HST/WFC3 Light Curve Supports a Terrestrial Composition for the Closest Exoplanet to Transit an M Dwarf

TL;DR

This study uses HST/WFC3 light curves to confirm that the exoplanet LTT 1445Ac has a non-grazing transit, a terrestrial composition, and is an Earth analog suitable for atmospheric characterization.

Contribution

The paper provides the first resolved light curves confirming a non-grazing transit and refines the planet's radius, mass, and density, establishing it as a terrestrial Earth-like exoplanet.

Findings

Confirmed non-grazing transit with 97% confidence

Measured planetary radius of approximately 1.07 Earth radii

Derived planetary mass of about 1.37 Earth masses

Abstract

Previous studies of the exoplanet LTT 1445Ac concluded that the light curve from the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) was consistent with both grazing and non-grazing geometries. As a result, the radius and hence density of the planet remained unknown. To resolve this ambiguity, we observed the LTT 1445 system for six spacecraft orbits of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) using WFC3/UVIS imaging in spatial scan mode, including one partial transit of LTT 1445Ac. This imaging produces resolved light curves of each of the three stars in the LTT 1445 system. We confirm that the planet transits LTT 1445A and that LTT 1445C is the source of the rotational modulation seen in the TESS light curve, and we refine the estimate of the dilution factor for the TESS data. We perform a joint fit to the TESS and HST observations, finding that the transit of LTT 1445Ac is not grazing with 97% confidence. We measure a planetary radius of 1.07$_{-0.07}^{+0.10}$ R$_\oplus$. Combined with previous radial velocity observations, our analysis yields a planetary mass of $1.37\pm0.19$ M$_\oplus$ and a planetary density of 5.9$_{-1.5}^{+1.8}$ g cm$^{-3}$. LTT 1445Ac is likely an Earth analog with respect to its mass and radius, albeit with a higher instellation, and is therefore an exciting target for future atmospheric studies.