Bibcode
Vanderburg, A.; Becker, Juliette C.; Buchhave, Lars A.; Mortier, Annelies; Lopez, Eric; Malavolta, Luca; Haywood, Raphaëlle D.; Latham, David W.; Charbonneau, David; López-Morales, Mercedes; Adams, Fred C.; Bonomo, Aldo Stefano; Bouchy, François; Collier Cameron, Andrew; Cosentino, Rosario; Di Fabrizio, Luca; Dumusque, Xavier; Fiorenzano, Aldo; Harutyunyan, Avet; Johnson, John Asher; Lorenzi, V.; Lovis, Christophe; Mayor, Michel; Micela, Giusi; Molinari, Emilio; Pedani, Marco; Pepe, Francesco; Piotto, Giampaolo; Phillips, David; Rice, Ken; Sasselov, Dimitar; Ségransan, Damien; Sozzetti, Alessandro; Udry, Stéphane; Watson, Chris
Bibliographical reference
The Astronomical Journal, Volume 154, Issue 6, article id. 237, 14 pp. (2017).
Advertised on:
12
2017
Citations
51
Refereed citations
48
Description
We present precise radial velocity observations of WASP-47, a star known
to host a hot Jupiter, a distant Jovian companion, and, uniquely, two
additional transiting planets in short-period orbits: a super-Earth in a
≈19 hr orbit, and a Neptune in a ≈9 day orbit. We analyze our
observations from the HARPS-N spectrograph along with previously
published data to measure the most precise planet masses yet for this
system. When combined with new stellar parameters and reanalyzed transit
photometry, our mass measurements place strong constraints on the
compositions of the two small planets. We find that, unlike most other
ultra-short-period planets, the inner planet, WASP-47 e, has a mass
(6.83 ± 0.66 {M}\oplus ) and a radius (1.810 ±
0.027 {R}\oplus ) that are inconsistent with an Earth-like
composition. Instead, WASP-47 e likely has a volatile-rich envelope
surrounding an Earth-like core and mantle. We also perform a dynamical
analysis to constrain the orbital inclination of WASP-47 c, the outer
Jovian planet. This planet likely orbits close to the plane of the inner
three planets, suggesting a quiet dynamical history for the system. Our
dynamical constraints also imply that WASP-47 c is much more likely to
transit than a geometric calculation would suggest. We calculate a
transit probability for WASP-47 c of about 10%, more than an order of
magnitude larger than the geometric transit probability of 0.6%.