Related papers: Precise Photometry and Spectroscopy of Transits
Due to stellar rotation, the observed radial velocity of a star varies during the transit of a planet across its surface, a phenomenon known as the Rossiter-McLaughlin (RM) effect. The amplitude of the RM effect is related to the radius of…
We consider the effects of mutual transits by extrasolar planet-companion systems (in a true binary or a planet-satellite system) on light curves. We show that induced changes in light curves depend strongly on a ratio between a…
We determine the stellar, planetary, and orbital properties of the transiting planetary system HD 209458, through a joint analysis of high-precision radial velocities, photometry, and timing of the secondary eclipse. Of primary interest is…
Transmission spectra are differential measurements that utilize stellar illumination to probe transiting exoplanet atmospheres. Any spectral difference between the illuminating light source and the disk-integrated stellar spectrum due to…
The Rossiter-McLaughlin (RM) effect has been widely used to estimate the sky-projected spin-orbit angle, $\lambda$, of transiting planetary systems. Most of the previous analysis assume that the host stars are rigid rotators in which the…
Currently, over forty transiting planets have been discovered by ground-based photometric surveys, and space-based missions like Kepler and CoRoT are expected to detect hundreds more. Follow-up photometric observations from the ground will…
The detection of extrasolar planets' atmospheres requires very demanding observations. For planets that can not be spatially separated from their host stars, i.e. the vast majority of planets, the transiting planets are the only ones…
Planetary rotation rates and obliquities provide information regarding the history of planet formation, but have not yet been measured for evolved extrasolar planets. Here we investigate the theoretical and observational perspective of the…
Transmission spectroscopy of Earth-like exoplanets is a potential tool for habitability screening. Transiting planets are present-day "Rosetta Stones" for understanding extrasolar planets because they offer the possibility to characterize…
The forthcoming space missions, able to detect Earth-like planets by the transit method, will a fortiori also be able to detect the transit of artificial planet-size objects. Multiple artificial objects would produce lightcurves easily…
In eclipsing binaries the stellar rotation of the two components will cause a rotational Doppler beaming during eclipse ingress and egress when only part of the eclipsed component is covered. For eclipsing binaries with fast spinning…
We obtain analytical expressions for the velocity anomaly due to the Rossiter- McLaughlin effect, for the case when the anomalous radial velocity is obtained by cross-correlation with a stellar template spectrum. In the limit of vanishing…
The characterization of exoplanetary atmospheres via transit spectroscopy is based on the comparison between the stellar spectrum filtered through the atmosphere and the unadulterated spectrum from the occulted stellar region. The…
The light curve of an exoplanetary transit can be used to estimate the planetary radius and other parameters of interest. Because accurate parameter estimation is a non-analytic and computationally intensive problem, it is often useful to…
We have developed a new model for analysing light curves of planetary transits when there are starspots on the stellar disc. Because the parameter space contains a profusion of local minima we developed a new optimisation algorithm which…
The light curve of an exoplanetary transit can be used to estimate the planetary radius and other parameters of interest. Because accurate parameter estimation is a non-analytic and computationally intensive problem, it is often useful to…
Photometry with the transit method has arguably been the most successful exoplanet discovery method to date. A short overview about the rise of that method to its present status is given. The method's strength is the rich set of parameters…
The properties of a transiting planet's host star are written in its transit light curve. The light curve can reveal the stellar density and the limb darkening profile in addition to the characteristics of the planet and its orbit. For…
Prior to the 1990s, speculations about the occurrence of planets around other stars were based only on planet formation theory, observations of circumstellar disks, and the knowledge that at least one seemingly ordinary star had managed to…
Light refracted by the planet's atmosphere is usually ignored in analysis of planetary transits. Here we show that refraction can add shoulders to the transit light curve, i.e., an increase in the observed flux, mostly just before and after…