A Possible Alignment Between the Orbits of Planetary Systems and their Visual Binary Companions
Authors: Christian Sam , Vanderburg Andrew , Becker Juliette , Yahalomi Daniel A. , Pearce Logan , Zhou George , Collins Karen A. , Kraus Adam L. , Stassun Keivan G. , de Beurs Zoe , Ricker George R. , Vanderspek Roland K. , Latham David W. , Winn Joshua N. , Seager S. , Jenkins Jon M. , Abe Lyu , Agabi Karim , Amado Pedro J. , Baker David , Barkaoui Khalid , Benkhaldoun Zouhair , Benni Paul , Berberian John , Berlind Perry , Bieryla Allyson , Esparza-Borges Emma , Bowen Michael , Brown Peyton , Buchhave Lars A. , Burke Christopher J. , Buttu Marco , Cadieux Charles , Caldwell Douglas A. , Charbonneau David , Chazov Nikita , Chimaladinne Sudhish , Collins Kevin I. , Combs Deven , Conti Dennis M. , Crouzet Nicolas , de Leon Jerome P. , Deljookorani Shila , Diamond Brendan , Doyon René , Dragomir Diana , Dransfield Georgina , Essack Zahra , Evans Phil , Fukui Akihiko , Gan Tianjun , Esquerdo Gilbert A. , Gillon Michaël , Girardin Eric , Guerra Pere , Guillot Tristan , K. Habich Eleanor Kate , Henriksen Andreea , Hoch Nora , Isogai Keisuke I , Jehin Emmanuël , Jensen Eric L. N. , Johnson Marshall C. , Livingston John H. , Kielkopf John F. , Kim Kingsley , Kawauchi Kiyoe , Krushinsky Vadim , Kunzle Veronica , Laloum Didier , Leger Dominic , Lewin Pablo , Mallia Franco , Massey Bob , Mori Mayuko , McLeod Kim K. , Mékarnia Djamel , Mireles Ismael , Mishevskiy Nikolay , Tamura Motohide , Murgas Felipe , Narita Norio , Naves Ramon , Nelson Peter , Osborn Hugh P. , Palle Enric , Parviainen Hannu , Plavchan Peter , Pozuelos Francisco J. , Rabus Markus , Relles Howard M. , Rodríguez López Cristina , Quinn Samuel N. , Schmider Francois-Xavier , Schlieder Joshua E. , Schwarz Richard P. , Shporer Avi , Sibbald Laurie , Srdoc Gregor , Stibbards Caitlin , Stickler Hannah , Suarez Olga , Stockdale Chris , Tan Thiam-Guan , Terada Yuka , Triaud Amaury , Tronsgaard Rene , Waalkes William C. , Wang Gavin , Watanabe Noriharu , Wenceslas Marie-Sainte , Wingham Geof , Wittrock Justin , Ziegler Carl 
Published: April 2022

Astronomers do not have a complete picture of the effects of wide-binary companions (semimajor axes greater than 100 au) on the formation and evolution of exoplanets. We investigate these effects using new data from Gaia Early Data Release 3 and the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite mission to characterize wide-binary systems with transiting exoplanets. We identify a sample of 67 systems of transiting exoplanet candidates (with well-determined, edge-on orbital inclinations) that reside in wide visual binary systems. We derive limits on orbital parameters for the wide-binary systems and measure the minimum difference in orbital inclination between the binary and planet orbits. We determine that there is statistically significant difference in the inclination distribution of wide-binary systems with transiting planets compared to a control sample, with the probability that the two distributions are the same being 0.0037. This implies that there is an overabundance of planets in binary systems whose orbits are aligned with those of the binary. The overabundance of aligned systems appears to primarily have semimajor axes less than 700 au. We investigate some effects that could cause the alignment and conclude that a torque caused by a misaligned binary companion on the protoplanetary disk is the most promising explanation.