Tracking Advanced Planetary Systems (TAPAS) with HARPS-N VIII. A wide-orbit planetary companion in the hot-Jupiter system HD 118203

TL;DR

This study characterizes a hierarchical planetary system around HD 118203, revealing a hot Jupiter and a wide-orbit 11-Jupiter-mass companion, using 17 years of RV data, astrometry, and photometry, and explores their dynamical interactions.

Contribution

The paper presents the discovery and detailed characterization of a wide-orbit planetary companion in a hot Jupiter system, combining long-term RV, astrometric, and photometric data.

Findings

The wide companion is an 11-Jupiter-mass planet on a 14-year orbit.

Both planets are dynamically decoupled mainly due to relativistic precession.

No additional transiting planets with radii >2 Earth radii were detected.

Abstract

The star HD 118203, classified as a K0 subgiant, was known to harbour a transiting hot Jupiter planet on a 6.1-day eccentric orbit. Previous studies also revealed a linear trend in the radial velocity (RV) domain, indicative of a companion on a wide orbit. Such a hierarchical orbital architecture could be helpful in studies of the origins of hot Jupiters. We acquired precise RV measurements over 17 years using the 9.2 m Hobby-Eberly Telescope and the 3.6 m Telescopio Nazionale Galileo. Combining these observations with space-born photometric time series from the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, we constructed a two-planetary model for the system. Astrometric observations from Hipparcos and Gaia were used to constrain the orbital inclination of the wide-orbit companion and its mass. Numerical simulations were used to investigate the dynamics of the system. The photometric data were searched for additional transit-like flux drops. We found that the additional companion is an 11-Jupiter mass planet orbiting HD 118203 on a 14-year moderately eccentric orbit, constituting a hierarchical planetary system with the hot Jupiter. Both planets were found to be dynamically decoupled mainly due to the general relativistic apsidal precession of the inner planet, marginalising secular interactions. The orbits of both planets might have a relatively low mutual inclination unless the longitudes of the ascending node differ substantially. This configuration favours the coplanar high-eccentricity migration as a path to the present-day orbital configuration. No other transiting planets with radii down to 2 Earth radii and orbital periods less than 100 days were found in the system.