THE TRANSIT LIGHT CURVE PROJECT. XI. SUBMILLIMAGNITUDE PHOTOMETRY OF TWO TRANSITS OF THE BLOATED PLANET WASP-4b
- 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)
- Las Campanas Observatory, Carnegie Observatories, Casilla 601, La Serena (Chile)
We present photometry of two transits of the giant planet WASP-4b with a photometric precision of 400-800 parts per million and a time sampling of 25-40 s. The two midtransit times are determined to within 6 s. Together with previously published times, the data are consistent with a constant orbital period, giving no compelling evidence for period variations that would be produced by a satellite or additional planets. Analysis of the new photometry, in combination with stellar-evolutionary modeling, gives a planetary mass and radius of 1.237 {+-} 0.064 M {sub Jup} and 1.365 {+-} 0.021 R {sub Jup}, respectively. The planet is 15% larger than expected based on previously published models of solar-composition giant planets. With data of the quality presented here, the detection of transits of a 'super-Earth' of radius 1.75 R {sub +} would have been possible.
- OSTI ID:
- 21269268
- Journal Information:
- Astronomical Journal (New York, N.Y. Online), Vol. 137, Issue 4; Other Information: DOI: 10.1088/0004-6256/137/4/3826; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1538-3881
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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