Title of programme: KELT-22A b: An ideal candidate for the first definitive detection of orbital tidal dissipation and determination of the second degree fluid Love number
Abstract: Theory suggests that the orbits of some hot Jupiters are decaying due to tidal interactions with their host stars. The hot Jupiter KELT-22A b is predicted to have a rapidly decaying orbit, causing its orbital period to decrease by 1.9 secs per year (Labadie-Bartz et al. 2019). Here were propose to verify the theory used to make this prediction by directly measuring the orbital decay to unprecedented precision. In fact, our precision will allow us to significantly detect changes in its orbital period up to two orders of magnitude smaller than the predicted value, allowing us to place strong limits on the modified tidal dissipative parameter Q’* = Q*/k2 (where Q* is the tidal dissipative parameter and k2 is the second degree fluid Love number) even in the event of a non-detection. Furthermore, Hellard et al. (2019) recently showed that with a precision achievable by CHEOPS, it is possible to detect the deviations in the transit light curve caused by a tidally distorted non-spherical hot Jupiter, and directly constrain k2. This value is directly proportional to the concentration of mass towards the planet’s center so constraining k2 will provide unprecedented insight into the planet’s internal structure. A precise measurement of Q’* and the planet’s k2 number will provide a direct constraint on the tidal quality factor, Q*, of its host star. Overall, these observations will break new ground in our understanding of tidal dissipation and the internal structures of hot Jupiters.
Temporal Coverage
2020-09-21T02:02:00Z / 2020-09-21T06:59:00Z
Version
3.0
Mission Description
CHEOPS (Benz et al., https://doi.org/10.1007/s10686-020-09679-4) is a European Space Agency (ESA) mission in partnership with Switzerland with important contributions to the payload and the ground segment from Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
The satellite has a single payload comprising an ultra-high precision photometer covering the 330 - 1100 nm wavelength range in a single photometric band. Observations are made as part of the Guaranteed Time Observing Programme that is formulated by the CHEOPS Science Team, and the Guest Observers Programme through which the Community at large can apply for CHEOPS time.
