Stellar Rotation Periods of the Kepler Objects of Interest: A Dearth of Close-in Planets around Fast Rotators
Abstract
We present a large sample of stellar rotation periods for Kepler Objects of Interest, based on three years of public Kepler data. These were measured by detecting periodic photometric modulation caused by star spots, using an algorithm based on the autocorrelation function of the light curve, developed recently by McQuillan, Aigrain & Mazeh (2013). Of the 1919 main-sequence exoplanet hosts analyzed, robust rotation periods were detected for 737. Comparing the detected stellar periods to the orbital periods of the innermost planet in each system reveals a notable lack of close-in planets around rapid rotators. It appears that only slowly spinning stars with rotation periods longer than 5-10 days host planets on orbits shorter than 2 or 3 days, although the mechanism(s) that lead(s) to this is not clear.
- Publication:
-
The Astrophysical Journal
- Pub Date:
- September 2013
- DOI:
- 10.1088/2041-8205/775/1/L11
- arXiv:
- arXiv:1308.1845
- Bibcode:
- 2013ApJ...775L..11M
- Keywords:
-
- methods: observational;
- planets and satellites: dynamical evolution and stability;
- planet-star interactions;
- stars: rotation;
- Astrophysics - Earth and Planetary Astrophysics;
- Astrophysics - Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
- E-Print:
- Accepted for publication in ApJL on 8th Aug 2013, 5 pages, 3 figures, 1 table. A full machine-readable version of Table 1 is available as an ancillary file