Doppler-based planet surveys have shown that , besides metallicity , the planet occurrence is also correlated with stellar mass , increasing from M to F-A spectral types .
However , it has recently been argued that the subgiants ( which represent A stars after they evolve off the main sequence ) may not be as massive as suggested initially , which would significantly change the correlation found .
To start investigating this claim , we have studied the subgiant star HD 185351 , which has precisely measured physical properties based on asteroseismology and interferometry .
An independent spectroscopic differential analysis based on excitation and ionization balance of iron lines yielded the atmospheric parameters T _ { eff } = 5035 \pm 29 K , \log g = 3.30 \pm 0.08 and [ Fe/H ] = 0.10 \pm 0.04 .
These were used in conjunction with the PARSEC stellar evolutionary tracks to infer a mass M = 1.77 \pm 0.04 M _ { \odot } , which agrees well with the previous estimates .
Lithium abundance was also estimated from spectral synthesis ( A ( Li ) = 0.77 \pm 0.07 ) and , together with T _ { eff } and [ Fe/H ] , allowed to determine a mass M = 1.64 \pm 0.06 M _ { \odot } , which is independent of the star ’ s parallax and surface gravity .
Our new measurements of the stellar mass support the notion that HD185351 is a Retired A Star with a mass in excess of 1.6 M _ { \odot } .