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arXiv · 0907.5204

A Third Exoplanetary System with Misaligned Orbital and Stellar Spin Axes

John A. Johnson·Joshua N. Winn·Simon Albrecht·Andrew W. Howard·Geoffrey W. Marcy·J. Zachary Gazak
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Abstract

We present evidence that the WASP-14 exoplanetary system has misaligned orbital and stellar-rotational axes, with an angle lambda = 33.1 +/- 7.4 deg between their sky projections. The evidence is based on spectroscopic observations of the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect as well as new photometric observations. WASP-14 is now the third system known to have a significant spin-orbit misalignment, and all three systems have "super-Jupiter" planets (M_P > 3 Mjup) and eccentric orbits. This finding suggests that the migration and subsequent orbital evolution of massive, eccentric exoplanets is somehow different from that of less massive close-in Jupiters, the majority of which have well-aligned orbits.

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John A. Johnson, Joshua N. Winn, Simon Albrecht, Andrew W. Howard, Geoffrey W. Marcy, J. Zachary Gazak. 2009-07-30. A Third Exoplanetary System with Misaligned Orbital and Stellar Spin Axes. https://doi.org/10.1086/644604

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