MIT Libraries logoDSpace@MIT

MIT
View Item 
  • DSpace@MIT Home
  • MIT Open Access Articles
  • MIT Open Access Articles
  • View Item
  • DSpace@MIT Home
  • MIT Open Access Articles
  • MIT Open Access Articles
  • View Item
JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

The Oblique Orbit of WASP-107b from K2 Photometry

Author(s)
Winn, Joshua N.; Dai, Fei
Thumbnail
DownloadDai_2017_AJ_153_205.pdf (1.257Mb)
PUBLISHER_POLICY

Publisher Policy

Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use.

Terms of use
Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use.
Metadata
Show full item record
Abstract
Observations of nine transits of WASP-107 during the K2 mission reveal three separate occasions when the planet crossed in front of a starspot. The data confirm the stellar rotation period to be 17 days - approximately three times the planet's orbital period - and suggest that large spots persist for at least one full rotation. If the star had a low obliquity, at least two additional spot crossings should have been observed. They were not observed, giving evidence for a high obliquity. We use a simple geometric model to show that the obliquity is likely in the range 40°-140°, i.e., both spin-orbit alignment and anti-alignment can be ruled out. WASP-107 thereby joins the small collection of relatively low-mass stars with a high obliquity. Most such stars have been observed to have low obliquities; all of the exceptions, including WASP-107, involve planets with relatively wide orbits ("warm Jupiters," with a[subscript min]/R∗ ≳ 8). This demonstrates a connection between stellar obliquity and planet properties, in contradiction to some theories for obliquity excitation.
Date issued
2017-04
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/112255
Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics; MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research
Journal
The Astronomical Journal
Publisher
American Astronomical Society
Citation
Dai, Fei, and Joshua N. Winn. “The Oblique Orbit of WASP-107b from K2 Photometry.” The Astronomical Journal, vol. 153, no. 5, Apr. 2017, p. 205. © 2017 The American Astronomical Society
Version: Final published version
ISSN
1538-3881
0004-6256

Collections
  • MIT Open Access Articles

Browse

All of DSpaceCommunities & CollectionsBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsThis CollectionBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjects

My Account

Login

Statistics

OA StatisticsStatistics by CountryStatistics by Department
MIT Libraries
PrivacyPermissionsAccessibilityContact us
MIT
Content created by the MIT Libraries, CC BY-NC unless otherwise noted. Notify us about copyright concerns.