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E. J. Rivera (Carnegie Institution)
There are about 10 known extrasolar planetary systems in which the presence of at least two planets in orbit about a main sequence star has been inferred from the reflex motion of the central star. In all the initial models of the radial velocities of the stars in these systems, it has been assumed that the planets travel on unperturbed Keplerian orbits. I have developed a code which includes the mutual perturbations between planets to model the radial velocity data for any multi-planet system (with one central star). Here I present results of dynamical fits to the radial velocity data for the ~10 multi-planet extrasolar systems. I compare the orbital parameters from the Keplerian fits with those from the Newtonian fits. As expected, significant differences are present only for systems where the planets experience strong interactions. Significant differences in the values of the orbital parameters (but not in the goodness of the fits) can also arise for systems for which there is not sufficient data; however, the fits can still be used to place constraints on the orbital elements.
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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 35 #4
© 2003. The American Astronomical Soceity.