Kepler-20: a sun-like star with three sub-neptune exoplanets and two earth-size candidates
Article
Article Title | Kepler-20: a sun-like star with three sub-neptune exoplanets and two earth-size candidates |
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ERA Journal ID | 1057 |
Article Category | Article |
Authors | Gautier, Thomas N. (Author), Charbonneau, David (Author), Rowe, Jason F. (Author), Marcy, Geoffrey W. (Author), Isaacson, Howard (Author), Torres, Guillermo (Author), Fressin, Francois (Author), Rogers, Leslie A. (Author), Desert, Jean Michel (Author), Buchhave, Lars A. (Author), Latham, David W. (Author), Quinn, Samuel N. (Author), Ciardi, David R. (Author), Fabrycky, Daniel C. (Author), Ford, Eric B. (Author), Gilliland, Ronald L. (Author), Walkowicz, Lucianne M. (Author), Bryson, Stephen T. (Author), Cochran, William D. (Author), Endl, Michael (Author), Fischer, Debra A. (Author), Howell, Steve B. (Author), Horch, Elliott P. (Author), Barclay, Thomas (Author), Batalha, Natalie (Author), Borucki, William J. (Author), Christiansen, Jessie L. (Author), Geary, John C. (Author), Henze, Christopher E. (Author), Holman, Matthew J. (Author), Ibrahim, Khadeejah (Author), Jenkins, Jon M. (Author), Kinemuchi, Karen (Author), Koch, David G. (Author), Lissauer, Jack J. (Author), Sanderfer, Dwight T. (Author), Sasselov, Dimitar D. (Author), Seager, Sara (Author), Silverio, Kathryn (Author), Smith, Jeffrey C. (Author), Still, Martin (Author), Stumpe, Martin C. (Author), Tenenbaum, Peter (Author) and Van Cleve, Jeffrey (Author) |
Journal Title | The Astrophysical Journal: an international review of astronomy and astronomical physics |
Journal Citation | 749 (1), pp. 15-33 |
Article Number | 15 |
Number of Pages | 19 |
Year | 2012 |
Publisher | IOP Publishing |
Place of Publication | United States |
ISSN | 0004-637X |
1538-4357 | |
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) | https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/749/1/15 |
Web Address (URL) | http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/0004-637X/749/1/15 |
Abstract | We present the discovery of the Kepler-20 planetary system, which we initially identified through the detection of five distinct periodic transit signals in the Kepler light curve of the host star 2MASS J19104752+4220194. From high-resolution spectroscopy of the star, we find a stellar effective temperature T eff = 5455 100 K, a metallicity of [Fe/H] = 0.01 0.04, and a surface gravity of log g = 4.4 0.1. We combine these estimates with an estimate of the stellar density derived from the transit light curves to deduce a stellar mass of M = 0.912 0.034 M and a stellar radius of R = 0.944 +0.060 -0.095 R. For three of the transit signals, we demonstrate that our results strongly disfavor the possibility that these result from astrophysical false positives. We accomplish this by first identifying the subset of stellar blends that reproduce the precise shape of the light curve and then using the constraints on the presence of additional stars from high angular resolution imaging, photometric colors, and the absence of a secondary component in our spectroscopic observations. We conclude that the planetary scenario is more likely than that of an astrophysical false positive by a factor of 2 × 105 (Kepler-20b), 1 × 105 (Kepler-20c), and 1.1 × 103 (Kepler-20d), sufficient to validate these objects as planetary companions. For Kepler-20c and Kepler-20d, the blend scenario is independently disfavored by the achromaticity of the transit: from Spitzer data gathered at 4.5 μm, we infer a ratio of the planetary to stellar radii of 0.075 0.015 (Kepler-20c) and 0.065 0.011 (Kepler-20d), consistent with each of the depths measured in the Kepler optical bandpass. We determine the orbital periods and physical radii of the three confirmed planets to be 3.70days and 1.91+0.12 -0.21 R ⊕ for Kepler-20b, 10.85days and 3.07+0.20 -0.31 R ⊕ for Kepler-20c, and 77.61days and 2.75+0.17 -0.30 R ⊕ for Kepler-20d. From multi-epoch radial velocities, we determine the masses of Kepler-20b and Kepler-20c to be 8.7 2.2 M ⊕ and 16.1 3.5 M ⊕, respectively, and we place an upper limit on the mass of Kepler-20d of 20.1 M ⊕ (2σ). |
Keywords | eclipses; planetary systems; |
Contains Sensitive Content | Does not contain sensitive content |
ANZSRC Field of Research 2020 | 510109. Stellar astronomy and planetary systems |
Public Notes | For access to this article, please click on the URL link provided. |
Institution of Origin | University of Southern Queensland |
Byline Affiliations | California Institute of Technology (Caltech), United States |
Center for Astrophysics Harvard and Smithsonian, United States | |
NASA Ames Research Center, United States | |
University of California, United States | |
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, United States | |
University of Copenhagen, Denmark | |
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), United States | |
University of Florida, United States | |
Pennsylvania State University, United States | |
University of Texas at Austin, United States | |
Massey University, New Zealand | |
Southern Connecticut State University, United States | |
San Jose University, United States | |
SETI Institute, United States |
https://research.usq.edu.au/item/q4328/kepler-20-a-sun-like-star-with-three-sub-neptune-exoplanets-and-two-earth-size-candidates
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