Transit Timing Observations from Kepler: II. Confirmation of Two Multiplanet Systems via a Non-parametric Correlation Analysis

Abstract

We present a new method for confirming transiting planets based on the combination of transit timingn variations (TTVs) and dynamical stability. Correlated TTVs provide evidence that the pair of bodies are in the same physical system. Orbital stability provides upper limits for the masses of the transiting companions that are in the planetary regime. This paper describes a non-parametric technique for quantifying the statistical significance of TTVs based on the correlation of two TTV data sets. We apply this method to an analysis of the transit timing variations of two stars with multiple transiting planet candidates identified by Kepler. We confirm four transiting planets in two multiple planet systems based on their TTVs and the constraints imposed by dynamical stability. An additional three candidates in these same systems are not confirmed as planets, but are likely to be validated as real planets once further observations and analyses are possible. If all were confirmed, these systems would be near 4:6:9 and 2:4:6:9 period commensurabilities. Our results demonstrate that TTVs provide a powerful tool for confirming transiting planets, including low-mass planets and planets around faint stars for which Doppler follow-up is not practical with existing facilities. Continued Kepler observations will dramatically improve the constraints on the planet masses and orbits and provide sensitivity for detecting additional non-transiting planets. If Kepler observations were extended to eight years, then a similar analysis could likely confirm systems with multiple closely spaced, small transiting planets in or near the habitable zone of solar-type stars.

23 pages, 8 figures, 4 tables, 1 electronic table, accepted to ApJ

References in corpus (8)

• KEPLER's First Rocky Planet: Kepler-10b
• Almost All of Kepler's Multiple Planet Candidates are Planets
• Modeling Kepler transit light curves as false positives: Rejection of blend scenarios for Kepler-9, and validation of Kepler-9d, a super-Earth-size planet in a multiple system
• Transit Timing Observations from Kepler: IV. Confirmation of 4 Multiple Planet Systems by Simple Physical Models
• Three-dimensional simulations of multiple protoplanets embedded in a protostellar disc
• Transit Timing Observations from Kepler: III. Confirmation of 4 Multiple Planet Systems by a Fourier-Domain Study of Anti-correlated Transit Timing Variations
• Using Transit Timing Observations to Search for Trojans of Transiting Extrasolar Planets
• Five Kepler target stars that show multiple transiting exoplanet candidates

Cited by in corpus (65)

• The PLATO 2.0 Mission
• Architecture of Kepler's Multi-transiting Systems: II. New investigations with twice as many candidates
• False positive probabilties for all Kepler Objects of Interest: 1284 newly validated planets and 428 likely false positives
• Extracting Planet Mass and Eccentricity From TTV data
• Fundamental Properties of Kepler Planet-Candidate Host Stars using Asteroseismology
• Eccentricity from transit photometry: small planets in Kepler multi-planet systems have low eccentricities
• About 30% of Sun-like Stars Have Kepler-like Planetary Systems: A Study of their Intrinsic Architecture
• Kepler constraints on planets near hot Jupiters
• An Efficient Automated Validation Procedure for Exoplanet Transit Candidates
• Exploring Exoplanet Populations with NASA's Kepler Mission
• Transit Timing Observations from Kepler: IV. Confirmation of 4 Multiple Planet Systems by Simple Physical Models
• Planetary Candidates Observed by Kepler. VII. The First Fully Uniform Catalog Based on The Entire 48 Month Dataset (Q1-Q17 DR24)
• Planetary Candidates Observed by Kepler IV: Planet Sample From Q1-Q8 (22 Months)
• PASTIS: Bayesian extrasolar planet validation. I. General framework, models, and performance
• Transit Timing Observations from Kepler. IX. Catalog of the Full Long-Cadence Data Set
• Transit Timing Observations from Kepler: VII. Confirmation of 27 planets in 13 multiplanet systems via Transit Timing Variations and orbital stability
• Planetary Candidates Observed by Kepler V: Planet Sample from Q1-Q12 (36 Months)
• Transit Timing Observations from Kepler. VIII Catalog of Transit Timing Measurements of the First Twelve Quarters
• The destruction of inner planetary systems during high-eccentricity migration of gas giants
• The Planetary System to KIC 11442793: A Compact Analogue to the Solar System
• Transit Timing Variation of Near-Resonance Planetary Pairs. II. Confirmation of 30 planets in 15 Multiple Planet Systems
• Photometrically derived masses and radii of the planet and star in the TrES-2 system
• A Metallicity Recipe for Rocky Planets
• Transit Timing Observations from Kepler: VI. Transit Timing Variation Candidates in the First Seventeen Months from Polynomial Models
• Transit Timing Variation of Near-Resonance Planetary Pairs: Confirmation of Twelve Multiple Planet Systems
• Red Giants in Eclipsing Binary and Multiple-Star Systems: Modeling and Asteroseismic Analysis of 70 Candidates from Kepler Data
• Transit timing to first order in eccentricity
• A Machine Learns to Predict the Stability of Tightly Packed Planetary Systems
• Transit Timing Observations from Kepler: VI. Potentially interesting candidate systems from Fourier-based statistical tests
• An Independent Planet Search In The Kepler Dataset. II. An extremely low-density super-Earth mass planet around Kepler-87
• Architectures of Planetary Systems and Implications for their Formation
• TraMoS V. Updated ephemeris and multi-epoch monitoring of the hot Jupiters WASP-18Ab, WASP-19b, and WASP-77Ab
• The Quasiperiodic Automated Transit Search Algorithm
• Secular chaos and its application to Mercury, hot Jupiters, and the organization of planetary systems
• Multiple planets or exomoons in Kepler hot Jupiter systems with transit timing variations?
• On the (im)possibility of testing new physics in exoplanets using transit timing variations: deviation from inverse-square law of gravity
• A dynamical analysis of the Kepler-11 planetary system
• The Orbit and Mass of the Third Planet in the Kepler-56 System
• Adaptive Optics Images III: 87 Kepler Objects of Interest
• Transit timing variation and transmission spectroscopy analyses of the hot Neptune GJ3470b
• Measuring the Galactic Distribution of Transiting Planets with WFIRST
• Time variation of Kepler transits induced by stellar spots - a way to distinguish between prograde and retrograde motion. II. Application to KOIs
• Characterization of potentially habitable planets: Retrieval of atmospheric and planetary properties from emission spectra
• Detectability of Earth-like Planets in Circumstellar Habitable Zones of Binary Star Systems with Sun-like Components
• Discovery and Validation of a High-Density sub-Neptune from the K2 Mission
• Eight Planets in Four Multi-planet Systems via Transit Timing Variations in 1350 Days
• Frequency of Close Companions among Kepler Planets - a TTV study
• Observations of the WASP-2 System by the APOSTLE Program
• Stability Boundaries for Resonant Migrating Planet Pairs
• Model-Independent Stellar and Planetary Masses from Multi-Transiting Exoplanetary Systems
• Can close-in giant exoplanets preserve detectable moons?
• Kepler Object of Interest Network I. First results combining ground and space-based observations of Kepler systems with transit timing variations
• TRAPPIST-1: Dynamical analysis of the transit-timing variations and origin of the resonant chain
• Kepler's Missing Planets
• Stability Constrained Characterization of Multiplanet Systems
• Homogeneous Transit Timing Analyses of Ten Exoplanet Systems
• Transit-Timing Variation Signature of Planet Migration: The Case of K2-24
• Near Mean Motion Resonance of Terrestrial Planet Pair Induced by Giant Planet: Application to Kepler-68 System
• A Quantitative Comparison of Exoplanet Catalogs
• exoMMR: a New Python Package to Confirm and Characterize Mean Motion Resonances
• Detection of Laplace-resonant three-planet systems from transit timing variations
• Detecting planet pairs in mean motion resonances via astrometry method
• Search for a circum-planetary material and orbital period variations of short-period Kepler exoplanet candidates
• Constraining protoplanetary disks with exoplanetary dynamics: Kepler-419 as an example
• The discovery and legacy of Kepler's multi-transiting planetary systems