arXiv subjects

R. W. Noyes

Publications and source records attributed to R. W. Noyes.

65 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

arXiv2006

HAT-P-1b: A Large-Radius, Low-Density Exoplanet Transiting one Member of a Stellar Binary

Using small automated telescopes in Arizona and Hawaii, the HATNet project has detected an object transiting one member of the double star system ADS 16402 AB. This system is a pair of G0 main-sequence stars with age about 3 Gyr at a distance of ~139 pc and projected separation of ~1550 AU. The transit signal has a period of 4.46529 days and depth of 0.015 mag. From follow-up photometry and spectroscopy, we find that the object is a "hot Jupiter" planet with mass about 0.53 M_jup and radius ~1.36 R_jup traveling in an orbit with semimajor axis 0.055 AU and inclination about 85.9 deg, thus transiting the star at impact parameter 0.74 of the stellar radius. Based on a data set spanning three years, ephemerides for the transit center are: T_C = 2453984.397 + N_tr * 4.46529. The planet, designated HAT-P-1b, appears to be at least as large in radius, and smaller in mean density, than any previously-known planet.

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arXiv2006

Refined parameters of the planet orbiting HD 189733

We report on the BVRI multi-band follow-up photometry of the transiting extrasolar planet HD 189733b. We revise the transit parameters and find planetary radius RP = 1.154+/- 0.032RJ and inclination i_P = 85.79+/-0.24deg. The new density (~ 1g cm-3) is significantly higher than the former estimate (~ 0.75g cm-3); this shows that from the current sample of 9 transiting planets, only HD 209458 (and possibly OGLE-10b) have anomalously large radii and low densities. We note that due to the proximity of the parent star, HD 189733b currently has one of the most precise radius determinations among extrasolar planets. We calculate new ephemerides: P = 2.218573+/-0.000020 days, T0 = 2453629.39420+/-0.00024 (HJD), and estimate the timing offsets of the 11 distinct transits with respect to the predictions of a constant orbital period, which can be used to reveal the presence of additional planets in the system.

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arXiv2004

A Trend Filtering Algorithm for wide field variability surveys

We show that various systematics related to certain instrumental effects and data reduction anomalies in wide field variability surveys can be efficiently corrected by a Trend Filtering Algorithm (TFA) applied to the photometric time series produced by standard data pipelines. Statistical tests, performed on the database of the HATNet project, show that by the application of this filtering method the cumulative detection probability of periodic transits increases by up to 0.4 for variables brighter than 11 mag with a trend of increasing efficiency toward brighter magnitudes. We also show that TFA can be used for the reconstruction of periodic signals by iteratively filtering out systematic distortions.

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arXiv2004

HAT Variability Survey in the High Stellar Density "Kepler Field" with Millimagnitude Image Subtraction Photometry

The Hungarian-made Automated Telescope network (HATnet) is an ongoing project to detect transiting extra-solar planets using small aperture (11 cm diameter), robotic telescopes. In this paper we present the results from using image subtraction photometry to reduce a crowded stellar field observed with one of the HATnet telescopes (HAT-5). This field was chosen to overlap with the planned Kepler mission. We obtained I-band light curves for 98,000 objects in a 8.3x8.3 square degree field of view, near the Galactic plane in the constellations Cygnus and Lyra. These observations include 788 5-minute exposures over 30 days. For the brightest stars (I~8.0) we achieved a precision of 3.5 millimagnitudes, falling to 0.1 magnitudes at the faint end (I~14). From these light curves we identify 1617 variable stars, of which 1439 are newly discovered. The fact that nearly 90% of the variables were previously undetected further demonstrates the vast number of variables yet to be discovered even among fairly bright stars in our Galaxy. We also discuss some of the most interesting cases. These include: V1171 Cyg, a triple system with the inner two stars in P=1.462 day period eclipsing orbit and the outer star a P=4.86 day Cepheid; HD227269, an eccentric eclipsing system with a P=4.86 day period that also shows P=2.907 day pulsations; WW Cyg, a well studied eclipsing binary; V482 Cyg, an RCB star; and V546 Cyg, a PV Tel Variable. We also detect a number of small amplitude variables, in some cases with full amplitude as low as 10 mmag.

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arXiv2004

Wide-field millimagnitude photometry with HAT: A Tool for Extra-solar Planet Detection

We discuss the system requirements for obtaining millimagnitude photometric precision over a wide field using small aperture short focal length telescope systems, such as are being developed by a number of research groups to search for transiting extra-solar planets. We describe the Hungarian-made Automated Telescope (HAT) system which attempts to meet these requirements. The attainable precision of HAT has been significantly improved by a technique in which the telescope is made to execute small pointing steps during each exposure so as to broaden the effective point spread function of the system to a value more compatible with the pixel size of our CCD detector. Experiments during a preliminary survey (Spring 2003) of two star fields with the HAT-5 instrument allowed us to optimize the HAT photometric precision using this method of PSF broadening; in this way have been able to achieve a precision as good as 2 millimagnitudes on brighter stars. We briefly describe development of a network of HAT telescopes (HATnet) spaced in longitude.

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arXiv2003

The ELODIE survey for northern extra-solar planets II. A Jovian planet on a long-period orbit around GJ 777 A

We present radial-velocity measurements obtained with the ELODIE and AFOE spectrographs for GJ 777 A (HD 190360), a metal-rich ([Fe/H]=0.25) nearby (d=15.9 pc) star in a stellar binary system. A long-period low radial-velocity amplitude variation is detected revealing the presence of a Jovian planetary companion. Some of the orbital elements remain weakly constrained because of the smallness of the signal compared to our instrumental precision. The detailed orbital shape is therefore not well established. We present our best fitted orbital solution: an eccentric (e=0.48) 10.7--year orbit. The minimum mass of the companion is 1.33 M_Jup.

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arXiv2002

The Extra-Solar Planet Imager (ESPI)

ESPI has been proposed for direct imaging and spectral analysis of giant planets orbiting solar-type stars. ESPI extends the concept suggested by Nisenson and Papaliolios (2001) for a square aperture apodized telescope that has sufficient dynamic range to directly detect exo-planets. With a 1.5 M square mirror, ESPI can deliver high dynamic range imagery as close as 0.3 arcseconds to bright sources, permitting a sensitive search for exoplanets around nearby stars and a study of their characteristics in reflected light.

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arXiv2000

A High-Eccentricity Low-Mass Companion to HD 89744

HD 89744 is an F7 V star with mass 1.4 M, effective temperature 6166 K, age 2.0 Gy and metallicity [Fe/H]= 0.18. The radial velocity of the star has been monitored with the AFOE spectrograph at the Whipple Observatory since 1996, and evidence has been found for a low mass companion. The data were complemented by additional data from the Hamilton spectrograph at Lick Observatory during the companion's periastron passage in fall 1999. As a result, we have determined the star's orbital wobble to have period P = 256 d, orbital amplitude K = 257 m/s, and eccentricity e = 0.7. From the stellar mass we infer that the companion has minimum mass m2 sin i = 7.2 MJup in an orbit with semi-major axis a2 = 0.88 AU. The eccentricity of the orbit, among the highest known for extra-solar planets, continues the trend that extra-solar planets with semi-major axes greater than about 0.15 AU tend to have much higher eccentricities than are found in our solar system. The high metallicity of the parent star reinforces the trend that parent stars of extra-solar planets tend to have high metallicity

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arXiv1998

Dynamics of Magnetic Flux Elements in the Solar Photosphere

The interaction of magnetic fields and convection is investigated in the context of the coronal heating problem. We study the motions of photospheric magnetic elements using filtergrams obtained at the Swedish Vacuum Solar Telescope at La Palma. We use potential-field modeling to extrapolate the magnetic and velocity fields to larger height. We find that the velocity in the chromosphere can be locally enhanced at the separatrix surfaces between neighboring flux tubes. The predicted velocities are several km/s, significantly larger than those of the photospheric flux tubes, which may have important implications for coronal heating. s

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arXiv1997

A Search for Line Shape and Depth Variations in 51 Pegasi and Tau Bootis

Spectroscopic observations of 51 Pegasi and tau Bootis show no periodic changes in the shapes of their line profiles; these results for 51 Peg are in significant conflict with those reported by Gray and Hatzes (1997). Our detection limits are small enough to rule out nonradial pulsations as the cause of the variability in tau Boo, but not in 51 Peg. The absence of line shape changes is consistent with these stars' radial velocity variability arising from planetary-mass companions.

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arXiv1997

A Planet Orbiting the Star Rho Coronae Borealis

We report the discovery of near-sinusoidal radial velocity variations of the G0V star rhoCrB, with period 39.6 days and amplitude 67 m/s. These variations are consistent with the existence of an orbital companion in a circular orbit. Adopting a mass of 1.0 M(Sun) for the primary, the companion has minimum mass about 1.1 Jupiter masses, and orbital radius about 0.23 AU. Such an orbital radius is too large for tidal circularization of an initially eccentric orbit during the lifetime of the star, and hence we suggest that the low eccentricity is primordial, as would be expected for a planet formed in a dissipative circumstellar disk.

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