Mutual Orbital Inclinations Between Cold Jupiters and Inner Super-Earths

Abstract

Previous analyses of Doppler and Kepler data have found that Sun-like stars hosting "cold Jupiters" (giant planets with $a\gtrsim 1\mathrm{AU}$) almost always host "inner super-Earths" (1-$4R_{\oplus }$, $a\lesssim 1\mathrm{AU}$). Here, we attempt to determine the degree of alignment between the orbital planes of the cold Jupiters and the inner super-Earths. The key observational input is the fraction of Kepler stars with transiting super-Earths that also have transiting cold Jupiters. This fraction depends on both the probability for cold Jupiters to occur in such systems, and on the mutual orbital inclinations. Since the probability of occurrence has already been measured in Doppler surveys, we can use the data to constrain the dispersion of the mutual inclination distribution. We find $\sigma =11.8_{-5.5}^{+12.7}\mathrm{deg}$ (68% confidence) and $\sigma >3.5\mathrm{deg}$ (95% confidence), where $\sigma$ is the scale parameter of the Rayleigh distribution. This suggests that planetary orbits in systems with cold Jupiters tend to be coplanar - although not quite as coplanar as those in the Solar System, which have a mean inclination from the invariable plane of $1.8\mathrm{deg}$. We also find evidence that cold Jupiters have lower mutual inclinations relative to inner systems with higher transit multiplicity. This suggests a link between the dynamical excitation in the inner and outer systems. For example, perturbations from misaligned cold Jupiters may dynamically heat or destabilize systems of inner super-Earths.

accepted for publication in The Astronomical Journal, 22 pages, 4 figures

References in corpus (23)

• Dynamical Outcomes of Planet-Planet Scattering
• Hints for a Turnover at the Snow Line in the Giant Planet Occurrence Rate
• Exoplanet Orbital Eccentricities Derived From LAMOST-Kepler Analysis
• Alignment of the stellar spin with the orbits of a three-planet system
• Four newborn planets transiting the young solar analog V1298 Tau
• Obliquities of Kepler Stars: Comparison of Single- and Multiple-Transit Systems
• Gas giant planets as dynamical barriers to inward-migrating super-Earths
• The population of long-period transiting exoplanets
• LAMOST telescope reveals that Neptunian cousins of hot Jupiters are mostly single offspring of stars that are rich in heavy elements
• A Class of Warm Jupiters with Mutually Inclined, Apsidally Misaligned, Close Friends
• Spin-orbit Misalignment as a Driver of the Kepler Dichotomy
• CKS VIII: Eccentricities of Kepler Planets and Tentative Evidence of a High Metallicity Preference for Small Eccentric Planets
• Tests of In-Situ Formation Scenarios for Compact Multiplanet Systems
• Perturbation of Compact Planetary Systems by Distant Giant Planets
• Long-Period Giant Companions to Three Compact, Multiplanet Systems
• Moderately Eccentric Warm Jupiters from Secular Interactions with Exterior Companions
• Revisiting the Long-Period Transiting Planets from Kepler
• Eccentric Companions to Kepler-448b and Kepler-693b: Clues to the Formation of Warm Jupiters
• Outer-planet scattering can gently tilt an inner planetary system
• The misaligned orbit of the Earth-sized planet Kepler-408b
• Transiting Planets near the Snow Line from Kepler. I. Catalog
• K2-60b and epic 216468514b. A sub-jovian and a jovian planet from the k2 mission
• Visual Analysis and Demographics of Kepler Transit Timing Variations

Cited by in corpus (29)

• Exoplanet Statistics and Theoretical Implications
• Evidence for a high mutual inclination between the cold Jupiter and transiting super Earth orbiting $\pi$ Men
• A Tale of Planet Formation: From Dust to Planets
• The TESS-Keck Survey IV: A Retrograde, Polar Orbit for the Ultra-Low-Density, Hot Super-Neptune WASP-107b
• A significant mutual inclination between the planets within the $\pi$ Mensae system
• The Aligned Orbit of WASP-148b, the Only Known Hot Jupiter with a Nearby Warm Jupiter Companion, from NEID and HIRES
• TKS III: A Stellar Obliquity Measurement of TOI-1726 c
• The Origin of Systems of Tightly Packed Inner Planets with Misaligned, Ultra-Short-Period Companions
• Long Period Jovian Tilts the Orbits of Two sub-Neptunes Relative to Stellar Spin Axis in Kepler-129
• Kepler-167e as a Probe of the Formation Histories of Cold Giants with Inner Super-Earths
• Stellar Oblateness versus Distant Giants in Exciting Kepler Planet Mutual Inclinations
• TOI-2257 b: A highly eccentric long-period sub-Neptune transiting a nearby M dwarf
• Edge-of-the-Multis: Evidence for a Transition in the Outer Architectures of Compact Multi-Planet Systems
• The HD 137496 system: A dense, hot super-Mercury and a cold Jupiter
• CKS IX: Revisiting the Minimum-Mass Extrasolar Nebula with Precise Stellar Parameters
• Non-Trivial Oblique Spin Equilibria of Super-Earths in Multi-planetary Systems
• Giant Outer Transiting Exoplanet Mass (GOT 'EM) Survey. I. Confirmation of an Eccentric, Cool Jupiter With an Interior Earth-sized Planet Orbiting Kepler-1514
• Prospects from TESS and Gaia to constrain the flatness of planetary systems
• Physical Properties and Impact Parameter Variations of Kepler Planets from Analytic Light Curve Modeling
• The distribution of mutual inclinations arising from the stellar quadrupole moment
• On the origin of the eccentricity dichotomy displayed by compact super-Earths: dynamical heating by cold giants
• An Accurate 3D Analytic Model for Exoplanetary Photometry, Radial Velocity, and Astrometry
• Inclination Dynamics of Resonant Planets under the Influence of an Inclined External Companion
• Revisiting the Architecture of the KOI-89 System
• The Exoplanet Edge: Planets Don't Induce Observable TTVs with a Dominant TTV Period Faster than Half their Orbital Period
• Dynamical Architectures of S-type Transiting Planets in Binaries II: A Dichotomy in Orbital Alignment of Small Planets in Close Binary Systems
• Effects of Outer Giant Planets on In Situ Formation of Inner Super-Earths
• Evidence for a Non-Dichotomous Solution to the Kepler Dichotomy: Mutual Inclinations of Kepler Planetary Systems from Transit Duration Variations
• Accounting for Transit Timing Detectability: Biases in Planetary Radius and Orbital Period