HAT-P-11: Discovery of a Second Planet and a Clue to Understanding Exoplanet Obliquities

TL;DR

This paper reports the discovery of a second planet in the HAT-P-11 system, analyzes its orbital dynamics, and explores mechanisms behind the star's planetary obliquities, providing insights into exoplanet system evolution.

Contribution

It presents the detection of a second, eccentric Jupiter-like planet in the HAT-P-11 system and investigates the dynamical processes affecting planetary obliquities.

Findings

HAT-P-11c has a mass of 1.6 Jupiter masses and a 9.3-year orbit.

HAT-P-11b's orbit is significantly misaligned with the star's spin.

Nodal precession may explain HAT-P-11b's high obliquity.

Abstract

HAT-P-11 is a mid-K dwarf that hosts one of the first Neptune-sized planets found outside the solar system. The orbit of HAT-P-11b is misaligned with the star's spin --- one of the few known cases of a misaligned planet orbiting a star less massive than the Sun. We find an additional planet in the system based on a decade of precision radial velocity (RV) measurements from Keck/HIRES. HAT-P-11c is similar to Jupiter in its mass ($M_P \sin{i} = 1.6\pm0.1$ $M_J$) and orbital period ($P = 9.3^{+1.0}_{-0.5}$ year), but has a much more eccentric orbit ($e=0.60\pm0.03$). In our joint modeling of RV and stellar activity, we found an activity-induced RV signal of $\sim$7 m s$^{-1}$, consistent with other active K dwarfs, but significantly smaller than the 31 m s$^{-1}$ reflex motion due to HAT-P-11c. We investigated the dynamical coupling between HAT-P-11b and c as a possible explanation for HAT-P-11b's misaligned orbit, finding that planet-planet Kozai interactions cannot tilt planet b's orbit due to general relativistic precession; however, nodal precession operating on million year timescales is a viable mechanism to explain HAT-P-11b's high obliquity. This leaves open the question of why HAT-P-11c may have such a tilted orbit. At a distance of 38 pc, the HAT-P-11 system offers rich opportunities for further exoplanet characterization through astrometry and direct imaging.