Planet-planet eclipse and the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect of a multiple transiting system: Joint analysis of the Subaru spectroscopy and the Kepler photometry

Abstract

We report a joint analysis of the Rossiter-McLaughlin (RM) effect with Subaru and the Kepler photometry for the Kepler Object of Interest (KOI) 94 system. The system is comprised of four transiting planet candidates with orbital periods of 22.3 (KOI-94.01), 10.4 (KOI-94.02), 54.3 (KOI-94.03), and 3.7 (KOI-94.04) days from the Kepler photometry. We performed the radial velocity (RV) measurement of the system with the Subaru 8.2m telescope on UT 2012 August 10, covering a complete transit of KOI-94.01 for 6.7 hr. The resulting RV variation due to the RM effect spectroscopically confirms that KOI-94.01 is indeed the transiting planet and implies that its orbital axis is well aligned with the stellar spin axis; the projected spin-orbit angle λ is estimated as -6+13- 11 deg. This is the first measurement of the RM effect for a multiple transiting system. Remarkably, the archived Kepler light curve around BJD = 2455211.5 (date in UT 2010 January 14/15) indicates a "double-transit" event of KOI-94.01 and KOI-94.03, in which the two planets transit the stellar disk simultaneously. Moreover, the two planets partially overlap with each other, and exhibit a "planet-planet eclipse" around the transit center. This provides a rare opportunity to put tight constraints on the configuration of the two transiting planets by joint analysis with our Subaru RM measurement. Indeed, we find that the projected mutual inclination of KOI-94.01 and KOI-94.03 is estimated to be δ = -115 ± 055. Implications for the migration model of multiple planet systems are also discussed. © 2012. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.