Validating and Characterizing Transiting Exoplanets from Space with EPOXI, Kepler, and Warm Spitzer

Details Validating and Characterizing Transiting Exoplanets from Space with EPOXI, Kepler, and Warm Spitzer Validating and Characterizing Transiting Exoplanets from Space with EPOXI, Kepler, and Warm Spitzer

Jan 2012

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2012aas...21941406b&link_type=abstract

American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #219, #414.06

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy

Scientific paper

My thesis work comprises analyses of transiting exoplanets with observations from three space-based instruments. The Extrasolar Planet Observation and Characterization (EPOCh) component of the EPOXI mission repurposed the Deep Impact Spacecraft to gather photometry of six known transiting exoplanet systems. I systematically searched the EPOXI light curves for additional transiting planets, and identified one such candidate in the exoplanet system GJ 436. I gathered Warm Spitzer light curves of GJ 436 during a predicted transit of this putative planet: while I ruled out the presence of the hypothesized planet, I developed a novel reduction technique for Warm Spitzer observations and demonstrated the sensitivity of that instrument to sub-Earth-sized transiting planets. I next applied these techniques to a sample of super-Earth-sized planetary candidates identified by the Kepler mission. In the absence of radial velocity confirmation (challenging for such low-mass planets), it is nonetheless possible to make a statistical argument for the planetary nature of the candidate, if the combined likelihood of all false positive scenarios is sufficiently smaller than the planet scenario. An authentic planet will exhibit an achromatic transit depth, as measured in the optical with Kepler and near-infrared with Warm Spitzer. The eclipse from a stellar blend, in contrast, would likely vary with wavelength. I presented the discovery of the Kepler-19 system, applying Warm Spitzer observations toward validation of the transiting 2.2 REarth planet, Kepler-19b. I identified systematic variations in the transit times of Kepler-19b, which led to the first robust detection of a non-transiting planet using the transit timing variation method: Kepler-19c.
Support for EPOXI was provided by NASA's Discovery Program via Agreement NNX08AB64A. This work is based on observations made with the Spitzer Space Telescope. Support for Spitzer observations is provided by NASA through an award issued by JPL/Caltech.

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