Related papers: Reflected Light Phase Curves in the TESS Era
We present the first integrated light, TESS-based light curves for star clusters in the Milky Way, Small Magellanic Cloud, and Large Magellanic Cloud. We explore the information encoded in these light curves, with particular emphasis on…
Context. Hot subdwarfs, which are hot and small He-burning objects, are ideal targets for exploring the evolution of planetary systems after the red giant branch (RGB). Thus far, no planets have been confirmed around them, and no systematic…
The next generation of high-contrast imaging instruments will provide the first unresolved image of an extrasolar planet. While the emitted infrared light from the planet in thermal equilibrium should show almost no phase effect, the…
New observational facilities are becoming increasingly capable of observing reflected light from transiting and directly imaged extrasolar planets. In this study, we provide an analytic framework to interpret observed phase curves,…
We derive efficient, closed form, differentiable, and numerically stable solutions for the flux measured from a spherical planet or moon seen in reflected light, either in or out of occultation. Our expressions apply to the computation of…
We exploit high quality photometry from the EVEREST pipeline to evaluate false-positive exoplanet candidates from the K2 mission. We compare the practical capabilities of EVEREST's pixel-level decorrelation scheme to the data analysis…
We present a method to detect small atmospheric signals in Kepler's planet candidate light curves by averaging light curves for multiple candidates with similar orbital and physical characteristics. Our statistical method allows us to…
The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) is providing precise time-series photometry for most star clusters in the solar neighborhood. Using the TESS images, we have begun a Cluster Difference Imaging Photometric Survey (CDIPS), in…
We use a planetary albedo model to investigate variations in visible wavelength phase curves of exoplanets. The presence of clouds on these exoplanets significantly alters their planetary albedo spectra. We confirm that non-uniform cloud…
We report the detection of the full orbital phase curve and occultation of the hot-Jupiter WASP-100b using TESS photometry. The phase curve is isolated by suppressing low frequency stellar and instrumental modes using both a non-parametric…
We propose that astronomers will be eventually be able to discriminate between extrasolar Earth-like planets with surface oceans and those without using the shape of phase light curves in the visible and near-IR spectrum. We model the…
We discuss prospects of identifying and characterizing black hole (BH) companions to normal stars on tight but detached orbits, using photometric data from the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). We focus on the following two…
Refraction deflects photons that pass through atmospheres, which affects transit light curves. Refraction thus provides an avenue to probe physical properties of exoplanet atmospheres and to constrain the presence of clouds and hazes. In…
Photometric phase curves provide an important window onto exoplanetary atmospheres and potentially even their surfaces. With similar amplitudes to occultations but far longer baselines, they have a higher sensitivity to planetary photons at…
First generation optical coronagraphic telescopes will obtain images of cool gas and ice giant exoplanets around nearby stars. The albedo spectra of exoplanets at planet-star separations larger than about 1 AU are dominated by reflected…
The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) is the latest observational effort to find exoplanets and map bright transient optical phenomena. Supernovae (SN) are particularly interesting as cosmological standard candles for…
We have systematically searched for the phase curves among the planets discovered by \textit{K2}. Using the reported planetary parameters, we screen out the best potential candidates, and examine their light curves in detail. For our work,…
Understanding the optical properties of exoplanet cloud particles is a top priority. Many cloud condensates form as nonspherical particles and their optical properties can be very different from those of spheres. In this study, we focus on…
Specularly reflected light, or glint, from an ocean surface may provide a useful observational tool for studying extrasolar terrestrial planets. Detection of sea-surface glints would differentiate ocean-bearing terrestrial planets, i.e.…
Eclipsing planetary systems give us an important window on extrasolar planet atmospheres. By measuring the depth of the secondary eclipse, when the planet moves behind the star, we can estimate the strength of the thermal emission from the…