Determining the architecture of multi-planetary systems is one of the cornerstones of understanding planet formation and evolution. Resonant systems are especially important as the fragility of their orbital configuration ensures that no significant scattering or collisional event has taken place since the earliest formation phase when the parent protoplanetary disc was still present. In this context, TOI-178 has been the subject of particular attention since the first TESS observations hinted at the possible presence of a near 2:3:3 resonant chain. Here we report the results of observations from CHEOPS, ESPRESSO, NGTS, and SPECULOOS with the aim of deciphering the peculiar orbital architecture of the system. We show that TOI-178 harbours at least six planets in the super-Earth to mini-Neptune regimes, with radii ranging from 1.152−0.070+0.073 to 2.87−0.13+0.14 Earth radii and periods of 1.91, 3.24, 6.56, 9.96, 15.23, and 20.71 days. All planets but the innermost one form a 2:4:6:9:12 chain of Laplace resonances, and the planetary densities show important variations from planet to planet, jumping from 1.02−0.23+0.28 to 0.177−0.061+0.055 times the Earth’s density between planets c and d. Using Bayesian interior structure retrieval models, we show that the amount of gas in the planets does not vary in a monotonous way, contrary to what one would expect from simple formation and evolution models and unlike other known systems in a chain of Laplace resonances. The brightness of TOI-178 (H = 8.76 mag, J = 9.37 mag, V = 11.95 mag) allows for a precise characterisation of its orbital architecture as well as of the physical nature of the six presently known transiting planets it harbours. The peculiar orbital configuration and the diversity in average density among the planets in the system will enable the study of interior planetary structures and atmospheric evolution, providing important clues on the formation of super-Earths and mini-Neptunes.

Measurements of the physical properties of stars at the lower end of the main sequence are scarce. In this context we report masses, radii and surface gravities of ten very-low-mass stars in eclipsing binary systems, with orbital periods of the order of several days. The objects probe the stellar mass-radius relation in the fully convective regime, M 0.35 M , down to the hydrogen burning mass-limit, M HB ∼ 0.07 M . The stars were detected by the WASP survey for transiting extra-solar planets, as low-mass, eclipsing companions orbiting more massive, F-and G-type host stars. We use eclipse observations of the host stars, performed with the TRAPPIST, Leonhard Euler and SPECULOOS telescopes, and radial velocities of the host stars obtained with the CORALIE spectrograph, to determine the physical properties of the low-mass companions. Surface gravities of the low-mass companions are derived from the eclipse and orbital parameters of each system. Spectroscopic measurements of the host star effective temperature and metallicity are used to infer the host star mass and age from stellar evolution models for solar-type stars. Masses and radii of the low-mass companions are then derived from the eclipse and orbital parameters of the binary systems. The objects are compared to stellar evolution models for low-mass stars, to test for an effect of the stellar metallicity and orbital period on the radius of low-mass stars in close binary systems. Measurements are found to be in good agreement with stellar evolution models; a systematic inflation of the radius of low-mass stars with respect to model predictions is limited to 1.6 ± 1.2%, in the fully convective low-mass regime. The sample of ten objects indicates a scaling of the radius of low-mass stars with the host star metallicity. No correlation between stellar radii and the orbital periods of the binary systems is determined. A combined analysis with thirteen comparable objects from the literature is consistent with this result.Article published by EDP Sciences A150, page 1 of 18 A&A 625, A150 (2019)

Some M-dwarfs around F-/G-type stars have been measured to be hotter and larger than predicted by stellar evolution models. Inconsistencies between observations and models need to be addressed with more mass, radius, and luminosity measurements of low-mass stars to test and refine evolutionary models. Our aim is to measure the masses, radii and ages of the stars in five low-mass eclipsing binary systems discovered by the WASP survey. We used WASP photometry to establish eclipse-time ephemerides and to obtain initial estimates for the transit depth and width. Radial velocity measurements were simultaneously fitted with follow-up photometry to find the best-fitting orbital solution. This solution was combined with measurements of atmospheric parameters to interpolate evolutionary models and estimate the mass of the primary star, and the mass and radius of the M-dwarf companion. We assess how the best fitting orbital solution changes if an alternative limb-darkening law is used and quantify the systematic effects of unresolved companions. We also gauge how the best-fitting evolutionary model changes if different values are used for the mixing length parameter and helium enhancement. We report the mass and radius of five M-dwarfs and find little evidence of inflation with respect to evolutionary models. The primary stars in two systems are near the “blue hook” stage of their post sequence evolution, resulting in two possible solutions for mass and age. We find that choices in helium enhancement and mixing-length parameter can introduce an additional 3−5% uncertainty in measured M-dwarf mass. Unresolved companions can introduce an additional 3−8% uncertainty in the radius of an M-dwarf, while the choice of limb-darkening law can introduce up to an additional 2% uncertainty. The choices in orbital fitting and evolutionary models can introduce significant uncertainties in measurements of physical properties of such systems.

We report the discovery of an eclipsing binary system with mass-ratio q ∼ 0.07. After identifying a periodic photometric signal received by WASP, we obtained CORALIE spectroscopic radial velocities and follow-up light curves with the Euler and TRAPPIST telescopes. From a joint fit of these data we determine that EBLM J0555-57 consists of a sun-like primary star that is eclipsed by a low-mass companion, on a weakly eccentric 7.8-day orbit. Using a mass estimate for the primary star derived from stellar models, we determine a companion mass of 85 ± 4 M Jup (0.081 M ) and a radius of 0.84 +0.14 −0.04 R Jup (0.084 R ) that is comparable to that of Saturn. EBLM J0555-57Ab has a surface gravity log g 2 = 5.50 +0.03 −0.13 and is one of the densest non-stellar-remnant objects currently known. These measurements are consistent with models of low-mass stars.Key words. binaries: eclipsing -binaries: spectroscopic -stars: low-mass -techniques: spectroscopic -techniques: photometricstars: individual: EBLM J0555-57AbEclipsing binary stars enable empirical measurements of the stellar mass-radius relation. The low-mass regime, down to the hydrogen-burning mass limit, is poorly constrained by measurements of mass and radius, but is of particular relevance to the study of exoplanets. Stars with masses below 0.25 M are the most common stellar objects (Kroupa 2001;Chabrier 2003;Henry et al. 2006) and prove to be excellent candidates for the detection of Earth-sized planets (Berta- Gillon et al. 2016Gillon et al. , 2017Luger et al. 2017) and their atmospheric characterization (de Wit et al. 2016). Determining the properties of exoplanets requires an accurate knowledge of their host star parameters, in particular the stellar mass. This motivates the study of low-mass eclipsing binaries (henceforth EBLMs; Triaud et al. 2013;Gómez Maqueo Chew et al. 2014), to empirically measure the mass-radius relation. In this context, we report our results on the eclipsing binary EBLM J0555-57. The system was detected by the Wide Angle Search for PlanetsThe photometry tables and radial velocities are only available at the CDS and on demand via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5)