The K − η effective mass spectrum in the reaction K − p→K − π + π − π 0 p at 11 GeV/ c has a prominent peak at ≈1.75 GeV/ c 2 , which is shown to be due to the K 3 ∗ (1780) by a spherical harmonic moments analysis and amplitude decomposition; there is no significant signal for K 2 ∗ (1430). The measured branching fractions for the leading L =1 and L =2 K ∗, s, [BF(K 2 ∗ (1430)→Kη) <0.45% at the 95% CL and BF ( K 3 ∗ (1780)→ Kη )=9.4±3.4%] confirm the SU(3) prediction that the Kη channel couples preferentially to odd spin K *, s.
Numerical data of acceptance corrected spherical harmonic moments requested from authors.
Including systematic error.