Super Earths, planets between 5-10 Earth masses, are the most common type of exoplanet known, yet are completely absent from our Solar system. As a result, their detailed properties, compositions, and formation mechanisms are poorly understood. NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) will identify hundreds of Super-Earths orbiting bright stars, for the first time allowing in-depth characterisation of these planets. At the University of Southern Queensland, we are host to the MINERVA-Australis project, dedicated wholly to the follow-up characterisation and mass measurement of TESS planets. We give an update on the status of MINERVA-Australis and our expected performance.
@article{arxiv.1806.09282,
title = {Understanding Super-Earths with MINERVA-Australis at USQ's Mount Kent Observatory},
author = {Robert A Wittenmyer and Jonathan Horner and Brad D Carter and Stephen R Kane and Peter Plavchan and David Ciardi and the MINERVA-Australis consortium},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1806.09282},
year = {2018}
}
Comments
Accepted to appear in the peer-reviewed proceedings of the 17th Australian Space Research Conference, held at the University of Sydney, 13th-15th November, 2017