Kepler-11 is a Solar Twin : Revising the Masses and Radii of Benchmark Planets via Precise Stellar Characterization
(2017) In Astrophysical Journal 839(2).- Abstract
The six planets of the Kepler-11 system are the archetypal example of a population of surprisingly low-density transiting planets revealed by the Kepler mission. We have determined the fundamental parameters and chemical composition of the Kepler-11 host star to unprecedented precision using an extremely high-quality spectrum from Keck-HIRES (R ≃ 67,000, S/N per pixel at 600 nm). Contrary to previously published results, our spectroscopic constraints indicate that Kepler-11 is a young main-sequence solar twin. The revised stellar parameters and new analysis raise the densities of the Kepler-11 planets by between 20% and 95% per planet, making them more typical of the emerging class of "puffy" close-in exoplanets. We obtain photospheric... (More)
The six planets of the Kepler-11 system are the archetypal example of a population of surprisingly low-density transiting planets revealed by the Kepler mission. We have determined the fundamental parameters and chemical composition of the Kepler-11 host star to unprecedented precision using an extremely high-quality spectrum from Keck-HIRES (R ≃ 67,000, S/N per pixel at 600 nm). Contrary to previously published results, our spectroscopic constraints indicate that Kepler-11 is a young main-sequence solar twin. The revised stellar parameters and new analysis raise the densities of the Kepler-11 planets by between 20% and 95% per planet, making them more typical of the emerging class of "puffy" close-in exoplanets. We obtain photospheric abundances of 22 elements and find that Kepler-11 has an abundance pattern similar to that of the Sun with a slightly higher overall metallicity. We additionally analyze the Kepler light curves using a photodynamical model and discuss the tension between spectroscopic and transit/TTV-based estimates of stellar density.
(Less)
- author
- Bedell, Megan
; Bean, Jacob L.
; Meléndez, Jorge
; Mills, Sean M.
; Fabrycky, Daniel C.
; Freitas, Fabrício C.
; Ramírez, Ivan
; Asplund, Martin
; Liu, Fan
LU
and Yong, David
- organization
- publishing date
- 2017-04-20
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- planets and satellites: fundamental parameters, stars: abundances, stars: fundamental parameters, techniques: spectroscopic
- in
- Astrophysical Journal
- volume
- 839
- issue
- 2
- article number
- 94
- publisher
- American Astronomical Society
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85018957719
- wos:000399876200003
- ISSN
- 0004-637X
- DOI
- 10.3847/1538-4357/aa6a1d
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- a704a72a-9c9a-4a5b-aaf2-3ec12b5a831c
- date added to LUP
- 2017-06-01 09:18:59
- date last changed
- 2025-02-04 19:44:54
@article{a704a72a-9c9a-4a5b-aaf2-3ec12b5a831c, abstract = {{<p>The six planets of the Kepler-11 system are the archetypal example of a population of surprisingly low-density transiting planets revealed by the Kepler mission. We have determined the fundamental parameters and chemical composition of the Kepler-11 host star to unprecedented precision using an extremely high-quality spectrum from Keck-HIRES (R ≃ 67,000, S/N per pixel at 600 nm). Contrary to previously published results, our spectroscopic constraints indicate that Kepler-11 is a young main-sequence solar twin. The revised stellar parameters and new analysis raise the densities of the Kepler-11 planets by between 20% and 95% per planet, making them more typical of the emerging class of "puffy" close-in exoplanets. We obtain photospheric abundances of 22 elements and find that Kepler-11 has an abundance pattern similar to that of the Sun with a slightly higher overall metallicity. We additionally analyze the Kepler light curves using a photodynamical model and discuss the tension between spectroscopic and transit/TTV-based estimates of stellar density.</p>}}, author = {{Bedell, Megan and Bean, Jacob L. and Meléndez, Jorge and Mills, Sean M. and Fabrycky, Daniel C. and Freitas, Fabrício C. and Ramírez, Ivan and Asplund, Martin and Liu, Fan and Yong, David}}, issn = {{0004-637X}}, keywords = {{planets and satellites: fundamental parameters; stars: abundances; stars: fundamental parameters; techniques: spectroscopic}}, language = {{eng}}, month = {{04}}, number = {{2}}, publisher = {{American Astronomical Society}}, series = {{Astrophysical Journal}}, title = {{Kepler-11 is a Solar Twin : Revising the Masses and Radii of Benchmark Planets via Precise Stellar Characterization}}, url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/aa6a1d}}, doi = {{10.3847/1538-4357/aa6a1d}}, volume = {{839}}, year = {{2017}}, }