Planet Hunters. Vii. Discovery of a New Low-mass, Low-density Planet (ph3 C) Orbiting Kepler-289 With Mass Measurements of Two Additional Planets (ph3 B and D)
Year: 2014
Type: article
Abstract: We report the discovery of one newly confirmed planet ( P = 66.06 days, R P = 2.68 ± 0.17 R ⊕ ) and mass determinations of two previously validated Kepler planets, Kepler-289 b ( P = 34.55 days, R P = 2.15 ± 0.10 R ⊕ ) and Kepler-289-c ( P = 125.85 days, R P = 11.59 ± 0.10 R ⊕ ), through their transit timing variations (TTVs). We also exclude the possibility that these three planets reside in a 1:2:4 Laplace resonance. The outer planet has very deep (∼1.3%), high signal-to-noise transits, which puts extremely tight constraints on its host star's stellar properties via Kepler's Third Law. The star PH3 is a young (∼1 Gyr as determined by isochrones and gyrochronology), Sun-like star with M * = 1.08 ± 0.02 M ☉ , R * = 1.00 ± 0.02 R ☉ , and T eff = 5990 ± 38 K. The middle planet's large TTV amplitude (∼5 hr) resulted either in non-detections or inaccurate detections in previous searches. A strong chopping signal, a shorter period sinusoid in the TTVs, allows us to break the mass–eccentricity degeneracy and uniquely determine the masses of the inner, middle, and outer planets to be M = 7.3 ± 6.8 M ⊕ , 4.0 ± 0.9 M ⊕ , and M = 132 ± 17 M ⊕ , which we designate PH3 b, c, and d, respectively. Furthermore, the middle planet, PH3 c, has a relatively low density, ρ = 1.2 ± 0.3 g cm −3 for a planet of its mass, requiring a substantial H/He atmosphere of by mass, and joins a growing population of low-mass, low-density planets.
Source: The Astrophysical Journal
Authors: Joseph R. Schmitt, Eric Agol, Katherine M. Deck, Leslie A. Rogers, J. Zachary Gazak, Debra A. Fischer, Ji Wang, Matthew J. Holman, Kian J. Jek, Charles Margossian, Mark R. Omohundro, Troy Winarski, John M. Brewer, Matthew J. Giguere, Chris Lintott, Stuart Lynn, Michael Parrish, Kevin Schawinski, Megan E. Schwamb, Robert Simpson, Arfon M. Smith
Institutions: Yale University, University of Washington, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, California Institute of Technology, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, University of Hawaii System, Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian, Adler Planetarium, University of Oxford, ETH Zurich, Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Academia Sinica, National Taiwan University
Language: English
Subfield: Astronomy and Astrophysics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
Funders: National Science Foundation, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, W. M. Keck Foundation, California Institute of Technology, Space Telescope Science Institute, NASA Exoplanet Science Institute, Leverhulme Trust, Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung, Academia Sinica, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Science Mission Directorate
Awards: CDI-Type II: Zooniverse - Conquering the Data Flood with a Transformative Partnership between Citizen Scientists and Machines, G2171960263, G2421646219, G3809758750, Phasenübergänge und Instabilitäten, G433322167, G4518818167, According to the classical theory of electrodynamics two photons can not interact with each other., THE MULTI-MISSION ARCHIVE AT SPACE TELESCOPE SCIENCE INSTITUTE (MAST) IS NASA'S ARCHIVE CENTER FOR OPTICAL/UV SPACE ASTROPHYSICS DATA. MAST PROVIDE, G58316358, G6273510985, G767601387, G8210229802, G973579988
OpenAlex ID: W2049534805