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τ Boo b: Not so bright, but just as heavy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 May 2016

Andrew Collier Cameron ,
Keith Horne ,
David James ,
Alan Penny  and
Meir Semel
Andrew Collier Cameron
Affiliation:
School of Physics and Astronomy, University of St Andrews, North Haugh, St Andrews, Fife KYI6 9SS, Scotland, UK
Keith Horne
Affiliation:
School of Physics and Astronomy, University of St Andrews, North Haugh, St Andrews, Fife KYI6 9SS, Scotland, UK
David James
Affiliation:
School of Physics and Astronomy, University of St Andrews, North Haugh, St Andrews, Fife KYI6 9SS, Scotland, UK
Alan Penny
Affiliation:
Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Chilton, Didcot 0×11 0QX, UK
Meir Semel
Affiliation:
DAS OP, Observatoire de Paris-Meudon, F-92195 Meudon-Cedex, France

Abstract

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We present new results derived from high-resolution optical spectra of the τ Boo system, secured in March-May 2000. The results do not show the same feature reported by Cameron et al (1999) as a candidate reflected-light signature from the planet. Together with earlier results from the 1998 and 1999 seasons, the new data yield a 99.9% upper limit on the opposition planet/star flux ratio ∊ < 3.5 × 10−5 between 387.4 and 586.3 nm, a factor 3 deeper than the upper limit of Charbonneau et al (1999). For an assumed planet radius Rp = 1.2RJ, the upper limit on the mean geometric albedo is p < 0.22, 40% that of Jupiter. We find new evidence that the star's rotation is synchronised with the planet's orbital motion. Using a Monte Carlo analysis we infer that the planet's mass must lie in the range 5.5 to 10 times the mass of Jupiter.

Type
Part I: Discovery and study of extrasolar planets - current
Information
Symposium - International Astronomical Union , Volume 202: Planetary Systems in the Universe – Observation, Formation and Evolution , 2004 , pp. 75 - 77
Copyright
Copyright © Astronomical Society of the Pacific 2004 

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