Kepler-1624b Has No Significant Transit Timing Variations

Abstract It is relatively rare for gas giant planets to have resonant or near-resonant companions, but these systems are particularly useful for constraining planet formation and migration models. In this study, we examine Kepler-1624b, a sub-Saturn orbiting an M dwarf that was previously found to exhibit transit timing variations (TTVs) with an amplitude of approximately 2 minutes, suggesting the presence of a nearby nontransiting companion. We reanalyze the transits from archival Kepler data and extend the TTV baseline by 11 yr by combining TESS data with three new ground-based transit observations from Palomar and Las Cumbres Observatories. We jointly fit these datasets and find that the TTV amplitude is significantly weaker in our updated analysis. We calculate the Bayes factor for a one-planet versus two-planet model and find that the one-planet model is preferred. Our results highlight the need for careful analysis of systems with relatively low amplitude TTV signals that are identified in large automated catalogs.

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Publication Details

Journal
The Astronomical Journal
Published
2025-11-20
DOI
https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/ae1464
Primary Topic
Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
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article

Kepler-1624b Has No Significant Transit Timing Variations

Michael Greklek-McKeon, Shreyas Vissapragada, Akihiko Fukui, Heather A. Knutson et al.
The Astronomical Journal
Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies
article

Kepler-1624b Has No Significant Transit Timing Variations

Michael Greklek-McKeon, Shreyas Vissapragada, Akihiko Fukui, Heather A. Knutson, Karen A. Collins, Morgan Saidel, Richard P. Schwarz, Kimberly Paragas, Avi Shporer, Norio Narita, Haedam Im, Gregor Srdoč
article en

Abstract

Abstract It is relatively rare for gas giant planets to have resonant or near-resonant companions, but these systems are particularly useful for constraining planet formation and migration models. In this study, we examine Kepler-1624b, a sub-Saturn orbiting an M dwarf that was previously found to exhibit transit timing variations (TTVs) with an amplitude of approximately 2 minutes, suggesting the presence of a nearby nontransiting companion. We reanalyze the transits from archival Kepler data and extend the TTV baseline by 11 yr by combining TESS data with three new ground-based transit observations from Palomar and Las Cumbres Observatories. We jointly fit these datasets and find that the TTV amplitude is significantly weaker in our updated analysis. We calculate the Bayes factor for a one-planet versus two-planet model and find that the one-planet model is preferred. Our results highlight the need for careful analysis of systems with relatively low amplitude TTV signals that are identified in large automated catalogs.

The Astronomical JournalVol. 170(6)
California Institute of Technology (US), Astrobiology Center (JP), Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian (US), Carnegie Observatories (US), Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (ES), Tokyo Metropolitan Komaba High School (JP), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (US), The University of Tokyo (JP)
Openalex Percentile: Top 76%
Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies
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