WASP-4 Is Accelerating toward the Earth

Bouma, Luke G.; Winn, Joshua N.; Howard, Andrew W.; Howell, Steve B.; Isaacson, Howard; Knutson, Heather A.; Matson, Rachel A.

doi:10.3847/2041-8213/ab8563

Cited by 44 publications

(78 citation statements)

References 96 publications

(112 reference statements)

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“…The full list of interesting planets from this viewpoint was summarized in Table 1 of Patra et al (2020). In the case of WASP-4 a decreasing orbital period was detected by Bouma et al (2019), later Bouma et al (2020) concluded that the system is accelerating toward the Sun, and the associated Doppler effect should cause the apparent period change rate. Up to now, WASP-12b is the only hot Jupiter to have a decaying orbit confirmed by Turner et al (2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is the orbit of the exoplanet WASP-43b really decaying? TESS and MuSCAT2 observations confirm no detection

Garai

Pribulla

Parviainen

et al. 2021

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

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Up to now, WASP-12b is the only hot Jupiter confirmed to have a decaying orbit. The case of WASP-43b is still under debate. Recent studies preferred or ruled out the orbital decay scenario, but further precise transit timing observations are needed to definitively confirm or refute the period change of WASP-43b. This possibility is given by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) space telescope. In this work we used the available TESS data, multi-colour photometry data obtained with the Multicolor Simultaneous Camera for studying Atmospheres of Transiting exoplanets 2 (MuSCAT2) and literature data to calculate the period change rate of WASP-43b and to improve its precision, and to refine the parameters of the WASP-43 planetary system. Based on the observed-minus-calculated data of 129 mid-transit times in total, covering a time baseline of about 10 years, we obtained an improved period change rate of $\dot{P} = -0.6 \pm 1.2$ ms yr−1 that is consistent with a constant period well within 1σ. We conclude that new TESS and MuSCAT2 observations confirm no detection of WASP-43b orbital decay.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is the orbit of the exoplanet WASP-43b really decaying? TESS and MuSCAT2 observations confirm no detection

Garai

Pribulla

Parviainen

et al. 2021

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

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“…They include stellar activity, tide-caused orbital decay, or additional companions. In the case of WASP-4, Bouma et al (2020) recently showed that it could be mostly or entirely produced by the line-of-sight acceleration of the system (see, however, Baluev et al 2020). The third case is WASP-47b, a hot Jupiter on a 1.1 d period showing TTVs of half a minute that are explained by two smaller short-period planets (Becker et al 2015, Weiss et al 2017.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Discovery and characterization of the exoplanets WASP-148b and c

Hébrard

Díaz

Correia

et al. 2020

A&A

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We present the discovery and characterization of WASP-148, a new extrasolar system that includes at least two giant planets. The host star is a slowly rotating inactive late-G dwarf with a V = 12 magnitude. The planet WASP-148b is a hot Jupiter of 0.72 RJup and 0.29 MJup that transits its host with an orbital period of 8.80 days. We found the planetary candidate with the SuperWASP photometric survey, then characterized it with the SOPHIE spectrograph. Our radial velocity measurements subsequently revealed a second planet in the system, WASP-148c, with an orbital period of 34.5 days and a minimum mass of 0.40 MJup. No transits of this outer planet were detected. The orbits of both planets are eccentric and fall near the 4:1 mean-motion resonances. This configuration is stable on long timescales, but induces dynamical interactions so that the orbits differ slightly from purely Keplerian orbits. In particular, WASP-148b shows transit-timing variations of typically 15 min, making it the first interacting system with transit-timing variations that is detected on ground-based light curves. We establish that the mutual inclination of the orbital plane of the two planets cannot be higher than 35°, and the true mass of WASP-148c is below 0.60 MJup. We present photometric and spectroscopic observations of this system that cover a time span of ten years. We also provide their Keplerian and Newtonian analyses; these analyses should be significantly improved through future TESS observations.

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“…Recently, Baluev et al (2020) analyzed a comprehensive set of 129 transits and additional RV data (presented in Baluev et al 2019) from 2007-2014 (mostly in years not covered by the RV data presented in Bouma et al 2020). They also confirmed a period change in WASP-4b's orbit but do not confirm the RV acceleration found by Bouma et al (2020). However, Baluev et al (2020) did not include the new RV HIRES data from Bouma et al (2020) in their analysis.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…They found that orbital decay and apsidal precession could explain the TTVs after ruling out instrumental issues, stellar activity, the Applegate mechanism, and light-time effect. Bouma et al (2020) obtained additional radial-velocity (RV) data on WASP-4b using HIRES on Keck and found that the observed orbital period variation could be explained by the sys-tem accelerating toward the Sun at a rate of -0.0422 m s −1 day −1 . Recently, Baluev et al (2020) analyzed a comprehensive set of 129 transits and additional RV data (presented in Baluev et al 2019) from 2007-2014 (mostly in years not covered by the RV data presented in Bouma et al 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Bouma et al (2020) obtained additional radial-velocity (RV) data on WASP-4b using HIRES on Keck and found that the observed orbital period variation could be explained by the sys-tem accelerating toward the Sun at a rate of -0.0422 m s −1 day −1 . Recently, Baluev et al (2020) analyzed a comprehensive set of 129 transits and additional RV data (presented in Baluev et al 2019) from 2007-2014 (mostly in years not covered by the RV data presented in Bouma et al 2020). They also confirmed a period change in WASP-4b's orbit but do not confirm the RV acceleration found by Bouma et al (2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Characterizing the WASP-4 system with TESS and radial velocity data: Constraints on the cause of the hot Jupiter's changing orbit and evidence of an outer planet

Turner,

Flagg,

Ridden-Harper

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Orbital dynamics provide valuable insights into the evolution and diversity of exoplanetary systems. Currently, only one hot Jupiter, WASP-12b, is confirmed to have a decaying orbit. Another, WASP-4b, exhibits hints of a changing orbital period that could be caused by orbital decay, apsidal precession, or the acceleration of the system towards the Earth. We have analyzed all data sectors from NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite together with all radial velocity (RV) and transit data in the literature to characterize WASP-4b's orbit. Our analysis shows that the full RV data set is consistent with no acceleration towards the Earth. Instead, we find evidence of a possible additional planet in the WASP-4 system, with an orbital period of ∼7000 days and M c sin(i) of 5.47 +0.44 −0.43 M Jup . Additionally, we find that the transit timing variations of all of the WASP-4b transits cannot be explained by the second planet but can be explained with either a decaying orbit or apsidal precession, with a slight preference for orbital decay. Assuming the decay model is correct, we find an updated period of 1.338231587±0.000000022 days, a decay rate of -7.33±0.71 msec year −1 , and an orbital decay timescale of τ = P/| Ṗ | = 15.77±1.57 Myr. If the observed decay results from tidal dissipation, we derive a modified tidal quality factor of Q = 5.1±0.9 ×10 4 , which is an order of magnitude lower than values derived for other hot Jupiter systems. However, more observations are needed to determine conclusively the cause of WASP-4b's changing orbit and confirm the existence of an outer companion.

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WASP-4 Is Accelerating toward the Earth

Cited by 44 publications

References 96 publications

Is the orbit of the exoplanet WASP-43b really decaying? TESS and MuSCAT2 observations confirm no detection

Is the orbit of the exoplanet WASP-43b really decaying? TESS and MuSCAT2 observations confirm no detection

Discovery and characterization of the exoplanets WASP-148b and c

Characterizing the WASP-4 system with TESS and radial velocity data: Constraints on the cause of the hot Jupiter's changing orbit and evidence of an outer planet

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