The Astrophysical Journal Letters (Jan 2024)
Obliquity Constraints for the Extremely Eccentric Sub-Saturn Kepler-1656 b
- Ryan A. Rubenzahl,
- Andrew W. Howard,
- Samuel Halverson,
- Cristobal Petrovich,
- Isabel Angelo,
- Guđmundur Stefánsson,
- Fei Dai,
- Aaron Householder,
- Benjamin Fulton,
- Steven R. Gibson,
- Arpita Roy,
- Abby P. Shaum,
- Howard Isaacson,
- Max Brodheim,
- William Deich,
- Grant M. Hill,
- Bradford Holden,
- Daniel Huber,
- Russ R. Laher,
- Kyle Lanclos,
- Joel N. Payne,
- Erik A. Petigura,
- Christian Schwab,
- Josh Walawender,
- Sharon X. Wang,
- Lauren M. Weiss,
- Joshua N. Winn,
- Jason T. Wright
Affiliations
- Ryan A. Rubenzahl
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, California Institute of Technology , Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
- Andrew W. Howard
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, California Institute of Technology , Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
- Samuel Halverson
- ORCiD
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology , 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA
- Cristobal Petrovich
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, Indiana University , 727 East 3rd Street, Bloomington, IN 47405-7105, USA; Millennium Institute for Astrophysics , Santiago, Chile
- Isabel Angelo
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of California Los Angeles , Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
- Guđmundur Stefánsson
- ORCiD
- Anton Pannekoek Institute for Astronomy, University of Amsterdam , Science Park 904, 1098 XH Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Fei Dai
- ORCiD
- Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawai’i , 2680 Woodlawn Drive, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA
- Aaron Householder
- ORCiD
- Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology , Cambridge, MA 02139, USA; Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology , Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
- Benjamin Fulton
- ORCiD
- NASA Exoplanet Science Institute/Caltech-IPAC , MC 314-6, 1200 E. California Boulevard, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
- Steven R. Gibson
- ORCiD
- Caltech Optical Observatories , Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
- Arpita Roy
- ORCiD
- Astrophysics & Space Institute , Schmidt Sciences, New York, NY 10011, USA
- Abby P. Shaum
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, California Institute of Technology , Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
- Howard Isaacson
- ORCiD
- 501 Campbell Hall, University of California at Berkeley , Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
- Max Brodheim
- ORCiD
- W. M. Keck Observatory , Waimea, HI 96743, USA
- William Deich
- ORCiD
- UC Observatories, University of California , Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA
- Grant M. Hill
- ORCiD
- W. M. Keck Observatory , Waimea, HI 96743, USA
- Bradford Holden
- ORCiD
- UC Observatories, University of California , Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA
- Daniel Huber
- ORCiD
- Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawai’i , 2680 Woodlawn Drive, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA; Sydney Institute for Astronomy (SIfA), School of Physics, University of Sydney , NSW 2006, Australia
- Russ R. Laher
- ORCiD
- NASA Exoplanet Science Institute/Caltech-IPAC , MC 314-6, 1200 E. California Boulevard, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
- Kyle Lanclos
- ORCiD
- W. M. Keck Observatory , Waimea, HI 96743, USA
- Joel N. Payne
- ORCiD
- W. M. Keck Observatory , Waimea, HI 96743, USA
- Erik A. Petigura
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of California Los Angeles , Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
- Christian Schwab
- ORCiD
- School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, Macquarie University , Balaclava Road, North Ryde, NSW 2109, Australia
- Josh Walawender
- ORCiD
- W. M. Keck Observatory , Waimea, HI 96743, USA
- Sharon X. Wang
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, Tsinghua University , Beijing 100084, People’s Republic of China
- Lauren M. Weiss
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Notre Dame , Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA
- Joshua N. Winn
- ORCiD
- Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton University , Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
- Jason T. Wright
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics , 525 Davey Laboratory, Penn State, University Park, PA 16802, USA; Center for Exoplanets and Habitable Worlds , 525 Davey Laboratory, Penn State, University Park, PA 16802, USA; Penn State Extraterrestrial Intelligence Center , 525 Davey Laboratory, Penn State, University Park, PA 16802, USA
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ad6985
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 971,
no. 2
p. L40
Abstract
The orbits of close-in exoplanets provide clues to their formation and evolutionary history. Many close-in exoplanets likely formed far out in their protoplanetary disks and migrated to their current orbits, perhaps via high-eccentricity migration (HEM), a process that can also excite obliquities. A handful of known exoplanets are perhaps caught in the act of HEM, as they are observed on highly eccentric orbits with tidal circularization timescales shorter than their ages. One such exoplanet is Kepler-1656 b, which is also the only known nongiant exoplanet ( 0.8 to have its obliquity constrained; expanding this population will help establish the degree to which orbital misalignment accompanies migration. Future work that constrains the mutual inclinations of outer perturbers will be key for distinguishing plausible mechanisms.
Keywords
