The TASTE project is searching for low-mass planets with the Transit Timing Variation (TTV) technique, by gathering high-precision, short-cadence light curves for a selected sample of transiting exoplanets. It has been claimed that the "hot Jupiter" WASP-3b could be perturbed by a second planet. Presenting eleven new light curves (secured at the IAC80 and UDEM telescopes) and re-analyzing thirty-eight archival light curves in a homogeneous way, we show that new data do not confirm the previously claimed TTV signal. However, we bring evidence that measurements are not consistent with a constant orbital period, though no significant periodicity can be detected. Additional dynamical modeling and follow-up observations are planned to constrain the properties of the perturber or to put upper limits to it. We provide a refined ephemeris for WASP-3b and improved orbital/physical parameters. A contact eclipsing binary, serendipitously discovered among field stars, is reported here for the first time.
@article{arxiv.1210.3045,
title = {TASTE. III. A homogeneous study of transit time variations in WASP-3b},
author = {V. Nascimbeni and A. Cunial and S. Murabito and P. V. Sada and A. Aparicio and G. Piotto and L. R. Bedin and A. P. Milone and A. Rosenberg and L. Borsato and M. Damasso and V. Granata and L. Malavolta},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1210.3045},
year = {2015}
}
Comments
10 pages, 6 figures, 4 tables; accepted for publication in A&A