Transiting exoplanets from the CoRoT space mission. VIII. CoRoT-7b: the first super-Earth with measured radius

Copyright © The European Southern Observatory (ESO)Aims. We report the discovery of very shallow (ΔF/F ≈ 3.4×10−4), periodic dips in the light curve of an active V = 11.7 G9V star observed by the CoRoT satellite, which we interpret as caused by a transiting companion. We describe the 3-colour CoRoT data and complementary ground-based observations that support the planetary nature of the companion. Methods. We used CoRoT colours information, good angular resolution ground-based photometric observations in- and out- of transit, adaptive optics imaging, near-infrared spectroscopy, and preliminary results from radial velocity measurements, to test the diluted eclipsing binary scenarios. The parameters of the host star were derived from optical spectra, which were then combined with the CoRoT light curve to derive parameters of the companion. Results. We examined all conceivable cases of false positives carefully, and all the tests support the planetary hypothesis. Blends with separation >0.40'' or triple systems are almost excluded with a 8 × 10−4 risk left. We conclude that, inasmuch we have been exhaustive, we have discovered a planetary companion, named CoRoT-7b, for which we derive a period of 0.853 59 ± 3 × 10−5 day and a radius of Rp = 1.68 ± 0.09 REarth. Analysis of preliminary radial velocity data yields an upper limit of 21 MEarth for the companion mass, supporting the finding. Conclusions. CoRoT-7b is very likely the first Super-Earth with a measured radius. This object illustrates what will probably become a common situation with missions such as Kepler, namely the need to establish the planetary origin of transits in the absence of a firm radial velocity detection and mass measurement. The composition of CoRoT-7b remains loosely constrained without a precise mass. A very high surface temperature on its irradiated face, ≈1800–2600 K at the substellar point, and a very low one, ≈50 K, on its dark face assuming no atmosphere, have been derived

Planetary transit candidates in the CoRoT-SRc01 field

Context. The space mission CoRoT is devoted to the analysis of stellar variability and the photometric detection of extrasolar planets. Aims: We present the list of planetary transit candidates detected in the first short run observed by CoRoT that targeted SRc01, towards the Galactic center in the direction of Aquila, which lasted from April to May 2007. Methods: Among the acquired data, we analyzed those for 1269 sources in the chromatic bands and 5705 in the monochromatic band. Instrumental noise and the stellar variability were treated with several detrending tools, to which several transit-search algorithms were subsequently applied. Results: Fifty-one sources were classified as planetary transit candidates and 26 were followed up with ground-based observations. Until now, no planet has been detected in the CoRoT data from the SRc01 field. The CoRoT space mission, launched on December 27th 2006, has been developed and is operated by CNES, with contributions from Austria, Belgium, Brazil, ESA, Germany, and Spain. The CoRoT data are available to the community from the CoRoT archive: http://idoc-corot.ias.u-psud.frBased in part on observations made with the 1.93-m telescope at Observatoire de Haute Provence (CNRS), France (SOPHIE Program 08A.PNP.MOUT).Based in part on observations made with the ESO-3.60-m telescope at La Silla Observatory (ESO), Chile (HARPS Program ESO - 081.C-0388) and with the ESO-VLT telescope at Paranal Observatory (ESO), Chile (FLAMES Program ESO - 081.C-0413)