The TESS-Keck Survey: * Science Goals and Target Selection
Name
Chontos_2022_AJ_163_297.pdf
Description
Published version
Size
2.62 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
8105e88fd9ae4b61af80bea69e5b0055
Author(s)
Seager, Sara
Date Issued
2022
Journal
Astronomical Journal
Publisher
American Astronomical Society
Citation
Seager, Sara. 2022. "The TESS-Keck Survey: * Science Goals and Target Selection." Astronomical Journal, 163 (6).
Version
Final published version
Abstract
The Kepler and TESS missions have demonstrated that planets are ubiquitous. However, the success of these
missions heavily depends on ground-based radial velocity (RV) surveys, which combined with transit photometry
can yield bulk densities and orbital properties. While most Kepler host stars are too faint for detailed follow-up
observations, TESS is detecting planets orbiting nearby bright stars that are more amenable to RV characterization.
Here, we introduce the TESS-Keck Survey (TKS), an RV program using ∼100 nights on Keck/HIRES to study
exoplanets identified by TESS. The primary survey aims are investigating the link between stellar properties and
the compositions of small planets; studying how the diversity of system architectures depends on dynamical
configurations or planet multiplicity; identifying prime candidates for atmospheric studies with JWST; and
understanding the role of stellar evolution in shaping planetary systems. We present a fully automated target
selection algorithm, which yielded 103 planets in 86 systems for the final TKS sample. Most TKS hosts are
inactive, solar-like, main-sequence stars (4500 K Teff <6000 K) at a wide range of metallicities. The selected
TKS sample contains 71 small planets (Rp 4 R⊕), 11 systems with multiple transiting candidates, six sub-dayperiod planets and three planets that are in or near the habitable zone (Sinc 10 S⊕) of their host star. The target
selection described here will facilitate the comparison of measured planet masses, densities, and eccentricities to
predictions from planet population models. Our target selection software is publicly available and can be adapted
for any survey that requires a balance of multiple science interests within a given telescope allocation.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences
Terms of Use
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/AC6266