Published in

American Astronomical Society, Astrophysical Journal Letters, 2(949), p. L35, 2023

DOI: 10.3847/2041-8213/acd6f5

Links

Tools

Export citation

Search in Google Scholar

The Spin–Orbit Misalignment of TOI-1842b: The First Measurement of the Rossiter–McLaughlin Effect for a Warm Sub-Saturn around a Massive Star

Journal article published in 2023 by Kyle Hixenbaugh ORCID, Xian-Yu Wang ORCID, Malena Rice ORCID, Songhu Wang ORCID
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.

Full text: Download

Red circle
Preprint: archiving forbidden
Red circle
Postprint: archiving forbidden
Green circle
Published version: archiving allowed
Data provided by SHERPA/RoMEO

Abstract

Abstract The mechanisms responsible for generating spin–orbit misalignments in exoplanetary systems are still not fully understood. It is unclear whether these misalignments are related to the migration of hot Jupiters or are a consequence of general star and planet formation processes. One promising method to address this question is to constrain the distribution of spin–orbit angle measurements for a broader range of planets beyond hot Jupiters. In this work, we present the sky-projected obliquity ( λ = − 68 .° 1 − 14.7 + 21.2 ) for the warm sub-Saturn TOI-1842b, obtained through a measurement of the Rossiter–McLaughlin effect using WIYN/NEID. From this, we determine the resulting 3D obliquity (ψ) to be ψ = 73 .° 3 − 12.9 + 16.3 . As the first spin–orbit angle determination made for a sub-Saturn-mass planet around a massive ( M * = 1.45 M ) star, our result presents an opportunity to examine the orbital geometries for new regimes of planetary systems. When combined with archival measurements, our observations of TOI-1842b support the hypothesis that the previously established prevalence of misaligned systems around hot, massive stars may be driven by planet–planet dynamical interactions. In massive stellar systems, multiple gas giants are more likely to form and can then dynamically interact with each other to excite spin–orbit misalignments.