Indications for transit timing variations in the exo-Neptune HAT-P-26b

Abstract

From its discovery, the low density transiting Neptune HAT-P-26b showed a 2.1σ detection drift in its spectroscopic data, whilephotometric data showed a weak curvature in the timing residuals that required further follow-up observations to be confirmed. Toinvestigate this suspected variability, we observed 11 primary transits of HAT-P-26b between March, 2015 and July, 2018. For this,we used the 2.15 meter Jorge Sahade Telescope placed in San Juan, Argentina, and the 1.2 meter STELLA and the 2.5 meter NordicOptical Telescope, both located in the Canary Islands, Spain. To add upon valuable information on the transmission spectrum ofHAT-P-26b, we focused our observations in the R-band only. To contrast the observed timing variability with possible stellar activity,we carried out a photometric follow-up of the host star along three years. We carried out a global fit to the data and determinedthe individual mid-transit times focusing specifically on the light curves that showed complete transit coverage. Using bibliographicdata corresponding to both ground and space-based facilities, plus our new characterized mid-transit times derived from parts-perthousand precise photometry, we observed indications of transit timing variations in the system, with an amplitude of ∼4 minutes anda periodicity of ∼270 epochs. The photometric and spectroscopic follow-up observations of this system will be continued in order torule out any aliasing effects caused by poor sampling and the long-term periodicity.