KELT-6b: AP∼ 7.9 DAY HOT SATURN TRANSITING A METAL-POOR STAR WITH A LONG-PERIOD COMPANION

We report the discovery of KELT-6b, a mildly inflated Saturn-mass planet transiting a metal-poor host. The initial transit signal was identified in KELT-North survey data, and the planetary nature of the occulter was established using a combination of follow-up photometry, high-resolution imaging, high-resolution spectroscopy, and precise radial velocity measurements. The fiducial model from a global analysis including constraints from isochrones indicates that the V = 10.38 host star (BD+31 2447) is a mildly evolved, late-F star with T_(eff_ = 6102 ± 43 K,_log g_* =4.07_(-0.07)^(+0.04), and [Fe/H] = –0.28 ± 0.04, with an inferred mass M_* = 1.09 ± 0.04 M_☉ and radius R_* =1.58_(-0.09)^(+0.16) ,R_☉. The planetary companion has mass M_P = 0.43 ± 0.05 M_(Jup), radius R_p =1.19_(-0.08)^(+0.13),R_(Jup), surface gravity g_p = 2.86_(-0.08)^(+0.06), and density P_p = 0.31_(-0.08)^(+0.07), cm^(-3). The planet is on an orbit with semimajor axis ɑ = 0.079 ± 0.001 AU and eccentricity e = 0.22_(-0.10)^(+0.12), which is roughly consistent with circular, and has ephemeris of T_c(BJD_(TDB)) = 2456347.79679 ± 0.00036 and P = 7.845631 ± 0.000046 days. Equally plausible fits that employ empirical constraints on the host-star parameters rather than isochrones yield a larger planet mass and radius by ~4}-7}. KELT-6b has surface gravity and incident flux similar to HD 209458b, but orbits a host that is more metal poor than HD 209458 by ~0.3 dex. Thus, the KELT-6 system offers an opportunity to perform a comparative measurement of two similar planets in similar environments around stars of very different metallicities. The precise radial velocity data also reveal an acceleration indicative of a longer-period third body in the system, although the companion is not detected in Keck adaptive optics images.