2013A&A...555A..92V

Variations in the timing of transiting exoplanets provide a powerful tool for detecting additional planets in the system. Thus, the aim of this paper is to discuss the plausibility of transit timing variations (TTVs) on the Qatar-1 system by means of primary transit light curves analysis. Furthermore, we provide an interpretation of the timing variation. We observed Qatar-1 between March 2011 and October 2012 using the 1.2m OLT telescope in Germany and the 0.6m PTST telescope in Spain. We present 26 primary transits of the hot Jupiter Qatar-1b. In total, our light curves cover a baseline of 18 months. We report on indications for possible long-term TTVs. Assuming that these TTVs are true, we present two different scenarios that could explain them. Our reported ∼190 days TTV signal can be reproduced by either a weak perturber in resonance with Qatar-1b, or by a massive body in the brown dwarf regime. More observations and radial velocity monitoring are required to better constrain the perturber's characteristics. We also refine the ephemeris of Qatar-1b, which we find to be T₀=2456157.42204±0.0001BJD_TDB and P=1.4200246±0.0000007-days, and improve the system orbital parameters.