Revised Orbit and Transit Exclusion for HD 114762b

TL;DR

This study refines the orbit of HD 114762b, rules out transits with high precision, and finds no evidence of additional companions, enhancing understanding of this exoplanet's system.

Contribution

The paper provides updated orbital parameters and transit exclusion limits for HD 114762b using 19 years of radial velocity and photometric data, improving previous constraints.

Findings

Refined the orbital period and transit timing of HD 114762b.

Ruled out on-time central transits to a 0.001 mag limit.

Found no evidence of additional companions in the system.

Abstract

Transiting planets around bright stars have allowed the detailed follow-up and characterization of exoplanets, such as the study of exoplanetary atmospheres. The Transit Ephemeris Refinement and Monitoring Survey (TERMS) is refining the orbits of the known exoplanets to confirm or rule out both transit signatures and the presence of additional companions. Here we present results for the companion orbiting HD 114762 in an eccentric 84 day orbit. Radial velocity analysis performed on 19 years of Lick Observatory data constrain the uncertainty in the predicted time of mid-transit to ~5 hours, which is less than the predicted one-half day transit duration. We find no evidence of additional companions in this system. New photometric observations with one of our Automated Photoelectric Telescopes (APTs) at Fairborn Observatory taken during a revised transit time for companion b, along with 23 years of nightly automated observations, allow us to rule out on-time central transits to a limit of ~0.001 mag. Early or late central transits are ruled out to a limit of ~0.002 mag, and transits with half the duration of a central transit are ruled out to a limit of ~0.003 mag.