Radial Velocity Variations in K Giants: Planets or Pulsations?

Abstract

Radial velocity observations of K giants have revealed periodic variations for some of the stars. The periods range from approximately 180 to 1000 or more days with velocity amplitudes ranging from approximately 50 m/s to 500 m/s. Except for Iota Draconis (Frink et al. (2002)), all variations are nearly sinusoidal. Companions with zero orbital eccentricity as well as pulsations may cause these radial velocity variations. Additional high resolution spectra were taken in order to reveal which of these mechanisms is at work. No conclusions can be drawn from this work yet, although it seems likely that at least for some stars pulsations are the best explanation. A theoretical study is performed to investigate what kind of pulsations could cause these long period radial velocity variations.