Measurement of the Rossiter--McLaughlin Effect in the Transiting Exoplanetary System TrES-1

Abstract

We report a measurement of the Rossiter--McLaughlin effect in the transiting extrasolar planetary system TrES-1, via simultaneous spectroscopic and photometric observations with the Subaru and MAGNUM telescopes. By modeling the radial velocity anomaly that was observed during a transit, we determine the sky-projected angle between the stellar spin axis and the planetary orbital axis to be $\lambda = 30 \pm 21$ [deg]. This is the third case for which $\lambda$ has been measured in a transiting exoplanetary system, and the first demonstration that such measurements are possible for relatively faint host stars ($V \sim 12$, as compared to $V \sim 8$ for the other systems). We also derive a time of mid-transit, constraints on the eccentricity of the TrES-1b orbit ($e = 0.048 \pm 0.025$), and upper limits on the mass of the Trojan companions ($\lesssim$14 $M_{\oplus}$) at the 3$\sigma$ level.