WASP-19b: THE SHORTEST PERIOD TRANSITING EXOPLANET YET DISCOVERED

Journal Article · Fri Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 2010 · Astrophysical Journal

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/708/1/224· OSTI ID:21392496

Hebb, L; Collier-Cameron, A; Enoch, B; Horne, K ^[1]; Triaud, A H.M.J.; Gillon, M; Queloz, D; Mayor, M; Pepe, F; Segransan, D ^[2]; Lister, T A ^[3]; Smalley, B; Maxted, P F.L.; Hellier, C; Anderson, D R; Bentley, S ^[4]; Pollacco, D ^[5]; West, R G ^[6]; Haswell, C A ^[7]; Skillen, I ^[8]

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1. School of Physics and Astronomy, University of St. Andrews, North Haugh, St. Andrews, Fife KY16 9SS (United Kingdom)
2. Observatoire de Geneve, Universite de Geneve, 51 Ch. des Maillettes, 1290 Sauverny (Switzerland)
3. Las Cumbres Observatory, 6740 Cortona Dr. Suite 102, Santa Barbara, CA 93117 (United States)
4. Astrophysics Group, Keele University, Staffordshire, ST5 5BG (United Kingdom)
5. Astrophysics Research Centre, School of Mathematics and Physics, Queen's University, University Road, Belfast, BT7 1NN (United Kingdom)
6. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leicester, Leicester, LE1 7RH (United Kingdom)
7. Department of Physics and Astronomy, Open University, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA (United Kingdom)
8. Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes, Apartado de Correos 321, E-38700 Santa Cruz de la Palma, Tenerife (Spain)

We report on the discovery of a new extremely short period transiting extrasolar planet, WASP-19b. The planet has mass M{sub pl} = 1.15 +- 0.08 M{sub J} , radius R{sub pl} = 1.31 +- 0.06 R{sub J} , and orbital period P = 0.7888399 +- 0.0000008 days. Through spectroscopic analysis, we determine the host star to be a slightly super-solar metallicity ([M/H] = 0.1 +- 0.1 dex) G-dwarf with T{sub eff} = 5500 +- 100 K. In addition, we detect periodic, sinusoidal flux variations in the light curve which are used to derive a rotation period for the star of P{sub rot} = 10.5 +- 0.2 days. The relatively short stellar rotation period suggests that either WASP-19 is somewhat young (approx 600 Myr old) or tidal interactions between the two bodies have caused the planet to spiral inward over its lifetime resulting in the spin-up of the star. Due to the detection of the rotation period, this system has the potential to place strong constraints on the stellar tidal quality factor, Q'{sub s}, if a more precise age is determined.

• OSTI ID: 21392496
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 708, Issue 1; Other Information: DOI: 10.1088/0004-637X/708/1/224; ISSN 0004-637X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTROPHYSICS
COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
MASS
PERIODICITY
PLANETS
QUALITY FACTOR
RADIAL VELOCITY
ROTATION
STARS
TWO-BODY PROBLEM
DIMENSIONLESS NUMBERS
MANY-BODY PROBLEM
MOTION
VARIATIONS
VELOCITY