Detection Of KOI-13.01 Using The Photometric Orbit

TL;DR

This study demonstrates that the BEER algorithm can detect non-transiting low-mass companions in star-planet systems like KOI-13.01 using Kepler photometric data, estimating their minimum mass and orbital parameters.

Contribution

The paper applies the BEER algorithm to Kepler data to detect non-transiting planets, providing a method to estimate their masses and orbital characteristics.

Findings

KOI-13.01's ephemeris was successfully detected.

Estimated planet's minimum mass as 9.2 +/- 1.1 M_J.

Long-term Kepler data can detect low-mass companions down to a few Jupiter masses.

Abstract

We use the KOI-13 transiting star-planet system as a test case for the recently developed BEER algorithm (Faigler & Mazeh 2011), aimed at identifying non-transiting low-mass companions by detecting the photometric variability induced by the companion along its orbit. Such photometric variability is generated by three mechanisms, including the beaming effect, tidal ellipsoidal distortion, and reflection/heating. We use data from three Kepler quarters, from the first year of the mission, while ignoring measurements within the transit and occultation, and show that the planet's ephemeris is clearly detected. We fit for the amplitude of each of the three effects and use the beaming effect amplitude to estimate the planet's minimum mass, which results in M_p sin i = 9.2 +/- 1.1 M_J (assuming the host star parameters derived by Szabo et al. 2011). Our results show that non-transiting star-planet systems similar to KOI-13.01 can be detected in Kepler data, including a measurement of the orbital ephemeris and the planet's minimum mass. Moreover, we derive a realistic estimate of the amplitudes uncertainties, and use it to show that data obtained during the entire lifetime of the Kepler mission, of 3.5 years, will allow detecting non-transiting close-in low-mass companions orbiting bright stars, down to the few Jupiter mass level. Data from the Kepler Extended Mission, if funded by NASA, will further improve the detection capabilities.