Measurement of Exoplanetary Spin-Orbit Angles

Details Measurement of Exoplanetary Spin-Orbit Angles Measurement of Exoplanetary Spin-Orbit Angles

Feb 2009

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2009noao.prop..164w&link_type=abstract

NOAO Proposal ID #2009A-0164

Physics

Scientific paper

The Sun's spin axis and the planets' orbital axes are nearly parallel. Is this true of exoplanetary systems? We will answer this question by measuring the (sky-projected) angle between the spin and orbital axes for a large sample of exoplanetary systems. Our goals are (1) to make fundamental geometric measurements of exoplanetary systems, and (2) to test planet migration theories. Some migration theories predict occasionally large spin-orbit misalignments, and even retrograde orbits. We measure spin-orbit angles by observing the Rossiter effect: the anomalous Doppler shift during a planetary transit, due to the partial occultation of the rotating stellar surface. We request two night-equivalents (four half-nights) with Keck/HIRES to observe the Rossiter effect for the four transiting planets that offer the best prospects for precise measurements.

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