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Transit timing variations in the WASP-4 planetary system

Southworth, J ; Sharif University of Technology | 2019

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  1. Type of Document: Article
  2. DOI: 10.1093/mnras/stz2602
  3. Publisher: Oxford University Press , 2019
  4. Abstract:
  5. Transits in the planetary system WASP-4 were recently found to occur 80 s earlier than expected in observations from the TESS satellite. We present 22 new times of mid-transit that confirm the existence of transit timing variations, and are well fitted by a quadratic ephemeris with period decay dP/dt = −9.2 ± 1.1 ms yr−1. We rule out instrumental issues, stellar activity, and the Applegate mechanism as possible causes. The light-time effect is also not favoured due to the non-detection of changes in the systemic velocity. Orbital decay and apsidal precession are plausible but unproven. WASP-4 b is only the third hot Jupiter known to show transit timing variations to high confidence. We discuss a variety of observations of this and other planetary systems that would be useful in improving our understanding of WASP-4 in particular and orbital decay in general. © 2019 The Author(s)
  6. Keywords:
  7. Activity ; Fundamental parameters ; Individual: WASP-4
  8. Source: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society ; Volume 490, Issue 3 , 2019 , Pages 4230-4236 ; 00358711 (ISSN)
  9. URL: https://academic.oup.com/mnras/article-abstract/490/3/4230/5571839?redirectedFrom=fulltext