Rossiter-McLaughlin effect measurements for WASP-16, WASP-25 and WASP-31★

in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (2012)

We present new measurements of the Rossiter-McLaughlin (RM) effect for three Wide Angle Search for transiting Planets (WASP) planetary systems, WASP-16, WASP-25 and WASP-31, from a combined analysis of ... [more ▼]

We present new measurements of the Rossiter-McLaughlin (RM) effect for three Wide Angle Search for transiting Planets (WASP) planetary systems, WASP-16, WASP-25 and WASP-31, from a combined analysis of their complete sets of photometric and spectroscopic data. We find a low-amplitude RM effect for WASP-16 (T[SUB]eff[/SUB]= 5700 ± 150 K), suggesting that the star is a slow rotator and thus of an advanced age, and obtain a projected alignment angle of ?. For WASP-25 (T[SUB]eff[/SUB]= 5750 ± 100 K), we detect a projected spin-orbit angle of λ= 14°.6 ± 6°.7. WASP-31 (T[SUB]eff[/SUB]= 6300 ± 100 K) is found to be well aligned, with a projected spin-orbit angle of λ= 2°.8 ± 3°.1. A circular orbit is consistent with the data for all three systems, in agreement with their respective discovery papers. We consider the results for these systems in the context of the ensemble of RM measurements made to date. We find that whilst WASP-16 fits the hypothesis of Winn et al. that 'cool' stars (T[SUB]eff[/SUB] < 6250 K) are preferentially aligned, WASP-31 has little impact on the proposed trend. We bring the total distribution of the true spin-orbit alignment angle, ψ, up to date, noting that recent results have improved the agreement with the theory of Fabrycky & Tremaine at mid-range angles. We also suggest a new test for judging misalignment using the Bayesian information criterion, according to which WASP-25 b's orbit should be considered to be aligned. [less ▲]

An orbital period of 0.94days for the hot-Jupiter planet WASP-18b

in Nature (2009), 460

The `hot Jupiters' that abound in lists of known extrasolar planets are thought to have formed far from their host stars, but migrate inwards through interactions with the proto-planetary disk from which ... [more ▼]

The `hot Jupiters' that abound in lists of known extrasolar planets are thought to have formed far from their host stars, but migrate inwards through interactions with the proto-planetary disk from which they were born, or by an alternative mechanism such as planet-planet scattering. The hot Jupiters closest to their parent stars, at orbital distances of only ~0.02 astronomical units, have strong tidal interactions, and systems such as OGLE-TR-56 have been suggested as tests of tidal dissipation theory. Here we report the discovery of planet WASP-18b with an orbital period of 0.94days and a mass of ten Jupiter masses (10M[SUB]Jup[/SUB]), resulting in a tidal interaction an order of magnitude stronger than that of planet OGLE-TR-56b. Under the assumption that the tidal-dissipation parameter Q of the host star is of the order of 10[SUP]6[/SUP], as measured for Solar System bodies and binary stars and as often applied to extrasolar planets, WASP-18b will be spiralling inwards on a timescale less than a thousandth that of the lifetime of its host star. Therefore either WASP-18 is in a rare, exceptionally short-lived state, or the tidal dissipation in this system (and possibly other hot-Jupiter systems) must be much weaker than in the Solar System. [less ▲]

WASP-1b and WASP-2b: two new transiting exoplanets detected with SuperWASP and SOPHIE

in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (2007), 375

We have detected low-amplitude radial-velocity variations in two stars, USNO-B1.0 1219-0005465 (GSC 02265-00107 = WASP-1) and USNO-B1.0 0964-0543604 (GSC 00522-01199 = WASP-2). Both stars were identified ... [more ▼]

We have detected low-amplitude radial-velocity variations in two stars, USNO-B1.0 1219-0005465 (GSC 02265-00107 = WASP-1) and USNO-B1.0 0964-0543604 (GSC 00522-01199 = WASP-2). Both stars were identified as being likely host stars of transiting exoplanets in the 2004 SuperWASP wide-field transit survey. Using the newly commissioned radial-velocity spectrograph SOPHIE at the Observatoire de Haute-Provence, we found that both objects exhibit reflex orbital radial-velocity variations with amplitudes characteristic of planetary-mass companions and in-phase with the photometric orbits. Line-bisector studies rule out faint blended binaries as the cause of either the radial-velocity variations or the transits. We perform preliminary spectral analyses of the host stars, which together with their radial-velocity variations and fits to the transit light curves yield estimates of the planetary masses and radii. WASP-1b and WASP-2b have orbital periods of 2.52 and 2.15 d, respectively. Given mass estimates for their F7V and K1V primaries, we derive planet masses 0.80-0.98 and 0.81-0.95 times that of Jupiter, respectively. WASP-1b appears to have an inflated radius of at least 1.33 R[SUB]Jup[/SUB], whereas WASP-2b has a radius in the range 0.65-1.26 R[SUB]Jup[/SUB]. [less ▲]