Stellar Rotation Periods of the Kepler Objects of Interest: A Dearth of Close-in Planets around Fast Rotators

Abstract

We present a large sample of stellar rotation periods for Kepler Objects of Interest (KOIs), based on three years of public Kepler data. These were measured by detecting periodic photometric modulation caused by star spots, using an algorithm based on the autocorrelation function (ACF) of the light curve, developed recently by McQuillan, Aigrain & Mazeh (2013). Of the 1919 main-sequence exoplanet hosts analyzed, robust rotation periods were detected for 737. Comparing the detected stellar periods to the orbital periods of the innermost planet in each system reveals a notable lack of close-in planets around rapid rotators. It appears that only slowly spinning stars, with rotation periods longer than 5-10 days, host planets on orbits shorter than 3 days, although the mechanism(s) that lead(s) to this is not clear.

Accepted for publication in ApJL on 8th Aug 2013, 5 pages, 3 figures, 1 table. A full machine-readable version of Table 1 is available as an ancillary file