Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics – Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
Scientific paper
2010-04-26
Astrophysical Journal 715 (2010) 271-276.
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
20 pages, 5 figures, 3 tables, to appear in the May 20 issue of ApJ.
Scientific paper
Precision radial velocities from Keck/HIRES reveal a Saturn-mass planet orbiting the nearby M4V star HIP 57050. The planet has a minimum mass of 0.3 Jupiter-mass, an orbital period of 41.4 days, and an orbital eccentricity of 0.31. V-band photometry reveals a clear stellar rotation signature of the host star with a period of 98 days, well separated from the period of the radial velocity variations and reinforcing a Keplerian origin for the observed velocity variations. The orbital period of this planet corresponds to an orbit in the habitable zone of HIP 57050, with an expected planetary temperature of approximately 230 K. The star has a metallicity of [Fe/H] = 0.32+/-0.06 dex, of order twice solar and among the highest metallicity stars in the immediate solar neighborhood. This newly discovered planet provides further support that the well-known planet-metallicity correlation for F, G, and K stars also extends down into the M-dwarf regime. The a priori geometric probability for transits of this planet is only about 1%. However, the expected eclipse depth is ~7%, considerably larger than that yet observed for any transiting planet. Though long on the odds, such a transit is worth pursuing as it would allow for high quality studies of the atmosphere via transmission spectroscopy with HST. At the expected planetary effective temperature, the atmosphere may contain water clouds.
Butler Paul R.
Haghighipour Nader
Henry Gregory W.
Laughlin Greg
Meschiari Stefano
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