The spin–orbit alignment of the transiting exoplanet WASP-3b from Rossiter–McLaughlin observations†

  1. E. K. Simpson1,*,
  2. D. Pollacco1,
  3. G. Hébrard2,
  4. N. P. Gibson3,
  5. S. C. C. Barros1,
  6. I. Boisse2,
  7. F. Bouchy2,4,
  8. A. Collier Cameron5,
  9. G. R. M. Miller5,
  10. C. A. Watson1,
  11. F. P. Keenan1

Article first published online: 9 APR 2010

DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2010.16576.x

Issue

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

Volume 405, Issue 3, pages 1867–1872, July 2010

Additional Information

How to Cite

Simpson, E. K., Pollacco, D., Hébrard, G., Gibson, N. P., Barros, S. C. C., Boisse, I., Bouchy, F., Cameron, A. C., Miller, G. R. M., Watson, C. A. and Keenan, F. P. (2010), The spin–orbit alignment of the transiting exoplanet WASP-3b from Rossiter–McLaughlin observations. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 405: 1867–1872. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2010.16576.x

Author Information

  1. 1

    Astrophysics Research Centre, School of Mathematics & Physics, Queen's University, University Road, Belfast BT7 1NN

  2. 2

    Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris, UMR7095 CNRS, Université Pierre & Marie Curie, 98 bis bvd. Arago, 75014 Paris, France

  3. 3

    School of Physics, University of Exeter, Stocker Road, Exeter EX4 4QL

  4. 4

    Observatoire de Haute-Provence, CNRS/OAMP, 04870 St Michel l'Observatoire, France

  5. 5

    School of Physics and Astronomy, University of St Andrews, North Haugh, St Andrews, Fife KY16 9SS

* E-mail: esimpson05@qub.ac.uk

  1. †

    Based on observations collected with the SOPHIE spectrograph on the 1.93-m telescope at Observatoire de Haute-Provence (CNRS), France, by the SOPHIE Consortium (program 08B.PNP.SIMP).

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 23 JUN 2010
  2. Article first published online: 9 APR 2010
  3. Accepted 2010 February 20. Received 2010 February 19; in original form 2009 December 18

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Keywords:

  • stars: planetary systems;
  • stars: individual: WASP-3;
  • techniques: radial velocities;
  • techniques: photometric

ABSTRACT

We present an observation of the Rossiter–McLaughlin effect for the planetary system WASP-3. Radial velocity measurements were made during transit using the SOPHIE spectrograph at the 1.93-m telescope at Haute-Provence Observatory. The shape of the effect shows that the sky-projected angle between the stellar rotation axis and planetary orbital axis (λ) is small and consistent with zero within inline image. WASP-3b joins the ∼two-thirds of planets with measured spin–orbit angles that are well aligned and are thought to have undergone a dynamically gentle migration process such as planet–disc interactions. We find a systematic effect which leads to an anomalously high determination of the projected stellar rotational velocity (v sin i= 19.6+2.2−2.1 km s−1) compared to the value found from spectroscopic line broadening (v sin i= 13.4 ± 1.5 km s−1). This is thought to be caused by a discrepancy in the assumptions made in the extraction and modelling of the data. Using a model developed by Hirano et al. designed to address this issue, we find v sin i to be consistent with the value obtained from spectroscopic broadening measurements (v sin i= 15.7+1.4−1.3 km s−1).

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