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Spin dynamics of close-in planets exhibiting large transit timing variations

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We study the spin evolution of close-in planets in compact multi-planetary systems. The rotation period of these planets is often assumed to be synchronous with the orbital period due to… Click to show full abstract

We study the spin evolution of close-in planets in compact multi-planetary systems. The rotation period of these planets is often assumed to be synchronous with the orbital period due to tidal dissipation. Here we show that planet-planet perturbations can drive the spin of these planets into non-synchronous or even chaotic states. In particular, we show that the transit timing variation (TTV) is a very good probe to study the spin dynamics, since both are dominated by the perturbations of the mean longitude of the planet. We apply our model to KOI-227  b and Kepler-88  b , which are both observed undergoing strong TTVs. We also perform numerical simulations of the spin evolution of these two planets. We show that for KOI-227  b non-synchronous rotation is possible, while for Kepler-88  b the rotation can be chaotic.

Keywords: close planets; exhibiting large; transit timing; planets exhibiting; spin dynamics; dynamics close

Journal Title: Astronomy and Astrophysics
Year Published: 2017

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