The discovery of three hot Jupiters, NGTS-23b, 24b and 25b, and updated parameters for HATS-54b from the Next Generation Transit Survey

TL;DR

This paper reports the discovery of three new hot Jupiters and provides updated parameters for an existing one, enhancing understanding of planetary inflation and host star characteristics.

Contribution

It introduces three newly discovered hot Jupiters from NGTS and refines parameters for HATS-54b, expanding the sample for studying planetary inflation mechanisms.

Findings

All four hot Jupiters are above the irradiation threshold for inflation.

NGTS-23b is likely inflated with a mass of 0.61 M_J and radius of 1.27 R_J.

NGTS-24b's radius is larger than non-inflated models but smaller than inflationary predictions.

Abstract

We report the discovery of three new hot Jupiters with the Next Generation Transit Survey (NGTS) as well as updated parameters for HATS-54b, which was independently discovered by NGTS. NGTS-23b, NGTS-24b and NGTS-25b have orbital periods of 4.076, 3.468, and 2.823 days and orbit G-, F- and K-type stars, respectively. NGTS-24 and HATS-54 appear close to transitioning off the main-sequence (if they are not already doing so), and therefore are interesting targets given the observed lack of Hot Jupiters around sub-giant stars. By considering the host star luminosities and the planets' small orbital separations (0.037 - 0.050 au), we find that all four hot Jupiters are above the minimum irradiance threshold for inflation mechanisms to be effective. NGTS-23b has a mass of 0.61 $M_{J}$ and radius of 1.27 $R_{J}$ and is likely inflated. With a radius of 1.21 $R_{J}$ and mass of 0.52 $M_{J}$, NGTS-24b has a radius larger than expected from non-inflated models but its radius is smaller than the predicted radius from current Bayesian inflationary models. Finally, NGTS-25b is intermediate between the inflated and non-inflated cases, having a mass of 0.64 $M_{J}$ and a radius of 1.02 $R_{J}$. The physical processes driving radius inflation remain poorly understood, and by building the sample of hot Jupiters we can aim to identify the additional controlling parameters, such as metallicity and stellar age.