Document Type
Article
Publication Date
10-19-2010
Abstract
The stellar rotation periods of 10 exoplanet host stars have been determined using newly analysed Ca ii H&K flux records from the Mount Wilson Observatory and Strömgren b, y photometric measurements from Tennessee State University's automatic photometric telescopes at the Fairborn Observatory. Five of the rotation periods have not previously been reported, with that of HD 130322 very strongly detected at Prot= 26.1 ± 3.5 d. The rotation periods of five other stars have been updated using new data. We use the rotation periods to derive the line-of-sight inclinations of the stellar rotation axes, which may be used to probe theories of planet formation and evolution when combined with the planetary orbital inclination found from other methods. Finally, we estimate the masses of 14 exoplanets under the assumption that the stellar rotation axis is aligned with the orbital axis. We calculate the mass of HD 92788 b (28 MJ) to be within the low-mass brown dwarf regime and suggest that this object warrants further investigation to confirm its true nature.
Recommended Citation
E. K. Simpson, S. L. Baliunas, G. W. Henry, C. A. Watson, Rotation periods of exoplanet host stars, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Volume 408, Issue 3, November 2010, Pages 1666–1679, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2966.2010.17230.x