Transit timing variations in the HAT-P-13 planetary system

TL;DR

This paper reports significant transit timing variations in the HAT-P-13b exoplanet, suggesting complex gravitational interactions, with implications for understanding planetary system dynamics.

Contribution

It provides the first combined analysis of recent and published transit data revealing notable TTVs in HAT-P-13b, indicating potential long-term periodic processes.

Findings

Detected TTV span of ~0.015 days, larger than typical hot Jupiter variations.

Observed a sudden switch in transit times, indicating dynamic interactions.

TTV period likely exceeds 3 years, reducing likelihood of HAT-P-13c perturbation.

Abstract

In this Letter we present observations of recent HAT-P-13b transits. The combined analysis of published and newly obtained transit epochs shows evidence for significant transit timing variations since the last publicly available ephemerides. Variation of transit timings result in a sudden switch of transit times. The detected full range of TTV spans ~0.015 days, which is significantly more than the known TTV events exhibited by hot Jupiters. If we have detected a periodic process, its period should be at least ~3 years because there are no signs of variations in the previous observations. This argument makes unlikely that the measured TTV is due to perturbations by HAT-P-13c.