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arXiv · 0711.0126

WASP-3b: a strongly-irradiated transiting gas-giant planet

Abstract

We report the discovery of WASP-3b, the third transiting exoplanet to be discovered by the WASP and SOPHIE collaboration. WASP-3b transits its host star USNO-B1.0 1256-0285133 every 1.846834+-0.000002 days. Our high precision radial-velocity measurements present a variation with amplitude characteristic of a planetary-mass companion and in-phase with the light-curve. Adaptive optics imaging shows no evidence for nearby stellar companions, and line-bisector analysis excludes faint, unresolved binarity and stellar activity as the cause of the radial-velocity variations. We make a preliminary spectroscopic analysis of the host star finding it to have Teff = 6400+-100 K and log g = 4.25+-0.05 which suggests it is most likely an unevolved main sequence star of spectral type F7-8V. Our simultaneous modelling of the transit photometry and reflex motion of the host leads us to derive a mass of 1.76 +0.08 -0.14 M_J and radius 1.31 +0.07-0.14 R_J for WASP-3b. The proximity and relative temperature of the host star suggests that WASP-3b is one of the hottest exoplanets known, and thus has the potential to place stringent constraints on exoplanet atmospheric models.

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D. Pollacco, I. Skillen, A. Collier Cameron, B. Loeillet, H. C. Stempels, F. Bouchy, N. P. Gibson, L. Hebb, G. Hebrard, Y. C. Joshi, I. McDonald, B. Smalley, A. M. S. Smith, R. A. Street, S. Udry, R. G. West, D. M. Wilson, P. J. Wheatley, S. Aigrain, C. R. Benn, V. A. Bruce, D. J. Christian, W. I. Clarkson, B. Enoch, A. Evans, A. Fitzsimmons, C. A. Haswell, C. Hellier, S. Hickey, S. T. Hodgkin, K. Horne, M. Hrudkova, J. Irwin, S. R. Kane, F. P. Keenan, T. A. Lister, P. Maxted, M. Mayor, C. Moutou, A. J. Norton, J. P. Osborne, N. Parley, F. Pont, D. Queloz, R. Ryans, E. Simpson. 2007-11-01. WASP-3b: a strongly-irradiated transiting gas-giant planet. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2966.2008.12939.x

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