Constraints on the Magnetic Field Strength of HAT-P-7 b and other Hot Giant Exoplanets

Observations of infrared and optical light curves of hot Jupiters have demonstrated that the peak brightness is generally offset eastward from the substellar point [1,2]. This observation is consistent with hydrodynamic numerical simulations that produce fast, eastward directed winds which advect the hottest point in the atmosphere eastward of the substellar point [3,4]. However, recent continuous Kepler measurements of HAT-P-7 b show that its peak brightness offset varies significantly in time, with excursions such that the brightest point is sometimes westward of the substellar point [5]. These variations in brightness offset require wind variability, with or without the presence of clouds. While such wind variability has not been seen in hydrodynamic simulations of hot Jupiter atmospheres, it has been seen in magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations [6]. Here we show that MHD simulations of HAT-P-7 b indeed display variable winds and corresponding variability in the position of the hottest point in the atmosphere. Assuming the observed variability in HAT-P-7 b is due to magnetism we constrain its minimum magnetic field strength to be 6\,G. Similar observations of wind variability on hot giant exoplanets, or lack thereof, could help constrain their magnetic field strengths. Since dynamo simulations of these planets do not exist and theoretical scaling relations [7] may not apply, such observational constraints could prove immensely useful.