The California Planet Survey. II. A Saturn-Mass Planet Orbiting the M Dwarf Gl 649

We report precise Doppler measurements of the nearby (d = 10.34 pc) M dwarf Gl 649 that reveal the presence of a planet with a minimum mass M_P sin i = 0.328 M_Jup in an eccentric (e = 0.30), 598.3 day orbit. Our photometric monitoring reveals Gl 649 to be a new variable star with brightness changes on both rotational and decadal timescales. However, neither of these timescales are consistent with the 600 day Doppler signal and so provide strong support for planetary reflex motion as the best interpretation of the observed radial velocity variations. Gl 649b is only the seventh Doppler-detected giant planet around an M dwarf. The properties of the planet and host-star therefore contribute significant information to our knowledge of planet formation around low-mass stars. We revise and refine the occurrence rate of giant planets around M dwarfs based on the California Planet Survey sample of low-mass stars (M_⋆ < 0.6 M_⊙). We find that of stars with M_⋆ < 0.6 M_⊙ harbor planets with M_P sin i > 0.3 M_Jup and a < 2.5 AU. When we restrict our analysis to metal-rich stars with [Fe/H] > +0.2, we find that the occurrence rate is .

Based on observations obtained at the W. M. Keck Observatory, which is operated jointly by the University of California and the California Institute of Technology. Keck time has been granted by both NASA and the University of California.