Issue |
A&A
Volume 599, March 2017
|
|
---|---|---|
Article Number | L7 | |
Number of page(s) | 4 | |
Section | Letters | |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201630073 | |
Published online | 07 March 2017 |
Detection of co-orbital planets by combining transit and radial-velocity measurements
1 Physikalisches Institut & Center for Space and Habitability, Universitaet Bern, 3012 Bern, Switzerland
e-mail: adrien.leleu@space.unibe.ch
2 IMCCE, Observatoire de Paris − PSL Research University, UPMC Univ. Paris 06, Univ. Lille 1, CNRS, 77 Avenue Denfert-Rochereau, 75014 Paris, France
3 CIDMA, Departamento de Física, Universidade de Aveiro, Campus de Santiago, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal
4 European Southern Observatory, Alonso de Cordova 3107, Vitacura Casilla 19001, Santiago 19, Chile
Received: 16 November 2016
Accepted: 30 January 2017
Co-orbital planets have not yet been discovered, although they constitute a frequent by-product of planetary formation and evolution models. This lack may be due to observational biases, since the main detection methods are unable to spot co-orbital companions when they are small or near the Lagrangian equilibrium points. However, for a system with one known transiting planet (with mass m1), we can detect a co-orbital companion (with mass m2) by combining the time of mid-transit with the radial-velocity data of the star. Here, we propose a simple method that allows the detection of co-orbital companions, valid for eccentric orbits, that relies on a single parameter α, which is proportional to the mass ratio m2/m1. Therefore, when α is statistically different from zero, we have a strong candidate to harbour a co-orbital companion. We also discuss the relevance of false positives generated by different planetary configurations.
Key words: planets and satellites: detection / celestial mechanics / planetary systems / techniques: radial velocities / techniques: photometric
© ESO, 2017
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