Kepler-539: A young extrasolar system with two giant planets on wide orbits and in gravitational interaction^⋆

¹ Max-Planck Institute for Astronomy, Königstuhl 17, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany
e-mail: mancini@mpia.de
² INAF–Osservatorio Astrofisico di Torino, via Osservatorio 20, 10025 Pino Torinese, Italy
³ Depto. de Astrofísica, Centro de Astrobiologìa (CSIC-INTA), ESAC campus, 28691 Villanueva de la Cañada, Spain
⁴ European Southern Observatory, Alonso de Cordova 3107, Vitacura, Casilla 19001, Santiago de Chile, Chile
⁵ Astrophysics Group, Keele University, Keele ST5 5BG, UK
⁶ Dip. di Fisica e Astronomia “Galileo Galilei”, Università di Padova, Vicolo dell’Osservatorio 2, 35122 Padova, Italy
⁷ Dip. di Fisica, Università di Torino, via P. Giuria 1, 10125 Torino, Italy
⁸ Landessternwarte Königstuhl, Zentrum für Astronomie der Universität Heidelberg, Königstuhl 12, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany
⁹ Instituto de Astrofísica, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Av. Vicuña Mackenna 4860, 7820436 Macul, Santiago, Chile
¹⁰ Millennium Institute of Astrophysics, Av. Vicuña Mackenna 4860, 7820436 Macul, Santiago, Chile

Received: 19 April 2015
Accepted: 19 April 2016

Abstract

We confirm the planetary nature of Kepler-539 b (aka Kepler object of interest K00372.01), a giant transiting exoplanet orbiting a solar-analogue G2 V star. The mass of Kepler-539 b was accurately derived thanks to a series of precise radial velocity measurements obtained with the CAFE spectrograph mounted on the CAHA 2.2-m telescope. A simultaneous fit of the radial-velocity data and Kepler photometry revealed that Kepler-539 b is a dense Jupiter-like planet with a mass of M_p = 0.97 ± 0.29 M_Jup and a radius of R_p = 0.747 ± 0.018 R_Jup, making a complete circular revolution around its parent star in 125.6 days. The semi-major axis of the orbit is roughly 0.5 au, implying that the planet is at ≈0.45 au from the habitable zone. By analysing the mid-transit times of the 12 transit events of Kepler-539 b recorded by the Kepler spacecraft, we found a clear modulated transit time variation (TTV), which is attributable to the presence of a planet c in a wider orbit. The few timings available do not allow us to precisely estimate the properties of Kepler-539 c and our analysis suggests that it has a mass between 1.2 and 3.6 M_Jup, revolving on a very eccentric orbit (0.4 <e ≤ 0.6) with a period larger than 1000 days. The high eccentricity of planet c is the probable cause of the TTV modulation of planet b. The analysis of the CAFE spectra revealed a relatively high photospheric lithium content, A(Li) = 2.48 ± 0.12 dex, which, together with both a gyrochronological and isochronal analysis, suggests that the parent star is relatively young.