KELT-7b: A hot Jupiter transiting a bright V=8.54 rapidly rotating F-star

Abstract

We report the discovery of KELT-7b, a transiting hot Jupiter with a mass of $1.28\pm 0.18$ MJ, radius of $1.53_{-0.047}^{+0.046}$ RJ, and an orbital period of $2.7347749\pm 0.0000039$ days. The bright host star (HD33643; KELT-7) is an F-star with $V=8.54$, Teff $=6789_{-49}^{+50}$ K, [Fe/H] $=0.139_{-0.081}^{+0.075}$, and $\log g=4.149\pm 0.019$. It has a mass of $1.535_{-0.054}^{+0.066}$ Msun, a radius of $1.732_{-0.045}^{+0.043}$ Rsun, and is the fifth most massive, fifth hottest, and the ninth brightest star known to host a transiting planet. It is also the brightest star around which KELT has discovered a transiting planet. Thus, KELT-7b is an ideal target for detailed characterization given its relatively low surface gravity, high equilibrium temperature, and bright host star. The rapid rotation of the star ($73\pm 0.5$ km/s) results in a Rossiter-McLaughlin effect with an unusually large amplitude of several hundred m/s. We find that the orbit normal of the planet is likely to be well-aligned with the stellar spin axis, with a projected spin-orbit alignment of $\hat{I}»=9.7\pm 5.2$ degrees. This is currently the second most rapidly rotating star to have a reflex signal (and thus mass determination) due to a planetary companion measured.

Accepted to The Astronomical Journal