The GAPS programme at TNG LXXIX. New mass constraints for the infant planets in the V1298 Tau system through a long-term radial velocity monitoring with HARPS-N

arXiv:2609.30038 · astro-ph.EP · Submitted 2026-09-24 · Read on arXiv

astro-ph.EP

Submitted: 2026-09-24

Updated: 2026-09-24

Comments: Accepted for publication in A&A. The abstract has been shortened to comply with length restrictions

Code: https://github.com/lucaborsato/trades

License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

The gist: We aim to constrain the dynamical masses of the four confirmed transiting planets orbiting the infant (20 plus or minus10 Myr) star V1298,Tau (orbital periods P b about 24.1 d, P c about 8.2 d, P d

Terminology

Abstract

We aim to constrain the dynamical masses of the four confirmed transiting planets orbiting the infant (20 plus or minus10 Myr) star V1298,Tau (orbital periods P b about 24.1 d, P c about 8.2 d, P d about 12.4 d, and P e about 48.7 d), through a new analysis of a homogeneous radial velocity dataset. This system is a key benchmark for testing formation and early-stage evolutionary models of planets. We analysed more than 380 high-resolution spectra collected with the HARPS-N spectrograph over a time span of 4.5,yr. To account for dominant stellar activity and transit-timing-derived planet-planet interactions, we analysed radial velocities extracted using two different approaches, and combined N-body simulations with multi-dimensional Gaussian process regression. We tested a set of spectroscopic and photometric activity diagnostics to mitigate the variability due to the stellar magnetic activity in the radial velocity time series. The mass determinations are sensitive to the choice of the radial velocity extraction method and activity diagnostics. For some specific models, we measured masses with a significance of 3.5--4 σ for planets b (0.52+0.12-0.14, 0.65+0.21-0.18, 0.67 plus or minus0.16, and 0.78+0.19-0.20 M Jup) and e (0.40+0.14-0.13, 0.66+0.17-0.18, and 0.71 plus or minus0.20 M Jup). These values are compatible with masses of giant planets, and are notably higher than those recently derived from transit timing variations alone, which indicate that these are low-density ``super-puffy'' planets. Injection-and-recovery simulations moderately support this conclusion for planet b. For planets c and d, we primarily provide updated mass upper limits. Our analysis represents an exploratory study to address the complex issue of mass measurement in a multi-planetary system characterised by high levels of stellar activity.

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