THE TRANSIT LIGHT CURVE PROJECT. XIV. CONFIRMATION OF ANOMALOUS RADII FOR THE EXOPLANETS TRES-4b, HAT-P-3b, AND WASP-12b

Abstract

We present transit photometry of three exoplanets, TrES-4b, HAT-P-3b, and WASP-12b, allowing for refined estimates of the systems' parameters. TrES-4b and WASP-12b were confirmed to be "bloated" planets, with radii of 1.706 [plus-minus] 0.056R [subscript Jup] and 1.736 [plus-minus] 0.092R [subscript Jup], respectively. These planets are too large to be explained with standard models of gas giant planets. In contrast, HAT-P-3b has a radius of 0.827 [plus-minus] 0.055R [subscript Jup], smaller than a pure hydrogen-helium planet and indicative of a highly metal-enriched composition. Analyses of the transit timings revealed no significant departures from strict periodicity. For TrES-4, our relatively recent observations allow for improvement in the orbital ephemerides, which is useful for planning future observations.