The Metallicity Distribution and Hot Jupiter Rate of the Kepler Field: Hectochelle High-resolution Spectroscopy for 776 Kepler Target Stars
- Department of Physics and Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139 (United States)
- Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States)
- Department of Astronomy, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712 (United States)
The occurrence rate of hot Jupiters from the Kepler transit survey is roughly half that of radial velocity surveys targeting solar neighborhood stars. One hypothesis to explain this difference is that the two surveys target stars with different stellar metallicity distributions. To test this hypothesis, we measure the metallicity distribution of the Kepler targets using the Hectochelle multi-fiber, high-resolution spectrograph. Limiting our spectroscopic analysis to 610 dwarf stars in our sample with logg > 3.5, we measure a metallicity distribution characterized by a mean of [M/H]{sub mean}=−0.045±0.009, in agreement with previous studies of the Kepler field target stars. In comparison, the metallicity distribution of the California Planet Search radial velocity sample has a mean of [M/H]{sub CPS,mean}=−0.005±0.006, and the samples come from different parent populations according to a Kolmogorov–Smirnov test. We refit the exponential relation between the fraction of stars hosting a close-in giant planet and the host star metallicity using a sample of dwarf stars from the California Planet Search with updated metallicities. The best-fit relation tells us that the difference in metallicity between the two samples is insufficient to explain the discrepant hot Jupiter occurrence rates; the metallicity difference would need to be ≃0.2–0.3 dex for perfect agreement. We also show that (sub)giant contamination in the Kepler sample cannot reconcile the two occurrence calculations. We conclude that other factors, such as binary contamination and imperfect stellar properties, must also be at play.
- OSTI ID:
- 22869194
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 838, Issue 1; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0004-637X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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