Kepler-16: A Transiting Circumbinary Planet

Doyle, L. R.; Carter, J. A.; Fabrycky, D. C.; Slawson, R. W.; Howell, S. B.; Winn, J. N.; Orosz, J. A.; Pr sa, A.; Welsh, W. F.; Quinn, S. N.; Latham, D.; Torres, G.; Buchhave, L. A.; Marcy, G. W.; Fortney, J. J.; Shporer, A.; Ford, E. B.; Lissauer, J. J.; Ragozzine, D.; Rucker, M.; Batalha, N.; Jenkins, J. M.; Borucki, W. J.; Koch, D.; Middour, C. K.; Hall, J. R.; McCauliff, S.; Fanelli, M. N.; Quintana, E. V.; Holman, M. J.; Caldwell, D. A.; Still, M.; Stefanik, R. P.; Brown, W. R.; Esquerdo, G. A.; Tang, S.; Furesz, G.; Geary, J. C.; Berlind, P.; Calkins, M. L.; Short, D. R.; Steffen, J. H.; Sasselov, D.; Dunham, E. W.; Cochran, W. D.; Boss, A.; Haas, M. R.; Buzasi, D.; Fischer, D.

Author(s)

Winn, Joshua Nathan

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Abstract

We report the detection of a planet whose orbit surrounds a pair of low-mass stars. Data from the Kepler spacecraft reveal transits of the planet across both stars, in addition to the mutual eclipses of the stars, giving precise constraints on the absolute dimensions of all three bodies. The planet is comparable to Saturn in mass and size and is on a nearly circular 229-day orbit around its two parent stars. The eclipsing stars are 20 and 69% as massive as the Sun and have an eccentric 41-day orbit. The motions of all three bodies are confined to within 0.5° of a single plane, suggesting that the planet formed within a circumbinary disk.

Date issued

2011-09

URI

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/88742

Department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics; MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research

Journal

Science

Publisher

American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Citation

Doyle, L. R., J. A. Carter, D. C. Fabrycky, R. W. Slawson, S. B. Howell, J. N. Winn, J. A. Orosz, et al. “Kepler-16: A Transiting Circumbinary Planet.” Science 333, no. 6049 (September 15, 2011): 1602–1606.

Version: Author's final manuscript

ISSN

0036-8075

1095-9203

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