New light-travel time models and orbital stability study of the proposed planetary system HU Aquarii

  1. T. C. Hinse1,2,*,
  2. J. W. Lee1,
  3. K. Goździewski3,
  4. N. Haghighipour4,
  5. C.-U. Lee1,
  6. E. M. Scullion5

Article first published online: 19 JAN 2012

DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2011.20283.x

Issue

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

Volume 420, Issue 4, pages 3609–3620, March 2012

Additional Information

How to Cite

Hinse, T. C., Lee, J. W., Goździewski, K., Haghighipour, N., Lee, C.-U. and Scullion, E. M. (2012), New light-travel time models and orbital stability study of the proposed planetary system HU Aquarii. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 420: 3609–3620. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2011.20283.x

Author Information

  1. 1

    Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute, 776 Daedukdae-ro, Yuseong-gu, 305-348 Daejeon, Republic of Korea

  2. 2

    Armagh Observatory, College Hill, Armagh BT61 9DG

  3. 3

    Torun Centre for Astronomy, Nicolaus Copernicus University, PL-87-100 Torun, Poland

  4. 4

    Institute for Astronomy & NASA Astrobiology Institute, University of Hawaii, HI 96822, USA

  5. 5

    Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics, University of Oslo, 0371 Oslo, Norway

* E-mail: tchinse@gmail.com

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 1 MAR 2012
  2. Article first published online: 19 JAN 2012
  3. Accepted 2011 November 29. Received 2011 November 28; in original form 2011 October 24

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Keywords:

  • binaries: close;
  • binaries: eclipsing;
  • stars: individual: HU Aquarii

ABSTRACT

In this work we propose a new orbital architecture for the two proposed circumbinary planets around the polar eclipsing binary HU Aquarii. We base the new two-planet, light-travel time model on the result of a Monte Carlo simulation driving a least-squares Levenberg–Marquardt minimization algorithm on the observed eclipse egress times. Our best-fitting model with inline image resulted in high final eccentricities for the two companions leading to an unstable orbital configuration. From a large ensemble of initial guesses, we examined the distribution of final eccentricities and semimajor axes for different inline image parameter intervals and encountered qualitatively a second population of best-fitting parameters. The main characteristic of this population is described by low-eccentric orbits favouring long-term orbital stability of the system. We present our best-fitting model candidate for the proposed two-planet system and demonstrate orbital stability over one million years using numerical integrations.

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