Improved parameters for extrasolar transiting planets

Abstract

We present refined values for the physical parameters of transiting exoplanets, based on a self-consistent and uniform analysis of transit light curves and the observable properties of the host stars. Previously it has been difficult to interpret the ensemble properties of transiting exoplanets, because of the widely different methodologies that have been applied in individual cases. Furthermore, previous studies often ignored an important constraint on the mean stellar density that can be derived directly from the light curve. The main contributions of this work are 1) a critical compilation and error assessment of all reported values for the effective temperature and metallicity of the host stars; 2) the application of a consistent methodology and treatment of errors in modeling the transit light curves; and 3) more accurate estimates of the stellar mass and radius based on stellar evolution models, incorporating the photometric constraint on the stellar density. We use our results to revisit some previously proposed patterns and correlations within the ensemble. We confirm the mass-period correlation, and we find evidence for a new pattern within the scatter about this correlation: planets around metal-poor stars are more massive than those around metal-rich stars at a given orbital period. Likewise, we confirm the proposed dichotomy of planets according to their Safronov number, and we find evidence that the systems with small Safronov numbers are more metal-rich on average. Finally, we confirm the trend that led to the suggestion that higher-metallicity stars harbor planets with a greater heavy-element content.

To appear in The Astrophysical Journal. 23 pages in emulateapj format, including figures and tables. Figures 7, 8, and 9 are low resolution; higher resolution versions will be available from the journal when published. Acknowledgement added, and minor changes made to TrES-3 and TrES-4 in the Appendix

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Cited by in corpus (28)

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• Strong Water Absorption in the Dayside Emission Spectrum of the Planet HD 189733b
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• Atmospheric Circulation of Hot Jupiters: A Shallow Three-Dimensional Model
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• Thermal Emission of Exoplanet XO-1b
• A Smaller Radius for the Transiting Exoplanet WASP-10b
• Characterizing the Orbital Eccentricities of Transiting Extrasolar Planets with Photometric Observations
• WASP-14b: 7.3 Mj transiting planet in an eccentric orbit
• The Transit Light Curve Project. XI. Submillimagnitude Photometry of Two Transits of the Bloated Planet WASP-4b
• Constraining Orbital Parameters Through Planetary Transit Monitoring
• Transiting planets - lightcurve analysis for eccentric orbits
• Ground-based secondary eclipse detection of the very-hot Jupiter OGLE-TR-56b
• Coupled Evolution with Tides of the Radius and Orbit of Transiting Giant Planets: General Results
• Measurement of the Spin-Orbit Angle of Exoplanet HAT-P-1b
• Limits to the planet candidate GJ 436c
• A Precise Estimate of the Radius of the Exoplanet HD 149026b from Spitzer Photometry
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• Theoretical Radii of Extrasolar Giant Planets: the Cases of TrES-4, XO-3b, and HAT-P-1b
• Mass and radius determinations for five transiting M-dwarf stars
• Radiative Thrusters on Close-in Extrasolar Planets
• Measuring accurate transit parameters
• Toward a homogeneous set of transiting planet parameters
• What to Expect from Transiting Multiplanet Systems