Masses of the Kepler-419 Planets from Transit Timing Variations Analysis

Abstract: We perform dynamical fits to the Transit Timing Variations (TTVs) of Kepler-419b. The TTVs from 17 Kepler quarters are obtained from Holczer et al (2016, ApJS 225,9). The dynamical fits are performed using the MultiNest Bayesian inference tool, coupled to an efficient symplectic N-body integrator. We find that the existing TTV data alone are able to uniquely constrain the planetary masses of Kepler-419b and c. Our estimates are in a good agreement with previous mass determinations that combined different techniques and observations, such as TTVs, radial velocity measurements, and the photoeccentric effect. As expected, however, our mass estimates have larger uncertainty. We study the global stability of the system within the parameters uncertainties to discard possible unstable solutions. We conclude that our method applied to the Holczer et al. data can provide reliable determinations of the planetary parameters. In the fore-coming work, we will use Holczer et al. (2016b) data to determine planetary parameters for a large set of Kepler systems.