K2 Reveals Pulsed Accretion Driven by the 2 Myr Old Hot Jupiter CI Tau b
Abstract
CI Tau is a young (∼2 Myr) classical T Tauri star located in the Taurus star-forming region. Radial velocity observations indicate it hosts a Jupiter-sized planet with an orbital period of approximately 9 days. In this work, we analyze time series of CI Tau’s photometric variability as seen by K2. The light curve reveals the stellar rotation period to be ∼6.6 days. Although there is no evidence that CI Tau b transits the host star, a ∼9 day signature is also present in the light curve. We believe this is most likely caused by planet-disk interactions that perturb the accretion flow onto the star, resulting in a periodic modulation of the brightness with the ∼9 day period of the planet’s orbit.
- Publication:
-
The Astrophysical Journal
- Pub Date:
- February 2018
- DOI:
- 10.3847/2041-8213/aaa897
- arXiv:
- arXiv:1801.06234
- Bibcode:
- 2018ApJ...853L..34B
- Keywords:
-
- planet–disk interactions;
- stars: activity;
- stars: individual: CI Tau;
- stars: magnetic field;
- Astrophysics - Earth and Planetary Astrophysics;
- Astrophysics - Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
- E-Print:
- Accepted for publication in ApJ Letters