Detection of an exoplanet around the evolved K giant HD 66141
Abstract
Aims: We have been carrying out a precise radial velocity (RV) survey for K giants to search for and study the origin of the low-amplitude and long-periodic RV variations.
Methods: We present high-resolution RV measurements of the K2 giant HD 66141 from December 2003 to January 2011 using the fiber-fed Bohyunsan Observatory Echelle Spectrograph (BOES) at the Bohyunsan Optical Astronomy Observatory (BOAO).
Results: We find that the RV measurements for HD 66141 exhibit a periodic variation of 480.5 ± 0.5 days with a semi-amplitude of 146.2 ± 2.7 m s-1. The Hipparcos photometry and bisector velocity span (BVS) do not show any obvious correlations with RV variations. We find indeed 706.4 ± 35.0 day variations in equivalent width (EW) measurements of Hα line and 703.0 ± 39.4 day variations in a space-born measurements 1.25μ flux of HD 66141 measured during the COBE/DIRBE experiment. We reveal that a mean value of long-period variations is about 705 ± 53 days, whose origin is a rotation period of the star and variability that is caused by surface inhomogeneities. For the 480-day periods of RV variations an orbital motion is the most likely explanation. Assuming a stellar mass of 1.1 ± 0.1 M⊙ for HD 66141, we obtain a minimum mass for the planetary companion of 6.0 ± 0.3 MJup with an orbital semi-major axis of 1.2 ± 0.1 AU and an eccentricity of 0.07 ± 0.03.
- Publication:
-
Astronomy and Astrophysics
- Pub Date:
- December 2012
- DOI:
- 10.1051/0004-6361/201118014
- arXiv:
- arXiv:1211.2054
- Bibcode:
- 2012A&A...548A.118L
- Keywords:
-
- planetary systems;
- stars: individual: HD 66141;
- techniques: radial velocities;
- Astrophysics - Solar and Stellar Astrophysics;
- Astrophysics - Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
- E-Print:
- 7 pages, 10 figures, 3 tables, accepted for publisation in Astronomy &