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Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons

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Astrophysics and Astronomy

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Florida Institute of Technology

Galaxy: Disk

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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

An Ancient Extrasolar System With Five Sub-Earth-Size Planets, Tiago L. Campante, Darin Ragozzine Feb 2015

An Ancient Extrasolar System With Five Sub-Earth-Size Planets, Tiago L. Campante, Darin Ragozzine

Aerospace, Physics, and Space Science Faculty Publications

The chemical composition of stars hosting small exoplanets (with radii less than four Earth radii) appears to be more diverse than that of gas-giant hosts, which tend to be metal-rich. This implies that small, including Earth-size, planets may have readily formed at earlier epochs in the universe's history when metals were more scarce. We report Kepler spacecraft observations of Kepler-444, a metal-poor Sun-like star from the old population of the Galactic thick disk and the host to a compact system of five transiting planets with sizes between those of Mercury and Venus. We validate this system as a true five-planet …


Wide Binary Systems And The Nature Of High-Velocity White Dwarfs, Nicole M. Silvestri, Terry D. Oswalt, Suzanne L. Hawley Aug 2002

Wide Binary Systems And The Nature Of High-Velocity White Dwarfs, Nicole M. Silvestri, Terry D. Oswalt, Suzanne L. Hawley

Aerospace, Physics, and Space Science Faculty Publications

We present measured radial velocities and complete space motions for 116 white dwarf stars with M dwarf companions. Thirteen pairs have " halo-like " velocities. According to a recent study by Oppenheimer et al., all these high-velocity white dwarfs should be considered part of the dark matter heavy halo of the Galaxy, based on their kinematics. Based on the near-solar abundance levels of the M dwarf companions, we conclude that 12 of our 13 high-velocity white dwarfs are actually part of the high-velocity tail of the thick disk, rather than the dark matter halo of the Galaxy, in agreement with …