A nearly polar orbit for the extrasolar hot jupiter WASP-79b

Abstract

We report the measurement of a spin-orbit misalignment for WASP-79b, a recently discovered, bloated hot Jupiter from the Wide Angle Search for Planets (WASP) survey. Data were obtained using the CYCLOPS2 optical-fiber bundle and its simultaneous calibration system feeding theUCLES spectrograph on theAnglo-Australian Telescope. We have used the Rossiter McLaughlin effect to determine the sky-projected spin-orbit angle to be λ = -106 +19-13 This result indicates a significant misalignment between the spin axis of the host star and the orbital plane of the planet-the planet being in a nearly polar orbit. WASP-79 is consistent with other stars that have Teff < 6250 Kand host hot Jupiters in spin-orbit misalignment. © 2013. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.