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A window on exoplanet dynamical histories: Rossiter-McLaughlin observations of WASP-13b and WASP-32b

Smalley; Maxted; Hellier

A window on exoplanet dynamical histories: Rossiter-McLaughlin observations of WASP-13b and WASP-32b Thumbnail


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Abstract

We present Rossiter–McLaughlin observations of WASP-13b and WASP-32b and determine the sky-projected angle between the normal of the planetary orbit and the stellar rotation axis (?). WASP-13b and WASP-32b both have prograde orbits and are consistent with alignment with measured sky-projected angles of ?=8°+13-12 and ?=-2°+17-19, respectively. Both WASP-13 and WASP-32 have Teff < 6250 K, and therefore, these systems support the general trend that aligned planetary systems are preferentially found orbiting cool host stars. A Lomb–Scargle periodogram analysis was carried out on archival SuperWASP data for both systems. A statistically significant stellar rotation period detection (above 99.9 per cent confidence) was identified for the WASP-32 system with Prot = 11.6 ± 1.0 days. This rotation period is in agreement with the predicted stellar rotation period calculated from the stellar radius, R*, and vsin?i if a stellar inclination of i* = 90° is assumed. With the determined rotation period, the true 3D angle between the stellar rotation axis and the planetary orbit, ?, was found to be ? = 11° ± 14°. We conclude with a discussion on the alignment of systems around cool host stars with Teff < 6150 K by calculating the tidal dissipation time-scale. We find that systems with short tidal dissipation time-scales are preferentially aligned and systems with long tidal dissipation time-scales have a broad range of obliquities.

Acceptance Date Mar 12, 2014
Publication Date Jun 1, 2014
Publicly Available Date Mar 28, 2024
Journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Print ISSN 0035-8711
Publisher Oxford University Press
Pages 3392 -3401
DOI https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stu520
Keywords techniques, photometric, radial velocities, stars, individual, WASP-13, WASP-32, planetary systems
Publisher URL https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stu520

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