KELT-2Ab: A Hot Jupiter Transiting the Bright (V=8.77) Primary Star of a Binary System

We report the discovery of KELT-2Ab, a hot Jupiter transiting the bright (V=8.77) primary star of the HD 42176 binary system. The host is a slightly evolved late F-star likely in the very short-lived “blue-hook” stage of evolution, with $\text{teff}=6148\pm 48\mathrm{K}$, $\log g=4.030_{-0.026}^{+0.015}$ and $\text{feh}=0.034\pm 0.78$. The inferred stellar mass is $M_{\ast }=1.314_{-0.060}^{+0.063}$\msun\ and the star has a relatively large radius of $R_{\ast }=1.836_{-0.046}^{+0.066}$\rsun. The planet is a typical hot Jupiter with period $4.11379\pm 0.00001$ days and a mass of $M_P=1.524\pm 0.088$\mj\ and radius of $R_P=1.290_{-0.050}^{+0.064}$\rj. This is mildly inflated as compared to models of irradiated giant planets at the $\sim$4 Gyr age of the system. KELT-2A is the third brightest star with a transiting planet identified by ground-based transit surveys, and the ninth brightest star overall with a transiting planet. KELT-2Ab’s mass and radius are unique among the subset of planets with $V<9$ host stars, and therefore increases the diversity of bright benchmark systems. We also measure the relative motion of KELT-2A and -2B over a baseline of 38 years, robustly demonstrating for the first time that the stars are bound. This allows us to infer that KELT-2B is an early K-dwarf. We hypothesize that through the eccentric Kozai mechanism KELT-2B may have emplaced KELT-2Ab in its current orbit. This scenario is potentially testable with Rossiter-McLaughlin measurements, which should have an amplitude of $\sim$44 m s${}^{-1}$.