The PFS View of TOI-677 b: A Spin–Orbit Aligned Warm Jupiter in a Dynamically Hot System

• Published in: The Astronomical journal Vol. 167; no. 4; p. 175
• Main Authors: Hu, Qingru, Rice, Malena, Wang, Xian-Yu, Wang, Songhu, Shporer, Avi, Teske, Johanna K., Yee, Samuel W., Butler, R. Paul, Shectman, Stephen, Crane, Jeffrey D., Collins, Karen A., Collins, Kevin I.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Madison IOP Publishing 01-04-2024
• Subjects: Astronomical models; Eccentric orbits; Exoplanet migration; Exoplanet tides; Exoplanets; Extrasolar planets; Gas giant planets; Hot Jupiters; Jupiter; Obliquity; Planet formation; Planetary dynamics; Planetary theory; Planets; Radial velocity; Very Large Telescope
• ISSN: 0004-6256; 1538-3881
• DOI: 10.3847/1538-3881/ad2855

Abstract TOI-677 b is part of an emerging class of “tidally detached” gas giants ( a / R ⋆ ≳ 11) that exhibit large orbital eccentricities and yet low stellar obliquities. Such sources pose a challenge for models of giant planet formation, which must account for the excitation of high eccentricities without large changes in the orbital inclination. In this work, we present a new Rossiter–McLaughlin measurement of the tidally detached warm Jupiter TOI-677 b, obtained using high-precision radial velocity observations with Magellan’s Planet Finder Spectrograph (PFS). Combined with previously published observations from the Very Large Telescope’s ESPRESSO spectrograph, we derive one of the most precisely constrained sky-projected spin–orbit angle measurements to date for an exoplanet. The combined fit offers a refined set of self-consistent parameters, including a low sky-projected stellar obliquity of λ = 3 .° 2 − 1. ∘ 5 + 1. ∘ 6 and a moderately high eccentricity of e = 0.460 − 0.018 + 0.019 , which further constrain the puzzling architecture of this system. We examine several potential scenarios that may have produced the current TOI-677 orbital configuration, ultimately concluding that TOI-677 b most likely had its eccentricity excited through disk–planet interactions. This system adds to a growing population of aligned warm Jupiters on eccentric orbits around hot ( T eff > 6100 K) stars.