Search for rings and satellites around the exoplanet CoRoT-9b using Spitzer photometry

Abstract

Using Spitzer photometry at 4.5 microns, we search for rings and satellites around the long period transiting planet CoRoT-9b. We observed two transits in 2010 and 2011. From their non-detection, we derive upper limits on the plausible physical characteristics of these objects in the planet environment. We show that a satellite larger than about 2.5 Earth radii is excluded at 3-$\sigma$ for a wide range of elongations at the two epochs of observations. Combining the two observations, we conclude that rings are excluded for a wide variety of sizes and inclination. We find that for a ring extending up to the Roche limit, its inclination angle from the edge-on configuration as seen from the Earth must be lower than 13° in the case of silicate composition and lower than 3° in the case of material with water ice density.

Accepted for publication in A&A

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• Mean Motion Resonances With Nearby Moons: An Unlikely Origin For The Gaps Observed In The Ring Around The Exoplanet J1407b
• CoRoT: The First Space-Based Transit Survey to Explore the Close-in Planet Population
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