HAT-P-11: Discovery of a Second Planet and a Clue to Understanding Exoplanet Obliquities

Journal Article · Fri Jun 01 04:00:00 EDT 2018 · The Astronomical Journal (Online)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/AABFEC· OSTI ID:22897481

Yee, Samuel W.; Petigura, Erik A.; Fulton, Benjamin J.; Knutson, Heather A.; Batygin, Konstantin; Howard, Andrew W.; Sinukoff, Evan ^[1]; Bakos, Gáspár Á.; Hartman, Joel D. ^[2]; Hirsch, Lea A.; Isaacson, Howard ^[3]; Kosiarek, Molly R. ^[4]

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1. California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, 91125 (United States)
2. Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544 (United States)
3. University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States)
4. University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064 (United States)

HAT-P-11 is a mid-K dwarf that hosts one of the first Neptune-sized planets found outside the solar system. The orbit of HAT-P-11b is misaligned with the star’s spin—one of the few known cases of a misaligned planet orbiting a star less massive than the Sun. We find an additional planet in the system based on a decade of precision radial velocity (RV) measurements from Keck/High Resolution Echelle Spectrometer. HAT-P-11c is similar to Jupiter in its mass (M{sub P}sin i=1.6±0.1 M {sub J}) and orbital period (P=9.3{sub −0.5}{sup +1.0} year), but has a much more eccentric orbit (e = 0.60 ± 0.03). In our joint modeling of RV and stellar activity, we found an activity-induced RV signal of ∼7 m s{sup −1}, consistent with other active K dwarfs, but significantly smaller than the 31 m s{sup −1} reflex motion due to HAT-P-11c. We investigated the dynamical coupling between HAT-P-11b and c as a possible explanation for HAT-P-11b’s misaligned orbit, finding that planet–planet Kozai interactions cannot tilt planet b’s orbit due to general relativistic precession; however, nodal precession operating on million year timescales is a viable mechanism to explain HAT-P-11b’s high obliquity. This leaves open the question of why HAT-P-11c may have such a tilted orbit. At a distance of 38 pc, the HAT-P-11 system offers rich opportunities for further exoplanet characterization through astrometry and direct imaging.

• OSTI ID: 22897481
• Journal Information: The Astronomical Journal (Online), Journal Name: The Astronomical Journal (Online) Journal Issue: 6 Vol. 155; ISSN 1538-3881
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
DETECTION
DISTANCE
MASS
ORBITS
PLANETS
RADIAL VELOCITY
REFLEXES
RELATIVISTIC RANGE
SATELLITES
SPECTROMETERS
STARS
STELLAR ACTIVITY