9 research outputs found
Qatar Exoplanet Survey : Qatar-3b, Qatar-4b and Qatar-5b
We report the discovery of Qatar-3b, Qatar-4b, and Qatar-5b, three new
transiting planets identified by the Qatar Exoplanet Survey (QES). The three
planets belong to the hot Jupiter family, with orbital periods of
=2.50792 days, =1.80539 days, and =2.87923 days.
Follow-up spectroscopic observations reveal the masses of the planets to be
=4.31 , =6.10 , and
= 4.32 , while model fits to the transit light
curves yield radii of = 1.096 , =
1.135 , and = 1.107 . The
host stars are low-mass main sequence stars with masses and radii =
1.145 , = 0.896 ,
= 1.128 and = 1.272 ,
= 0.849 and = 1.076
for Qatar-3, 4 and 5 respectively. The V magnitudes of the three
host stars are =12.88, =13.60, and =12.82. All three
new planets can be classified as heavy hot Jupiters (M > 4 ).Comment: 13Pages, 8Figure
Discovery and characterisation of detached M-dwarf eclipsing binaries in the WFCAM Transit Survey
We report the discovery of 16 detached M-dwarf eclipsing binaries with J<16
mag and provide a detailed characterisation of three of them, using
high-precision infrared light curves from the WFCAM Transit Survey (WTS). Such
systems provide the most accurate and model-independent method for measuring
the fundamental parameters of these poorly understood yet numerous stars, which
currently lack sufficient observations to precisely calibrate stellar evolution
models. We fully solve for the masses and radii of three of the systems,
finding orbital periods in the range 1.5<P<4.9 days, with masses spanning
0.35-0.50 Msun and radii between 0.38-0.50 Rsun, with uncertainties of
~3.5-6.4% in mass and ~2.7-5.5% in radius. Close-companions in short-period
binaries are expected to be tidally-locked into fast rotational velocities,
resulting in high levels of magnetic activity. This is predicted to inflate
their radii by inhibiting convective flow and increasing star spot coverage.
The radii of the WTS systems are inflated above model predictions by ~3-12%, in
agreement with the observed trend, despite an expected lower systematic
contribution from star spots signals at infrared wavelengths. We searched for
correlation between the orbital period and radius inflation by combining our
results with all existing M-dwarf radius measurements of comparable precision,
but we found no statistically significant evidence for a decrease in radius
inflation for longer period, less active systems. Radius inflation continues to
exists in non-synchronised systems indicating that the problem remains even for
very low activity M-dwarfs. Resolving this issue is vital not only for
understanding the most populous stars in the Universe, but also for
characterising their planetary companions, which hold the best prospects for
finding Earth-like planets in the traditional habitable zone.Comment: 30 pages, 14 figures, 16 tables, Accepted for publication in MNRA
Qatar Exoplanet Survey: Qatar-8b, 9b, and 10b—A Hot Saturn and Two Hot Jupiters
In this paper we present three new extrasolar planets from the Qatar Exoplanet Survey. Qatar-8b is a hot Saturn, with M [SUB]P[/SUB] = 0.37 M [SUB]J[/SUB] and R [SUB]P[/SUB] = 1.3 R [SUB]J[/SUB], orbiting a solar-like star every P [SUB]orb[/SUB] = 3.7 days. Qatar-9b is a hot Jupiter with a mass of M [SUB]P[/SUB] = 1.2 M [SUB]J[/SUB] and a radius of R [SUB]P[/SUB] = 1 R [SUB]J[/SUB], in an orbit of P [SUB]orb[/SUB] = 1.5 days around a low mass, M [SUB]⋆[/SUB] = 0.7 M [SUB]⊙[/SUB], mid-K main-sequence star. Finally, Qatar-10b is a hot, T [SUB]eq[/SUB] ∼ 2000 K, sub-Jupiter mass planet, M [SUB]P[/SUB] = 0.7 M [SUB]J[/SUB], with a radius of R [SUB]P[/SUB] = 1.54 R [SUB]J[/SUB] and an orbital period of P [SUB]orb[/SUB] = 1.6 days, placing it on the edge of the sub-Jupiter desert