Updated Masses for the Gas Giants in the Eight-Planet Kepler-90 System Via Transit-Timing Variation and Radial Velocity Observations

TL;DR

This study refines the masses and orbital parameters of the outer two planets in the Kepler-90 system by combining transit timing variations with a decade of radial velocity data, enabling future atmospheric studies.

Contribution

It introduces a combined modeling approach of TTVs and RVs to accurately determine masses and ephemerides of planets g and h in Kepler-90, improving upon previous broad estimates.

Findings

Mass of Kepler-90 g: 15.0 ± 1.3 Earth masses

Mass of Kepler-90 h: 203 ± 16 Earth masses

Predicted and observed future transits for system characterization

Abstract

The eight-planet Kepler-90 system exhibits the greatest multiplicity of planets found to date. All eight planets are transiting and were discovered in photometry from the NASA Kepler primary mission. The two outermost planets, g ($P_g$ = 211 d) and h ($P_h$ = 332 d) exhibit significant transit-timing variations (TTVs), but were only observed 6 and 3 times respectively by Kepler. These TTVs allow for the determination of planetary masses through dynamical modeling of the pair's gravitational interactions, but the paucity of transits allows a broad range of solutions for the masses and orbital ephemerides. To determine accurate masses and orbital parameters for planets g and h, we combined 34 radial velocities (RVs) of Kepler-90, collected over a decade, with the Kepler transit data. We jointly modeled the transit times of the outer two planets and the RV time series, then used our two-planet model to predict their future times of transit. These predictions led us to recover a transit of Kepler-90 g with ground-based observatories in May 2024. We then combined the 2024 transit and several previously unpublished transit times of planets g and h with the Kepler photometry and RV data to update the masses and linear ephemerides of the planets, finding masses for g and h of $15.0 \pm 1.3\, M_\oplus$, and $203 \pm 16\, M_\oplus$ respectively from a Markov Chain Monte Carlo analysis. These results enable further insights into the architecturally rich Kepler-90 system and pave the way for atmospheric characterization with space-based facilities.