An Updated Ephemeris for K2-138 d

Abstract

K2-138 d (EPIC 245950175 d) is one of five planets in a chain of 3:2 mean motion resonances discovered by Christiansen et al. in K2 Campaign 12. An additional planet, confirmed with the Spitzer Space Telescope by Hardegree-Ullman et al., is not in the resonant chain. The near first-order resonances, coupled with the planets being locked in a set of three-body Laplace resonances, make this system a unique target to study for transit timing variations (TTVs). As the predicted transit timing amplitude (∼7 minutes) was below the typical transit timing uncertainty (∼10 minutes) of the K2 data, Christiansen et al. were unable to detect TTVs for K2-138 d in the K2 time series. Here, we describe new observations that allow us to refine the ephemeris for K2-138 d and perform a brief search for TTVs. Our efforts result in a refined orbital period that is 19 times more precise than previously available measurements, but our data are insufficient to confirm a TTV signal for K2-138 d.

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