Journal
ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL
Volume 730, Issue 2, Pages -Publisher
IOP PUBLISHING LTD
DOI: 10.1088/0004-637X/730/2/82
Keywords
planetary systems; planets and satellites: individual (GJ 1214b, GJ 1214); techniques: photometric
Categories
Funding
- NASA [NNX09AB33G, NAS 5-26555, HF-51267.01-A]
- Space Telescope Science Institute
- MIT
- Division Of Astronomical Sciences
- Direct For Mathematical & Physical Scien [1004488] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
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We present optical photometry of 16 transits of the super-Earth GJ 1214b, allowing us to refine the system parameters and search for additional planets via transit timing. Starspot-crossing events are detected in two light curves, and the star is found to be variable by a few percent. Hence, in our analysis, special attention is given to systematic errors that result from starspots. The planet-to-star radius ratio is 0.11610 +/- 0.00048, subject to a possible upward bias by a few percent due to the unknown spot coverage. Even assuming this bias to be negligible, the mean density of the planet can be either 3.03 +/- 0.50 g cm(-3) or 1.89 +/- 0.33 g cm(-3), depending on whether the stellar radius is estimated from evolutionary models, or from an empirical mass-luminosity relation combined with the light curve parameters. One possible resolution is that the orbit is eccentric (e approximate to 0.14), which would favor the higher density, and hence a much thinner atmosphere for the planet. The transit times were found to be periodic within about 15 s, ruling out the existence of any other super-Earths with periods within a factor of two of the known planet.
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