Exomoon indicators in high-precision transit light curves

Abstract

While the solar system contains about 20 times more moons than planets, no moon has been confirmed around any of the thousands of extrasolar planets known so far. Tools for an uncomplicated identification of the most promising exomoon candidates could be beneficial to streamline follow-up studies.} Here we study three exomoon indicators that emerge if well-established planet-only models are fitted to a planet-moon transit light curve: transit timing variations (TTVs), transit duration variations (TDVs), and apparent planetary transit radius variations (TRVs). We re-evaluate under realistic conditions the previously proposed exomoon signatures in the TTV and TDV series. We simulate light curves of a transiting exoplanet with a single moon. These model light curves are then fitted with a planet-only transit model, pretending there were no moon, and we explore the resulting TTV, TDV, and TRV series for evidence of the moon. The previously described ellipse in the TTV-TDV diagram of an exoplanet with a moon emerges only for high-density moons. Low-density moons distort the sinusoidal shapes of the TTV and the TDV series due to their photometric contribution to the combined planet-moon transit. Sufficiently large moons can produce periodic apparent TRVs of their host planets that could be observable. We find that Kepler and PLATO have similar performances in detecting the exomoon-induced TRV effect around simulated bright ($m_V=8$) stars. These stars, however, are rare in the Kepler sample but will be abundant in the PLATO sample. Moreover, PLATO's higher cadence yields a stronger TTV signal. The periodogram of the sequence of transit radius measurements can indicate the presence of a moon. The TTV and TDV series of exoplanets with moons can be more complex than previously assumed. We propose that TRVs could be a more promising means to identify exomoons in large exoplanet surveys.