2546060

Target RA (J2000): 314.268463 and deg Target Dec (J2000): 31.66097 and deg Gaia GMag: 11.796 Programme ID: CH_PR140063 Programme Manager: BARROS PI of observing programme: Benz Title of programme: Axis 3 - Measuring tides that shape planetary systems (TIDES) Abstract: Ultra-short orbital period planets suffer from intense tidal forces which lead to a deformation of the planets shape (Correia 2014 Barros et al. 2022) and shrinkage of the planets orbit. Measuring the tidal deformation of the planet allows us to estimate the second-degree fluid Love number and gain insight into the planets internal structure. Moreover measuring the tidal decay timescale allows us to estimate the stellar tidal quality factor which is key to constraining stellar physics. Therefore studying tidal effects in ultra-short orbital period planets gives us a wealth of information on planet-to-star tidal interactions that shape planetary systems. We also propose to estimate the tidal decay of a few hot-Jupiters for which we expect a measurable orbital period decrease within the next 3 years. The longer baseline allowed by the CHEOPS extension will be crucial for our ability to measure the tidal decay of some systems. During the CHEOPS nominal mission we achieved a breakthrough on the direct detection of the tidal deformation of exoplanets. Building on these results we also propose to better constrain the tidal deformation of WASP-103b and WASP-12b directly from the transit deformation signature (similar to Barros et al. 2022) and also from the signature in the phase curve (similar to Akinsanmi et al. in prep.). [truncated! Please see actual data for full text]