The changing face of AU Mic b: stellar spots, spin-orbit commensurability, and transit timing variations as seen by CHEOPS and TESS

Szabó, Gy. M.; Gandolfi, D.; Brandeker, A.; Csizmadia, Sz.; Garai, Z.; Billot, N.; Broeg, C.; Ehrenreich, D.; Fortier, A.; Fossati, L.; Hoyer, S.; Kiss, L.; Lecavelier des Etangs, A.; Maxted, P. F. L.; Ribas, I.; Alibert, Y.; Alonso, R.; Anglada Escudé, G.; Bárczy, T.; Barros, S. C. C.; Barrado, D.; Baumjohann, W.; Beck, M.; Beck, T.; Bekkelien, A.; Bonfils, X.; Benz, W.; Borsato, L.; Busch, M. -D.; Cabrera, J.; Charnoz, S.; Collier Cameron, A.; Van Damme, C. Corral; Davies, M. B.; Delrez, L.; Deleuil, M.; Demangeon, O. D. S.; Demory, B. -O.; Erikson, A.; Fridlund, M.; Futyan, D.; García Muñoz, A.; Gillon, M.; Guedel, M.; Guterman, P.; Heng, K.; Isaak, K. G.; Lacedelli, G.; Laskar, J.; Lendl, M.; Lovis, C.; Luntzer, A.; Magrin, D.; Nascimbeni, V.; Olofsson, G.; Osborn, H. P.; Ottensamer, R.; Pagano, I.; Pallé, E.; Peter, G.; Piazza, D.; Piotto, G.; Pollacco, D.; Queloz, D.; Ragazzoni, R.; Rando, N.; Rauer, H.; Santos, N. C.; Scandariato, G.; Ségransan, D.; Serrano, L. M.; Sicilia, D.; Simon, A. E.; Smith, A. M. S.; Sousa, S. G.; Steller, M.; Thomas, N.; Udry, S.; Van Grootel, V.; Walton, N. A.; Wilson, T. G.
Bibliographical reference

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Advertised on:
10
2021
Number of authors
81
IAC number of authors
2
Citations
41
Refereed citations
38
Description
AU Mic is a young planetary system with a resolved debris disc showing signs of planet formation and two transiting warm Neptunes near mean-motion resonances. Here we analyse three transits of AU Mic b observed with the CHaracterising ExOPlanet Satellite (CHEOPS), supplemented with sector 1 and 27 Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) photometry, and the All-Sky Automated Survey from the ground. The refined orbital period of AU Mic b is 8.462995 ± 0.000003 d, whereas the stellar rotational period is Prot = 4.8367 ± 0.0006 d. The two periods indicate a 7:4 spin-orbit commensurability at a precision of 0.1%. Therefore, all transits are observed in front of one of the four possible stellar central longitudes. This is strongly supported by the observation that the same complex star-spot pattern is seen in the second and third CHEOPS visits that were separated by four orbits (and seven stellar rotations). Using a bootstrap analysis we find that flares and star spots reduce the accuracy of transit parameters by up to 10% in the planet-to-star radius ratio and the accuracy on transit time by 3-4 min. Nevertheless, occulted stellar spot features independently confirm the presence of transit timing variations (TTVs) with an amplitude of at least 4 min. We find that the outer companion, AU Mic c, may cause the observed TTVs.
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