The Misaligned Orbit of the Earth-sized Planet Kepler-408b
- Department of Physics, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, 113-0033 (Japan)
- Center for Space Science, NYUAD Institute, New York University Abu Dhabi, P.O. Box 129188, Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates)
- Department of Physics and Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139 (United States)
Kepler-408 is one of the 33 planet-hosting Kepler stars for which asteroseismology has been used to investigate the orientation of the stellar rotation axis relative to the planetary orbital plane. The transiting hot Earth, Kepler-408b, has an orbital period of 2.5 days and a radius of 0.86 R {sub ⊕}, making it much smaller than the planets for which spin–orbit alignment has been studied using the Rossiter–McLaughlin effect. Because conflicting asteroseismic results have been reported in the literature, we undertake a thorough re-appraisal of this system and perform numerous checks for consistency and robustness. We find that the conflicting results are due to the different models for the low-frequency noise in the power spectrum. A careful treatment of the background noise resolves these conflicts, and shows that the stellar inclination is i{sub ⋆}=42{sub −4}{sup +5} degrees. Kepler-408b is, by far, the smallest planet known to have a significantly misaligned orbit.
- OSTI ID:
- 22897332
- Journal Information:
- The Astronomical Journal (Online), Journal Name: The Astronomical Journal (Online) Journal Issue: 4 Vol. 157; ISSN 1538-3881
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
FUNDAMENTAL PROPERTIES OF KEPLER PLANET-CANDIDATE HOST STARS USING ASTEROSEISMOLOGY
DISCOVERY AND ROSSITER-McLAUGHLIN EFFECT OF EXOPLANET KEPLER-8b