CFHT UM2025 - Presentation Details
Abstract Details
Title: Radial Velocity Detection of the TRAPPIST-1 Planetary System with SPIRou
Presenter: Alexandrine Lheureux
Abstract:
The TRAPPIST-1 system is well-known for its seven transiting Earth-sized exoplanets. With ordered and tightly packed planetary orbits around a small M8-type star, the system offers an ideal environment for studying terrestrial planet formation and conducting in-depth atmospheric analyses. These studies rely heavily on the physical parameters of the planets, which have so far been derived primarily from photometric data, with transit timing variations (TTV) used to estimate their masses. As part of the SPIRou Legacy Survey, we undertook a radial velocity (RV) follow-up program to directly measure the masses of the TRAPPIST-1 planets. Using the state-of-the-art LBL precision RV framework, we successfully detected the first combined RV signal from the TRAPPIST-1 planets at >3σ, thereby confirming the masses inferred from TTV.