KELT-16b: A Highly Irradiated, Ultra-short Period Hot Jupiter Nearing Tidal Disruption

Thomas E. Oberst, Joseph E. Rodriguez, Knicole D. Colón, Daniel Angerhausen, Allyson Bieryla, Henry Ngo, Daniel J. Stevens, Keivan G. Stassun, B. Scott Gaudi, Joshua Pepper, Kaloyan Penev, Dimitri Mawet, David W. Latham, Tyler M. Heintz, Baffour W. Osei, Karen A. Collins, John F. Kielkopf, Tiffany Visgaitis, Phillip A. Reed, Alejandra EscamillaSormeh Yazdi, Kim K. McLeod, Leanne T. Lunsford, Michelle Spencer, Michael D. Joner, Joao Gregorio, Clement Gaillard, Kyle Matt, Mary Thea Dumont, Denise C. Stephens, David H. Cohen, Eric L.N. Jensen, Sebastiano Calchi Novati, Valerio Bozza, Jonathan Labadie-Bartz, Robert J. Siverd, Michael B. Lund, Thomas G. Beatty, Jason D. Eastman, Matthew T. Penny, Mark Manner, Roberto Zambelli, Benjamin J. Fulton, Christopher Stockdale, D. L. DePoy, Jennifer L. Marshall, Richard W. Pogge, Andrew Gould, Mark Trueblood, Patricia Trueblood

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

44 Scopus citations

Abstract

We announce the discovery of KELT-16b, a highly irradiated, ultra-short period hot Jupiter transiting the relatively bright (V = 11.7) star TYC 2688-1839-1/KELT-16. A global analysis of the system shows KELT-16 to be an F7V star with K and . The planet is a relatively high-mass inflated gas giant with density g cm-3, surface gravity , and K. The best-fitting linear ephemeris is and day. KELT-16b joins WASP-18b, -19b, -43b, -103b, and HATS-18b as the only giant transiting planets with P < 1 day. Its ultra-short period and high irradiation make it a benchmark target for atmospheric studies by the Hubble Space Telescope, Spitzer, and eventually the James Webb Space Telescope. For example, as a hotter, higher-mass analog of WASP-43b, KELT-16b may feature an atmospheric temperature-pressure inversion and day-to-night temperature swing extreme enough for TiO to rain out at the terminator. KELT-16b could also join WASP-43b in extending tests of the observed mass-metallicity relation of the solar system gas giants to higher masses. KELT-16b currently orbits at a mere ∼1.7 Roche radii from its host star, and could be tidally disrupted in as little as a few ×105 years (for a stellar tidal quality factor of ). Finally, the likely existence of a widely separated bound stellar companion in the KELT-16 system makes it possible that Kozai-Lidov (KL) oscillations played a role in driving KELT-16b inward to its current precarious orbit.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number97
JournalAstronomical Journal
Volume153
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 2017

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Astronomy and Astrophysics
  • Space and Planetary Science

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