Person:

Holman, Matthew

We report new spectroscopic and photometric observations of the parent stars of the recently discovered transiting planets TrES-3 and TrES-4. A detailed abundance analysis based on high-resolution spectra yields [Fe/H] = –0.19 ± 0.08, T eff = 5650 ± 75 K, and log g = 4.4 ± 0.1 for TrES-3, and [Fe/H] = +0.14 ± 0.09, T eff = 6200 ± 75 K, and log g = 4.0 ± 0.1 for TrES-4. The accuracy of the effective temperatures is supported by a number of independent consistency checks. The spectroscopic orbital solution for TrES-3 is improved with our new radial velocity measurements of that system, as are the light-curve parameters for both systems based on newly acquired photometry for TrES-3 and a reanalysis of existing photometry for TrES-4. We have redetermined the stellar parameters taking advantage of the strong constraint provided by the light curves in the form of the normalized separation a/R sstarf (related to the stellar density) in conjunction with our new temperatures and metallicities. The masses and radii we derive are M sstarf = 0.928+0.028 –0.048 M sun, R sstarf = 0.829+0.015 –0.022 R sun, and M sstarf = 1.404+0.066 –0.134 M sun, R sstarf = 1.846+0.096 –0.087 R sun for TrES-3 and TrES-4, respectively. With these revised stellar parameters, we obtain improved values for the planetary masses and radii. We find Mp = 1.910+0.075 –0.080 M Jup, Rp = 1.336+0.031 –0.036 R Jup for TrES-3, and Mp = 0.925 ± 0.082 M Jup, Rp = 1.783+0.093 –0.086 R Jup for TrES-4. We confirm TrES-4 as the planet with the largest radius among the currently known transiting hot Jupiters.

A decade ago, the detection of the first transiting extrasolar planet provided a direct constraint on its composition and opened the door to spectroscopic investigations of extrasolar planetary atmospheres. Because such characterization studies are feasible only for transiting systems that are both nearby and for which the planet-to-star radius ratio is relatively large, nearby small stars have been surveyed intensively. Doppler studies and microlensing have uncovered a population of planets with minimum masses of 1.9–10 times the Earth’s mass (Mcircle plus), called super-Earths. The first constraint on the bulk composition of this novel class of planets was afforded by CoRoT-7b , but the distance and size of its star preclude atmospheric studies in the foreseeable future. Here we report observations of the transiting planet GJ 1214b, which has a mass of 6.55Mcircle plus and a radius 2.68 times Earth’s radius (Rcircle plus), indicating that it is intermediate in stature between Earth and the ice giants of the Solar System. We find that the planetary mass and radius are consistent with a composition of primarily water enshrouded by a hydrogen–helium envelope that is only 0.05% of the mass of the planet. The atmosphere is probably escaping hydrodynamically, indicating that it has undergone significant evolution during its history. The star is small and only 13 parsecs away, so the planetary atmosphere is amenable to study with current observatories.