A giant planet around the massive giant star HD 13189

Abstract

Most extrasolar planet discoveries using radial velocity measurements have been for solar-like G-stars. In order to understand better the role stellar mass for the formation of planets we must learn more about the frequency of planetary companions around both high- and low-mass stars. Radial velocity searches for planets around high mass main-sequence stars are difficult due to the paucity of lines and often rapid rotation of these early-type stars. On the other hand, evolved stars that have moved off the main sequence offer us the possibility of searching for planets around higher mass stars by means of precise radial velocity measurements. Here we present radial velocity measurements for the star HD 13189 using measurements taken at the Thüringer Landessternwarte Tautenburg, the Harlan J. Smith Telescope at McDonald Observatory, and the Hobby-Eberly Telescope. We classify the spectral type of this star as K2 with luminosity class II. The radial velocity measurements show long-period variations with a period of 472 days and an amplitude of 173 m s-1. The Ca II S-index is consistent with an inactive star and this shows no variations with the radial velocity period. We also investigated possible changes in the line shapes by measuring spectral line bisectors. These show no variations with the radial velocity period. We interpret the 472-day period as being caused by a sub-stellar companion. Based on the estimated absolute magnitude and a comparison to evolutionary tracks we estimate the mass of the progenitor star between 2 and 7 M⊙ which results in a projected mass of the companion of m sin i = 8-20 M J. HD 13189 may be the most massive star known to possess an extrasolar planet. This suggests that the formation of giant planets can also occur around early-type stars. HD 13189 also shows significant short term radial velocity variability on time scales of days that is most likely due to stellar oscillations. This behavior is typical for K giant stars. © ESO 2005.