WASP-41b: A Transiting Hot Jupiter Planet Orbiting a Magnetically Active G8V Star
Abstract
We report the discovery of a transiting planet with an orbital period of 3.05 days orbiting the star TYC 7247-587-1. The star, WASP-41, is a moderately bright G8 V star (V = 11.6) with a metallicity close to solar ([Fe/H] = -0.08 ± 0.09). The star shows evidence of moderate chromospheric activity, both from emission in the cores of the Ca ii H and K ines and photometric variability with a period of 18.4 days and an amplitude of about 1%. We use a new method to show quantitatively that this periodic signal has a low false-alarm probability. The rotation period of the star implies a gyrochronological age for WASP-41 of 1.8 Gyr with an error of about 15%. We have used a combined analysis of the available photometric and spectroscopic data to derive the mass and radius of the planet (0.92 ± 0.06 MJup, 1.20 ± 0.06 RJup). Further observations of WASP-41 can be used to explore the connections between the properties of hot Jupiter planets and the level of chromospheric activity in their host stars.
- Publication:
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Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific
- Pub Date:
- May 2011
- DOI:
- arXiv:
- arXiv:1012.2977
- Bibcode:
- 2011PASP..123..547M
- Keywords:
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- Astrophysics - Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
- E-Print:
- Revised version accepted for publication in PASP