Dynamical Constraints on the Core Mass of Hot Jupiter HAT-P-13b
Abstract
HAT-P-13b is a Jupiter-mass transiting exoplanet that has settled onto a stable, short-period, and mildly eccentric orbit due to the action of tidal dissipation and perturbations from a second, highly eccentric, outer companion. Due to the special orbital configuration of the HAT-P-13 system, the magnitude of HAT-P-13b's eccentricity is in part dictated by its Love number, i.e. the degree of central mass concentration in its interior. We can therefore directly constrain the fraction of HAT-P-13b's mass contained in its core by measuring its orbital eccentricity. This method offers considerable advantages over the standard approach of inferring core size based on mass and radius measurements alone. In this study we derive new constraints on the value of HAT-P-13b's eccentricity by observing two secondary eclipses of HAT-P-13b with the Infrared Array Camera on board the Spitzer Space Telescope. We fit the measured secondary eclipse times simultaneously with radial velocity measurements and find that the eccentricity of HAT-P-13b is 0.00696 ± 0.00096. We then use octupole-order secular perturbation theory to find that the corresponding Love number is 0.31 (+0.11, -0.05). Applying structural evolution models, we then find, with 68% confidence, that the core mass lies between 0-25 Earth masses, with a most likely value of the core mass of 11 Earth masses. This is the tightest constraint, to date, on the core mass of an exoplanet. We also compare the measured secondary eclipse depths, in the 3.6 and 4.5 micron bands, to the predictions of a suite of atmosphere models and find that the depths are best matched by models with a dayside temperature inversion and relatively efficient day-night circulation.
- Publication:
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American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts #227
- Pub Date:
- January 2016
- Bibcode:
- 2016AAS...22740607B