A Third Exoplanetary System with Misaligned Orbital and Stellar Spin Axes1

Abstract

We present evidence that the WASP-14 exoplanetary system has misaligned\norbital and stellar-rotational axes, with an angle lambda = 33.1 +/- 7.4 deg\nbetween their sky projections. The evidence is based on spectroscopic\nobservations of the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect as well as new photometric\nobservations. WASP-14 is now the third system known to have a significant\nspin-orbit misalignment, and all three systems have "super-Jupiter" planets\n(M_P > 3 Mjup) and eccentric orbits. This finding suggests that the migration\nand subsequent orbital evolution of massive, eccentric exoplanets is somehow\ndifferent from that of less massive close-in Jupiters, the majority of which\nhave well-aligned orbits.\n