Kavli Affiliate: Saul Rappaport
| First 5 Authors: Samuel N. Quinn, Saul Rappaport, Andrew Vanderburg, Jason D. Eastman, Lorne A. Nelson
| Summary:
We report the detection of a single transit-like signal in the Kepler data of
the slightly evolved F star KIC4918810. The transit duration is ~45 hours, and
while the orbital period ($Psim10$ years) is not well constrained, it is one
of the longest among companions known to transit. We calculate the size of the
transiting object to be $R_P = 0.910$ $R_J$. Objects of this size vary by
orders of magnitude in their densities, encompassing masses between that of
Saturn ($0.3$ $M_J$) and stars above the hydrogen-burning limit (~80 $M_J$).
Radial-velocity observations reveal that the companion is unlikely to be a
star. The mass posterior is bimodal, indicating a mass of either ~0.24 $M_J$ or
~26 $M_J$. Continued spectroscopic monitoring should either constrain the mass
to be planetary or detect the orbital motion, the latter of which would yield a
benchmark long-period brown dwarf with a measured mass, radius, and age.
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