Modeling Kepler transit light curves as false positives: Rejection of blend scenarios for Kepler-9, and validation of Kepler-9d, a super-Earth-size planet in a multiple system

Details Modeling Kepler transit light curves as false positives: Rejection of blend scenarios for Kepler-9, and validation of Kepler-9d, a super-Earth-size planet in a multiple system Modeling Kepler transit light curves as false positives: Rejection of blend scenarios for Kepler-9, and validation of Kepler-9d, a super-Earth-size planet in a multiple system

2010-08-25

arxiv.org/abs/1008.4393v3

ApJ, 727, 24 (2011)

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics

20 pages in emulateapj format, including 8 tables and 16 figures. To appear in ApJ, 1 January 2010. Accepted version

Scientific paper

10.1088/0004-637X/727/1/24

Light curves from the Kepler Mission contain valuable information on the nature of the phenomena producing the transit-like signals. To assist in exploring the possibility that they are due to an astrophysical false positive, we describe a procedure (BLENDER) to model the photometry in terms of a "blend" rather than a planet orbiting a star. A blend may consist of a background or foreground eclipsing binary (or star-planet pair) whose eclipses are attenuated by the light of the candidate and possibly other stars within the photometric aperture. We apply BLENDER to the case of Kepler-9, a target harboring two previously confirmed Saturn-size planets (Kepler-9b and Kepler-9c) showing transit timing variations, and an additional shallower signal with a 1.59-day period suggesting the presence of a super-Earth-size planet. Using BLENDER together with constraints from other follow-up observations we are able to rule out all blends for the two deeper signals, and provide independent validation of their planetary nature. For the shallower signal we rule out a large fraction of the false positives that might mimic the transits. The false alarm rate for remaining blends depends in part (and inversely) on the unknown frequency of small-size planets. Based on several realistic estimates of this frequency we conclude with very high confidence that this small signal is due to a super-Earth-size planet (Kepler-9d) in a multiple system, rather than a false positive. The radius is determined to be 1.64 (+0.19/-0.14) R(Earth), and current spectroscopic observations are as yet insufficient to establish its mass.

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