EPJ Web of Conferences (Jan 2015)

What asteroseismology can do for exoplanets

  • Van Eylen Vincent,
  • Lund Mikkel N.,
  • Silva Aguirre Victor,
  • Arentoft Torben,
  • Kjeldsen Hans,
  • Albrecht Simon,
  • Chaplin William J.,
  • Isaacson Howard,
  • Pedersen May G.,
  • Jessen-Hansen Jens,
  • Tingley Brandon,
  • Christensen-Dalsgaard Jørgen,
  • Aerts Conny,
  • Campante Tiago L.,
  • Bryson Steve T.

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1051/epjconf/201510102005
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 101
p. 02005

Abstract

Read online

We describe three useful applications of asteroseismology in the context of exoplanet science: (1) the detailed characterisation of exoplanet host stars; (2) the measurement of stellar inclinations; and (3) the determination of orbital eccentricity from transit duration making use of asteroseismic stellar densities. We do so using the example system Kepler-410 [1]. This is one of the brightest (V = 9.4) Kepler exoplanet host stars, containing a small (2.8 R⊕) transiting planet in a long orbit (17.8 days), and one or more additional non-transiting planets as indicated by transit timing variations. The validation of Kepler-410 (KOI-42) was complicated due to the presence of a companion star, and the planetary nature of the system was confirmed after analyzing a Spitzer transit observation as well as ground-based follow-up observations.