WASP-14b: 7.3 Mj transiting planet in an eccentric orbit

TL;DR

This paper reports the discovery and characterization of WASP-14b, a massive, dense exoplanet with an eccentric orbit, orbiting a relatively young F-type star at a short period, providing insights into massive planet properties.

Contribution

It presents the discovery of one of the most massive transiting exoplanets with detailed measurements of its mass, radius, density, and host star properties, highlighting its high density and eccentric orbit.

Findings

Massive exoplanet of 7.3 Mjup with high density

Eccentric orbit with e=0.09 and short period of 2.24 days

Host star characterized as young, hot, and lithium-rich

Abstract

We report the discovery of a 7.3 Mjup exoplanet WASP-14b, one of the most massive transiting exoplanets observed to date. The planet orbits the tenth-magnitude F5V star USNO-B1 11118-0262485 with a period of 2.243752 days and orbital eccentricity e = 0.09. A simultaneous fit of the transit light curve and radial velocity measurements yields a planetary mass of 7.3+/-0.5 Mjup and a radius of 1.28+/-0.08 Rjup. This leads to a mean density of about 4.6 g/cm^3 making it densest transiting exoplanets yet found at an orbital period less than 3 days. We estimate this system to be at a distance of 160+/-20 pc. Spectral analysis of the host star reveals a temperature of 6475+/-100 K, log g = 4.07 cm/s^2 and vsin i = 4.9+/-1.0 km/s, and also a high lithium abundance, log N(Li} = 2.84+/-0.05. The stellar density, effective temperature and rotation rate suggest an age for the system of about 0.5-1.0 Gyr.