Pre-discovery transits of the exoplanets WASP-18 b and WASP-33 b from Hipparcos

TL;DR

This study recovers and refines transit data of exoplanets WASP-18 b and WASP-33 b from Hipparcos photometry, suggesting possible orbital decay for WASP-18 b and providing new ephemerides.

Contribution

It presents the first detection of transits of these exoplanets in Hipparcos data and refines their orbital parameters, highlighting potential orbital decay in WASP-18 b.

Findings

Marginal detection of orbital decay in WASP-18 b

No decay detected in WASP-33 b

New ephemerides fitted for both planets

Abstract

We recover transits of WASP-18 b and WASP-33 b from Hipparcos (1989-1993) photometry. Marginal detections of HAT-P-56 b and HAT-P-2 b may be also present in the data. New ephemerides are fitted to WASP-18 b and WASP-33 b. A tentative (~1.3 sigma) orbital decay is measured for WASP-18 b, but the implied tidal quality factor (Q' ~ 5 x 10^5) is small and survival time (<10^6 years) is too short to be likely. No orbital decay is measured for WASP-33 b, and a limit of Q' > 2 x 10^5 is placed. For both planets, the uncertainties in published ephemerides appear underestimated: the uncertainty in the period derivative of WASP-18 b would be greatly reduced if its current ephemeris could be better determined.