The HD 191939 Exoplanet System is Well Aligned and Flat
Abstract We report the sky-projected spin–orbit angle λ for HD 191939 b, the innermost planet in a six-planet system, using Keck/KPF to detect the Rossiter–McLaughlin (RM) effect. Planet b is a sub-Neptune with radius 3.4 ± 0.8 R ⊕ and mass 10.0 ± 0.7 M ⊕ with an RM amplitude <1 m s −1 . We find the planet is consistent with a well-aligned orbit, measuring λ = 3.°7 ± 5.°0. Additionally, we place new constraints on the mass and period of the distant super-Jupiter, planet f, finding it to be 2.88 ± 0.26 M J on a 2898 ± 152 days orbit. With these new orbital parameters, we perform a dynamical analysis of the system and constrain the mutual inclination of the nontransiting planet e to be smaller than 12° relative to the plane shared by the inner three transiting planets. Additionally, the further planet f is inclined off this shared plane, the greater the amplitude of precession for the entire inner system, making it increasingly unlikely to measure an aligned orbit for planet b. Through this analysis, we show that this system’s wide variety of planets are all well-aligned with the star and nearly coplanar, suggesting that the system formed dynamically cold and flat out of a well-aligned protoplanetary disk, similar to our own solar system.
Authors
- Samuel Halverson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1312-9391)
- Howard Isaacson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0531-1073)
- Jack Lubin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8342-7736)
- Abby P. Shaum (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3133-6837)
- Andrew W. Howard (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8638-0320)
- Jacob K. Luhn (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4927-9925)
- Kyle Lanclos (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0004-0592-1850)
- Corey Beard (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7708-2364)
- Joel Payne (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0008-4293-0341)
- Aaron Householder (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5812-3236)
- Arpita Roy (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8127-5775)
- Erik A. Petigura (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0967-2893)
- B. Holden (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6153-3076)
- Max Brodheim
- Paul M. Robertson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0149-9678)
- Grant M. Hill (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7648-9119)
- Steven R. Gibson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0004-4454-6053)
- Russ R. Laher (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2451-5482)
- Guđmundur Stefánsson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7409-5688)
- Judah Van Zandt (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4290-6826)
- Ryan A. Rubenzahl (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3856-3143)
- William Deich (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0000-3624-1330)
- Josh Walawender (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6092-8295)
- Rae Holcomb (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5034-9476)
- Roger M. Smith (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7062-9726)
- Christian Schwab (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0091-7105)
- Joshua N. Winn (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4265-047X)
- Fei Dai (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8958-0683)
Publication Details
- Journal
- The Astronomical Journal
- Published
- 2024-10-09
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/ad79ed
- Citations
- 5
- Primary Topic
- Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 1.66