Global Analysis of KOI-977

Global Analysis of KOI-977: Spectroscopy, Asteroseismology, and Phase-curve Analysis

Authors:

Hirano et al

Abstract:

We present a global analysis of KOI-977, one of the planet host candidates detected by {\it Kepler}. Kepler Input Catalog (KIC) reports that KOI-977 is a red giant, for which few close-in planets have been discovered. Our global analysis involves spectroscopic and asteroseismic determinations of stellar parameters (e.g., mass and radius) and radial velocity (RV) measurements. Our analyses reveal that KOI-977 is indeed a red giant in the red clump, but its estimated radius (≳20R⊙=0.093 AU) is much larger than KOI-977.01's orbital distance (∼0.027 AU) estimated from its period (Porb∼1.35 days) and host star's mass. RV measurements show a small variation, which also contradicts the amplitude of ellipsoidal variations seen in the light-curve folded with KOI-977.01's period. Therefore, we conclude that KOI-977.01 is a false positive, meaning that the red giant, for which we measured the radius and RVs, is different from the object that produces the transit-like signal (i.e., an eclipsing binary). On the basis of this assumption, we also perform a light-curve analysis including the modeling of transits/eclipses and phase-curve variations, adopting various values for the dilution factor D, which is defined as the flux ratio between the red giant and eclipsing binary. Fitting the whole folded light-curve as well as individual transits in the short cadence data simultaneously, we find that the estimated mass and radius ratios of the eclipsing binary are consistent with those of a solar-type star and a late-type star (e.g., an M dwarf) for D≳20.