A planetary companion to the hyades giant ε tauri

• Published in: The Astrophysical journal Vol. 661; no. 1; pp. 527 - 531
• Main Authors: SATO, Bun'Ei, IZUMIURA, Hideyuki, YOSHIDA, Michitoshi, IKOMA, Masahiro, KOKUBO, Eiichiro, IDA, Shigeru, TOYOTA, Eri, KAMBE, Eiji, TAKEDA, Yoichi, MASUDA, Seiji, OMIYA, Masashi, MURATA, Daisuke, ITCH, Yoichi, ANDO, Hiroyasu
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chicago, IL University of Chicago Press 20.05.2007
• Subjects: Astronomy; Earth, ocean, space; Exact sciences and technology; planetary systems; techniques: radial velocities; open clusters and associations: individual (Hyades); Open clusters; Radial velocity; Star clusters; Planetary system; stars: individual (e Tauri)
• ISSN: 0004-637X; 1538-4357
• DOI: 10.1086/513503

We report the detection of an extrasolar planet orbiting epsilon Tau, one of the giant stars in the Hyades open cluster. This is the first planet ever discovered in an open cluster. Precise Doppler measurements of this star from Okayama Astrophysical Observatory have revealed Keplerian velocity variations with an orbital period of 594.9 plus or minus 5.3 days, a semiamplitude of 95.9 plus or minus 1.8 m s super(-1), and an eccentricity of 0.151 plus or minus 0.023. The minimum mass of the companion is 7.C plus or minus 0.2 M sub(J), and the semimajor axis is 1.03 plus or minus 0.03 AU adopting a stellar mass of 2.7 plus or minus 0.1 M [unk]. The age of 625 Myr for the cluster sets the most secure upper limit ever on the timescale of giant planet formation. The mass of 2.7 M [unk] for the host star is robustly determined by isochrone fitting, which makes the star the heaviest among planet-harboring stars. Putting together the fact that no planets have been found around about 100 low-mass dwarfs in the cluster, the frequency of massive planets is suggested to be higher around high-mass stars than around low-mass ones.