WASP-10b: a 3M_J, gas-giant planet transiting a late-type K star

TL;DR

The paper reports the discovery and characterization of WASP-10b, a massive gas giant transiting a late-type K star, using combined photometric and radial velocity data, highlighting its significance for future surveys of faint, late-type stars.

Contribution

First detailed characterization of a massive transiting exoplanet around a late-type K star, demonstrating the potential for surveys targeting faint dwarf stars.

Findings

WASP-10b has a 3.09-day period and 29 mmag transit depth.

WASP-10b's mass is 2.96 Jupiter masses, and radius is 1.28 Jupiter radii.

The host star is a faint K5 dwarf, indicating survey potential for similar stars.

Abstract

We report the discovery of WASP-10b, a new transiting extrasolar planet (ESP) discovered by the WASP Consortium and confirmed using NOT FIES and SOPHIE radial velocity data. A 3.09 day period, 29 mmag transit depth, and 2.36 hour duration are derived for WASP-10b using WASP and high precision photometric observations. Simultaneous fitting to the photometric and radial velocity data using a Markov-chain Monte Carlo procedure leads to a planet radius of 1.28R_J, a mass of 2.96M_J and eccentricity of ~0.06. WASP-10b is one of the more massive transiting ESPs, and we compare its characteristics to the current sample of transiting ESP, where there is currently little information for masses greater than ~2M_J and non-zero eccentricities. WASP-10's host star, GSC 2752-00114 (USNO-B1.0 1214-0586164) is among the fainter stars in the WASP sample, with V=12.7 and a spectral type of K5. This result shows promise for future late-type dwarf star surveys.