TWO NEARBY SUB-EARTH-SIZED EXOPLANET CANDIDATES IN THE GJ 436 SYSTEM

Se p 20 09 A Search for Additional Planets in the NASA EPOXI Observations of the Exoplanet System GJ 436

We present time series photometry of the M dwarf transiting exoplanet system GJ 436 obtained with the the EPOCh (Extrasolar Planet Observation and Characterization) component of the NASA EPOXI mission. We conduct a search of the highprecision time series for additional planets around GJ 436, which could be revealed either directly through their photometric transits, or indirectly through the va...

Observational Consequences of the Recently Proposed Super - Earth Orbiting GJ 436

Ribas and collaborators have recently proposed that an additional, ∼ 5 M ⊕ planet orbits the transiting planet host star GJ 436. Long-term dynamical interactions between the two planets leading to eccentricity excitation might provide an explanation for the transiting planet's unexpectedly large orbital eccentricity. In this paper we examine whether the existence of such a second planet is supp...

Two Earth - sized planets orbiting

The M Dwarf GJ 436 and its Neptune - Mass Planet

We determine stellar parameters for the M dwarf GJ 436 that hosts a Neptunemass planet. We employ primarily spectral modeling at low and high resolution, examining the agreement between model and observed optical spectra of five comparison stars of type, M0-M3. Modeling high resolution optical spectra suffers from uncertainties in TiO transitions, affecting the predicted strengths of both atomi...

L etter to the E ditor Observational Consequences of the Recently Proposed Super - Earth Orbiting GJ 436

Ribas and collaborators have recently proposed that an additional, ∼ 5 M ⊕ planet orbits the transiting planet host star GJ 436. Long-term dynamical interactions between the two planets leading to eccentricity excitation might provide an explanation for the transiting planet's unexpectedly large orbital eccentricity. In this paper we examine whether the existence of such a second planet is supp...