THE TRANSIT LIGHT-CURVE PROJECT. XIV. CONFIRMATION OF ANOMALOUS RADII FOR THE EXOPLANETS TrES-4b, HAT-P-3b, AND WASP-12b

Abstract

We present transit photometry of three exoplanets, TrES-4b, HAT-P-3b, and\nWASP-12b, allowing for refined estimates of the systems' parameters. TrES-4b\nand WASP-12b were confirmed to be "bloated" planets, with radii of 1.706 +/-\n0.056 R_Jup and 1.736 +/- 0.092 R_Jup, respectively. These planets are too\nlarge to be explained with standard models of gas giant planets. In contrast,\nHAT-P-3b has a radius of 0.827 +/- 0.055 R_Jup, smaller than a pure\nhydrogen-helium planet and indicative of a highly metal-enriched composition.\nAnalyses of the transit timings revealed no significant departures from strict\nperiodicity. For TrES-4, our relatively recent observations allow for\nimprovement in the orbital ephemerides, which is useful for planning future\nobservations.\n