Journal
ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL LETTERS
Volume 764, Issue 2, Pages -Publisher
IOP PUBLISHING LTD
DOI: 10.1088/2041-8205/764/2/L22
Keywords
eclipses; planets and satellites: fundamental parameters; planets and satellites: individual (HAT-P-7b); stars: atmospheres; stars: individual (HAT-P-7)
Categories
Funding
- Goddard Center for Astrobiology
- NASA Astrobiology Institute
- NASA Science Mission directorate
- NASA [NAS5-26555]
- NASA Office of Space Science [NNX09AF08G]
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We present observations spanning 355 orbital phases of HAT-P-7 observed by Kepler from 2009 May to 2011 March (Q1-9). We find a shallower secondary eclipse depth than initially announced, consistent with a low optical albedo and detection of nearly exclusively thermal emission, without a reflected light component. We find an approximately 10 ppm perturbation to the average transit light curve near phase -0.02 that we attribute to a temperature decrease on the surface of the star, phased to the orbit of the planet. This cooler spot is consistent with planet-induced gravity darkening, slightly lagging the sub-planet position due to the finite response time of the stellar atmosphere. The brightness temperature of HAT-P-7b in the Kepler bandpass is T-B = 2733 +/- 21 K and the amplitude of the deviation in stellar surface temperature due to gravity darkening is approximately -0.18 K. The detection of the spot is not statistically unequivocal due its small amplitude, though additional Kepler observations should be able to verify the astrophysical nature of the anomaly.
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