# Detecting the General Relativistic Orbital Precession of the Exoplanet HD 80606b

## TL;DR

This paper proposes a method to detect relativistic orbital precession in exoplanet HD 80606b by measuring transit and eclipse timing variations, predicting a measurable three-minute delay over ten years due to relativistic effects.

## Contribution

It introduces a novel observational approach to detect relativistic effects in exoplanet orbits through timing measurements of transits and eclipses.

## Key findings

- Relativistic effects cause a ~3-minute delay in transit/eclipse timings over ten years.
- The method can utilize existing and future observations, including Spitzer and JWST data.
- Relativistic orbital precession is potentially detectable in highly eccentric exoplanets like HD 80606b.

## Abstract

We investigate the relativistic effects in the orbital motion of the exoplanet HD80606b with a high eccentricity of $e\simeq0.93$ .We propose a method to detect these effects (notably the orbital precession) based on measuring the successive eclipse and transit times of the exoplanet. In the case of HD80606b, we find that in ten years (after approximately 33 periods) the instants of transits and eclipses are delayed with respect to the Newtonian prediction by about three minutes due to relativistic effects. These effects can be detected by comparing at different epochs the time difference between a transit and the preceding eclipse, and should be measurable by comparing events already observed on HD80606 in 2010 with the Spitzer satellite together with those to be observed in the future with the James Webb Space Telescope.