HAT-P-12b: A LOW-DENSITY SUB-SATURN MASS PLANET TRANSITING A METAL-POOR K DWARF

We report on the discovery of HAT-P-12b, a transiting extrasolar planet orbiting the moderately bright V ≈ 12.8 K4 dwarf GSC 03033 – 00706, with a period P = 3.2130598 ± 0.0000021 d, transit epoch T_c = 2454419.19556 ± 0.00020 (BJD), and transit duration 0.0974 ± 0.0006 d. The host star has a mass of 0.73 ± 0.02 M_☉, radius of 0.70^(+0.02)_(–0.01) R_☉, effective temperature 4650 ± 60 K, and metallicity [Fe/H] = –0.29 ± 0.05. We find a slight correlation between the observed spectral line bisector spans and the radial velocity, so we consider, and rule out, various blend configurations including a blend with a background eclipsing binary, and hierarchical triple systems where the eclipsing body is a star or a planet. We conclude that a model consisting of a single star with a transiting planet best fits the observations, and show that a likely explanation for the apparent correlation is contamination from scattered moonlight. Based on this model, the planetary companion has a mass of 0.211 ± 0.012 M_J and radius of 0.959^(+0.029)_(–0.021) R_J yielding a mean density of 0.295 ± 0.025 g cm^(–3). Comparing these observations with recent theoretical models, we find that HAT-P-12b is consistent with a ~1-4.5 Gyr, mildly irradiated, H/He-dominated planet with a core mass M_C ≾ 10 M_⊕. HAT-P-12b is thus the least massive H/He-dominated gas giant planet found to date. This record was previously held by Saturn.