HATS-2b: A transiting extrasolar planet orbiting a K-type star showing starspot activity

We report the discovery of HATS-2b, the second transiting extrasolar planet detected by the HATSouth survey. HATS-2b is moving on a circular orbit around a V = 13.6 mag, K-type dwarf star (GSC 6665-00236), at a separation of 0.0230 ± 0.0003 AU and with a period of 1.3541 days. The planetary parameters have been robustly determined using a simultaneous fit of the HATSouth, MPG/ESO 2.2 m/GROND, Faulkes Telescope South/Spectral transit photometry, and MPG/ESO 2.2 m/FEROS, Euler 1.2 m/CORALIE, AAT 3.9 m/CYCLOPS radial-velocity measurements. HATS-2b has a mass of 1.37 ± 0.16 M_J, a radius of 1.14 ± 0.03 R_J, and an equilibrium temperature of 1567 ± 30 K. The host star has a mass of 0.88 ± 0.04 M_⊙ and a radius of 0.89 ± 0.02 R_⊙, and it shows starspot activity. We characterized the stellar activity by analyzing two photometric follow-up transit light curves taken with the GROND instrument, both obtained simultaneously in four optical bands (covering the wavelength range of 3860-9520 Å). The two light curves contain anomalies compatible with starspots on the photosphere of the host star along the same transit chord.

Tables of the individual photometric measurements are only available at the CDS via anonymous ftp to http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (ftp://130.79.128.5) or via http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr/viz-bin/qcat?J/A+A/558/A55