.650237\pm0.000003$ d. Analysis of the spectral energy distribution of the host star reveals that the planet orbits a bright ($\mathrm{V}=8.049$ mag) and young ($0.29^{+0.32}_{-0.19}$ Gyr) Am type star with $T_{\rm eff}=7690^{+400}_{-250}$ $\rm{K}$, resulting in a highly irradiated planet with an incident flux of $\langle F \rangle=7.24^{+0.68}_{-0.64}\times$10$^9$ erg s$^{-1}$ cm$^{-2}$ ($5300^{+500}_{-470}\mathrm{S_{\oplus}}$) and an equilibrium temperature of $T_{eq}=2370\pm70$ K. TESS photometry also reveals a secondary eclipse with a depth of $127^{+4}_{-5}$ppm as well as the full phase curve of the planet's thermal emission in the red-optical. This has allowed us to measure the dayside and nightside temperature of its atmosphere as $T_\mathrm{day}=3004\pm64$ K and $T_\mathrm{night}=2583\pm63$ K, the second hottest measured nightside temperature. The planet's low day/night temperature contrast ($\sim$420 K) suggests very efficient heat transport between the dayside and nightside hemispheres., Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astronomical Journal. 39 pages, 18 figures, and 4 tables

We present 63 new multi-site radial velocity measurements of the K1III giant HD 76920, which was recently reported to host the most eccentric planet known to orbit an evolved star. We focussed our observational efforts on the time around the predicted periastron passage and achieved near-continuous phase coverage of the corresponding radial velocity peak. By combining our radial velocity measurements from four different instruments with previously published ones, we confirm the highly eccentric nature of the system, and find an even higher eccentricity of $e=0.8782 \pm 0.0025$, an orbital period of $415.891^{+0.043}_{-0.039}\,\mathrm{d}$, and a minimum mass of $3.13^{+0.41}_{-0.43}\,\mathrm{M_J}$ for the planet. The uncertainties in the orbital elements are greatly reduced, especially for the period and eccentricity. We also performed a detailed spectroscopic analysis to derive atmospheric stellar parameters, and thus the fundamental stellar parameters ($M_*, R_*, L_*$), taking into account the parallax from Gaia DR2, and independently determined the stellar mass and radius using asteroseismology. Intriguingly, at periastron the planet comes to within 2.4 stellar radii of its host star's surface. However, we find that the planet is not currently experiencing any significant orbital decay and will not be engulfed by the stellar envelope for at least another $50-80$ Myr. Finally, while we calculate a relatively high transit probability of $16\%$, we did not detect a transit in the TESS photometry., Comment: 15 pages, 12 figures, 5 tables, accepted for publication in PASA

Analysis of new precision radial velocity (RV) measurements from the Lick Automated Planet Finder (APF) and Keck HIRES have yielded the discovery of three new exoplanet candidates orbiting two nearby K dwarfs not previously reported to have companions (HD 190007 & HD 216520). We also report new velocities from both the APF and the Planet Finder Spectrograph (PFS) for the previously reported planet host stars GJ 686 and HD 180617 and update the corresponding exoplanet orbital models. Of the newly discovered planets, HD 190007 b has a period of 11.72 days, an RV semi-amplitude of K = 5.64$\pm$0.55 m s$^{-1}$, a minimum mass of 16.46$\pm$1.66 $\rm M_{\oplus}$, and orbits the slightly metal-rich, active K4 dwarf star HD 190007 (d = 12.7 pc). HD 216520 b has an orbital period of 35.45 days, an RV semi-amplitude of K = 2.28$\pm$0.20 m s$^{-1}$, and a minimum mass of 10.26$\pm$0.99 $\rm M_{\oplus}$, while HD 216520 c has an orbital period of P = 154.43 days, an RV semi-amplitude of K = 1.29$\pm0.22$ m s$^{-1}$, and a minimum mass of 9.44$\pm$1.63 $\rm M_{\oplus}$. Both of these planets orbit the slightly metal-poor, inactive K0 dwarf star HD 216520 (d = 19.6 pc). We find that our updated best fit models for HD 180617 b and GJ 686 b are in good agreement with the previously published results. For HD 180617 b we obtain an orbital period of 105.91 days, an RV semi-amplitude of K = 2.696$\pm$0.22 m s$^{-1}$, and a minimum mass of 2.214$\pm$1.05 $\rm M_{\oplus}$. For GJ 686 b we find the orbital period to be 15.53 days, the RV semi-amplitude to be K = 3.00$\pm$0.18 m s$^{-1}$, and the minimum mass to be 6.624$\pm$0.432 $\rm M_{\oplus}$. Using an injection-recovery exercise, we find that HD 190007 b and HD 216520 b are unlikely to have additional planets with masses and orbital periods within a factor of two, in marked contrast to $\sim$85\% of planets in this mass and period range found with Kepler., Comment: 33 pages, 26 figures. Accepted for publication in the Astronomical Journal. Full RV data sets will be released as MRTs with AJ publication

We present the discovery of two new 10-day period giant planets from the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite ($TESS$) mission, whose masses were precisely determined using a wide diversity of ground-based facilities. TOI-481 b and TOI-892 b have similar radii ($0.99\pm0.01$ $\rm R_{J}$ and $1.07\pm0.02$ $\rm R_{J}$, respectively), and orbital periods (10.3311 days and 10.6266 days, respectively), but significantly different masses ($1.53\pm0.03$ $\rm M_{J}$ versus $0.95\pm0.07$ $\rm M_{J}$, respectively). Both planets orbit metal-rich stars ([Fe/H]= $+0.26\pm 0.05$ dex and [Fe/H] = $+0.24 \pm 0.05$ dex, for TOI-481 and TOI-892, respectively) but at different evolutionary stages. TOI-481 is a $\rm M_{\star}$ = $1.14\pm0.02$ $\rm M_{\odot}$, $\rm R_{\star}$ = $1.66\pm0.02$ $\rm R_{\odot}$ G-type star ($T_{\rm eff}$ = $5735 \pm 72$ K), that with an age of 6.7 Gyr, is in the turn-off point of the main sequence. TOI-892, on the other hand, is a F-type dwarf star ($T_{\rm eff}$ = $6261 \pm 80$ K), which has a mass of $\rm M_{\star}$ = $1.28\pm0.03$ $\rm M_{\odot}$, and a radius of $\rm R_{\star}$ = $1.39\pm0.02$ $\rm R_{\odot}$. TOI-481 b and TOI-892 b join the scarcely populated region of transiting gas giants with orbital periods longer than 10 days, which is important to constrain theories of the formation and structure of hot Jupiters., Comment: 19 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in AJ

We report measurements of the sky-projected spin-orbit angle for AU\,Mic\,b, a Neptune-size planet orbiting a very young ($\sim20$\,Myr) nearby pre-main sequence M dwarf star which also hosts a bright, edge-on, debris disk. The planet was recently discovered from preliminary analysis of radial velocity observations and confirmed to be transiting its host star from photometric data from the NASA's \textit{TESS} mission. We obtained radial velocity measurements of AU\,Mic over the course of two partially observable transits and one full transit of planet b from high-resolution spectroscopic observations made with the {\textsc{Minerva}}-Australis telescope array. Only a marginal detection of the Rossiter--McLaughlin effect signal was obtained from the radial velocities, in part due to AU Mic being an extremely active star and the lack of full transit coverage plus sufficient out-of-transit baseline. As such, a precise determination of the obliquity for AU\,Mic\,b is not possible in this study and we find a sky-projected spin-orbit angle of $\lambda = 47{^{+26}_{-54}}^{\circ}$. This result is consistent with both the planet's orbit being aligned or highly misaligned with the spin-axis of its host star. Our measurement independently agrees with, but is far less precise than observations carried out on other instruments around the same time that measure a low obliquity orbit for the planet. AU\,Mic is the youngest exoplanetary system for which the projected spin-orbit angle has been measured, making it a key data point in the study of the formation and migration of exoplanets -- particularly given that the system is also host to a bright debris disk., Comment: 15 pages, 6 figures, 3 tables. Published in the Astronomical Journal on 10/09/2021

We investigate a possible correlation between the solid surface density $\Sigma$ of the minimum-mass extrasolar nebulae (MMEN) and the host star mass $M_\star$ and metallicity [Fe/H]. Leveraging on the precise host star properties from the California-{\it Kepler}-Survey (CKS), we found that $\Sigma=$ 50^{+33}_{-20} \rm{~g~cm}^{-2} $(a/1AU)^{-1.75\pm0.07}$ $(M_\star/M_\odot)^{1.04\pm0.22}$ $10^{0.22\pm0.05{\rm [Fe/H]}}$ for {\it Kepler}-like systems (1-4$R_\oplus$; $a<$1AU). The strong $M_\star$ dependence is reminiscent of previous dust continuum results that the solid disk mass scales with $M_\star$. The weaker [Fe/H] dependence shows that sub-Neptune planets, unlike giant planets, form readily in lower-metallicity environment. The innermost region ($a<$ 0.1AU) of a MMEN maintains a smooth profile despite a steep decline of planet occurrence rate: a result that favors the truncation of disks by co-rotating magnetospheres with a range of rotation periods, rather than the sublimation of dusts. The $\Sigma$ of {\it Kepler} multi-transiting systems shows a much stronger correlation with $M_\star$ and [Fe/H] than singles. This suggests that the dynamically hot evolution that produced single systems also partially removed the memory of formation in disks. Radial-velocity planets yielded a MMEN very similar to CKS planets; transit-timing-variation planets' postulated convergent migration history is supported by their poorly constrained MMEN. We found that lower-mass stars have a higher efficiency of forming/retaining planets: for sun-like stars about 20\% of the solid mass within $\sim$1AU are converted/preserved as sub-Neptunes, compared to 70\% for late-K-early-M stars. This may be due to the lower binary fraction, lower giant-planet occurrence or the longer disk lifetime of lower-mass stars., Comment: Accepted to AAS Journals

We present 22 new transit observations of the exoplanets WASP-18Ab, WASP-19b, and WASP-77Ab, from the Transit Monitoring in the South (TraMoS) project. We simultaneously model our newly collected transit light curves with archival photometry and radial velocity data, to obtain refined physical and orbital parameters. We include TESS light curves of the three exoplanets to perform an extended analysis of the variations in their transit mid-time (TTV) and to refine their planetary orbital ephemeris. We did not find significant $\rm TTV_{RMS}$ variations larger than 47, 65, and 86 seconds for WASP-18Ab, WASP-19b, and WASP-77Ab, respectively. Dynamical simulations were carried out to constrain the masses of a possible perturber. The observed RMS could be produced by a perturber body with an upper limit mass of 9, 2.5, 11 and $4~M_{\oplus}$ in 1:2, 1:3, 2:1, and 3:1 resonances in the WASP-18Ab system. In the case of WASP-19b, companions with masses up to 0.26, 0.65, 1 and $2.8~M_{\oplus}$, in 1:2, 2:1, 3:1, and 5:3 resonances, produce the RMS. And for the WASP-77Ab system, a planet with mass between $1.5-9~M_{\oplus}$ in 1:2, 1:3, 2:1, 2:3, 3:1, 3:5, 5:3 resonances. Comparing our results with RV variations, we discard massive companions with $350~M_{\oplus}$ in 17:5 resonance for WASP-18Ab, $95~M_{\oplus}$ in 4:1 resonance for WASP-19b and $105~M_{\oplus}$ in 5:2 resonance for WASP-77Ab. Finally, using a Lomb-Scargle period search we find no evidence of a periodic trend on our TTV data for the three exoplanets., Comment: 20 pages, 8 figures. Accepted for publication in A&A

We report the discovery of a warm sub-Saturn, TOI-257b (HD 19916b), based on data from NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). The transit signal was detected by TESS and confirmed to be of planetary origin based on radial velocity observations. An analysis of the TESS photometry, the Minerva-Australis, FEROS, and HARPS radial velocities, and the asteroseismic data of the stellar oscillations reveals that TOI-257b has a mass of $M_P=0.138\pm0.023$\,$\rm{M_J}$ ($43.9\pm7.3$\,$M_{\rm \oplus}$), a radius of $R_P=0.639\pm0.013$\,$\rm{R_J}$ ($7.16\pm0.15$\,$R_{\rm \oplus}$), bulk density of $0.65^{+0.12}_{-0.11}$ (cgs), and period $18.38818^{+0.00085}_{-0.00084}$\,$\rm{days}$. TOI-257b orbits a bright ($\mathrm{V}=7.612$\,mag) somewhat evolved late F-type star with $M_*=1.390\pm0.046$\,$\rm{M_{\odot}}$, $R_*=1.888\pm0.033$\,$\rm{R_{\odot}}$, $T_{\rm eff}=6075\pm90$\,$\rm{K}$, and $v\sin{i}=11.3\pm0.5$\,km\,s$^{-1}$. Additionally, we find hints for a second non-transiting sub-Saturn mass planet on a $\sim71$\,day orbit using the radial velocity data. This system joins the ranks of a small number of exoplanet host stars ($\sim100$) that have been characterized with asteroseismology. Warm sub-Saturns are rare in the known sample of exoplanets, and thus the discovery of TOI-257b is important in the context of future work studying the formation and migration history of similar planetary systems., Comment: 24 pages, 20 figures, 6 tables. Published in MNRAS

We report the discovery and confirmation of two new hot Jupiters discovered by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS): TOI 564 b and TOI 905 b. The transits of these two planets were initially observed by TESS with orbital periods of 1.651 d and 3.739 d, respectively. We conducted follow-up observations of each system from the ground, including photometry in multiple filters, speckle interferometry, and radial velocity measurements. For TOI 564 b, our global fitting revealed a classical hot Jupiter with a mass of $1.463^{+0.10}_{-0.096}\ M_J$ and a radius of $1.02^{+0.71}_{-0.29}\ R_J$. TOI 905 b is a classical hot Jupiter as well, with a mass of $0.667^{+0.042}_{-0.041}\ M_J$ and radius of $1.171^{+0.053}_{-0.051}\ R_J$. Both planets orbit Sun-like, moderately bright, mid-G dwarf stars with V ~ 11. While TOI 905 b fully transits its star, we found that TOI 564 b has a very high transit impact parameter of $0.994^{+0.083}_{-0.049}$, making it one of only ~20 known systems to exhibit a grazing transit and one of the brightest host stars among them. TOI 564 b is therefore one of the most attractive systems to search for additional non-transiting, smaller planets by exploiting the sensitivity of grazing transits to small changes in inclination and transit duration over the time scale of several years., Comment: 21 pages and 10 figures. Submitted to AJ

Our understanding of planetary systems different to our own has grown dramatically in the past 30 years. However, our efforts to ascertain the degree to which the Solar system is abnormal or unique have been hindered by the observational biases inherent to the methods that have yielded the greatest exoplanet hauls. On the basis of such surveys, one might consider our planetary system highly unusual - but the reality is that we are only now beginning to uncover the true picture. In this work, we use the full eighteen-year archive of data from the Anglo-Australian Planet Search to examine the abundance of 'Cool Jupiters' - analogs to the Solar system's giant planets, Jupiter and Saturn. We find that such planets are intrinsically far more common through the cosmos than their siblings, the hot Jupiters. We find that the occurrence rate of such 'Cool Jupiters' is $6.73^{+2.09}_{-1.13}$\%, almost an order of magnitude higher than the occurrence of hot Jupiters (at $0.84^{+0.70}_{-0.20}$\%). We also find that the occurrence rate of giant planets is essentially constant beyond orbital distances of $\sim$1\,au. Our results reinforce the importance of legacy radial velocity surveys for the understanding of the Solar system's place in the cosmos., Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS

We report the discovery of TOI-677 b, first identified as a candidate in light curves obtained within Sectors 9 and 10 of the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) mission and confirmed with radial velocities. TOI-677 b has a mass of M_p = 1.236$^{+0.069}_{-0.067}$ M_J, a radius of R_p = 1.170 +- 0.03 R_J,and orbits its bright host star (V=9.8 mag) with an orbital period of 11.23660 +- 0.00011 d, on an eccentric orbit with e = 0.435 +- 0.024. The host star has a mass of M_* = 1.181 +- 0.058 M_sun, a radius of R_* = 1.28 +- 0.03 R_sun, an age of 2.92$^{+0.80}_{-0.73}$ Gyr and solar metallicity, properties consistent with a main sequence late F star with T_eff = 6295 +- 77 K. We find evidence in the radial velocity measurements of a secondary long term signal which could be due to an outer companion. The TOI-677 b system is a well suited target for Rossiter-Mclaughlin observations that can constrain migration mechanisms of close-in giant planets., Comment: Submitted to AAS journals, 15 pages, 8 figures

We report the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite discovery of three small planets transiting one of the nearest and brightest M dwarf hosts to date, TOI-270 (TIC 259377017; K-mag 8.3; 22.5 parsec). The M3V-type star is transited by the super-Earth-sized TOI-270 b (1.247+0.089-0.083 R_earth) and the sub-Neptune-sized exoplanets TOI-270 c (2.42+-0.13 R_earth) and TOI-270 d (2.13+-0.12 R_earth). The planets orbit close to a mean-motion resonant chain, with periods (3.36, 5.66, and 11.38 days) near ratios of small integers (5:3 and 2:1). TOI-270 is a prime target for future studies since: 1) its near-resonance allows detecting transit timing variations for precise mass measurements and dynamical studies; 2) its brightness enables independent radial velocity mass measurements; 3) the outer planets are ideal for atmospheric characterisation via transmission spectroscopy; and 4) the quiet star enables future searches for habitable zone planets. Altogether, very few systems with small, temperate exoplanets are as suitable for such complementary and detailed characterisation as TOI-270., Comment: Published in Nature Astronomy, 3, 1099. 35 pages, 10 figures, 5 tables. This is the authors' version of the manuscript

We recommend an intensive effort to survey and understand the obliquity distribution of small close-in extrasolar planets over the coming decade. The orbital obliquities of exoplanets--i.e., the relative orientation between the planetary orbit and the stellar rotation--is a key tracer of how planets form and migrate. While the orbital obliquities of smaller planets are poorly explored today, a new generation of facilities coming online over the next decade will make such observations possible en masse. Transit spectroscopic observations with the extremely large telescopes will enable us to measure the orbital obliquities of planets as small as $\sim2R_{\oplus}$ around a wide variety of stars, opening a window into the orbital properties of the most common types of planets. This effort will directly contribute to understanding the formation and evolution of planetary systems, a key objective of the National Academy of Sciences' Exoplanet Science Strategies report., Comment: Submitted to the Astro2020 call for science white papers. 7 pages, 2 figures

We report the detection of a hot Jupiter ($M_{p}=1.75_{-0.17}^{+0.14}\ M_{J}$, $R_{p}=1.38\pm0.04\ R_{J}$) orbiting a middle-aged star ($\log g=4.152^{+0.030}_{-0.043}$) in the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) southern continuous viewing zone ($\beta=-79.59^{\circ}$). We confirm the planetary nature of the candidate TOI-150.01 using radial velocity observations from the APOGEE-2 South spectrograph and the Carnegie Planet Finder Spectrograph, ground-based photometric observations from the robotic Three-hundred MilliMeter Telescope at Las Campanas Observatory, and Gaia distance estimates. Large-scale spectroscopic surveys, such as APOGEE/APOGEE-2, now have sufficient radial velocity precision to directly confirm the signature of giant exoplanets, making such data sets valuable tools in the TESS era. Continual monitoring of TOI-150 by TESS can reveal additional planets and subsequent observations can provide insights into planetary system architectures involving a hot Jupiter around a star about halfway through its main-sequence life., Comment: 13 pages, 3 figures, 2 tables, accepted to ApJL

We examine eight known single-eccentric planetary systems in light of recently released large data archives and new analysis techniques. For four of these systems (HD 7449, HD 65216, HD 89744, HD 92788) we find evidence for additional long-period companions. HD 65216c is a Jupiter analog, with a period of 14.7 yr, $e=0.18$, and m sin $i$ of 2M_Jup, whilst the remaining candidate companions move on as-yet-incomplete orbits. Our results highlight the importance of revisiting the analysis of known exoplanetary systems when new data become available, particularly given the possibility that poorly-sampled data might previously have led to the detection of a 'false-positive' single eccentric planet, when the system in question actually contains two (or more) planets on near-circular orbits., Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS