A 1" Telescope: The Optimal Approach to Bright-Star Planetary Transits

Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics

Scientific paper

Rate now

  [ 0.00 ] – not rated yet Voters 0   Comments 0

Details

6 pages, including 1 figure

Scientific paper

Planetary transits of bright stars, V < 10, offer the best opportunity for detailed studies of extra-solar planets, such as are already being carried out for HD209458b. Since these stars are rare, they should be searched over the entire sky. In the limits of zero read-out time, zero sky noise, and perfect optics, the sensitivity of an all-sky survey is independent of telescope aperture: for fixed detector size and focal ratio, the greater light-gathering power of larger telescopes is exactly cancelled by their reduced field of view. Finite read-out times strongly favor smaller telescopes because exposures are longer so a smaller fraction of time is wasted on readout. However, if the aperture is too small, the sky noise in one pixel exceeds the stellar flux and the field of view becomes so large that optical distortions become unmanageable. We find that the optimal aperture is about 1". A one-year survey using such a 1" telescope could detect essentially all hot-jupiter transits of V < 10 stars observable from a given site.

No associations

LandOfFree

Say what you really think

Search LandOfFree.com for scientists and scientific papers. Rate them and share your experience with other people.

Rating

A 1" Telescope: The Optimal Approach to Bright-Star Planetary Transits does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with A 1" Telescope: The Optimal Approach to Bright-Star Planetary Transits, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and A 1" Telescope: The Optimal Approach to Bright-Star Planetary Transits will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

     

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-588063

  Search
All data on this website is collected from public sources. Our data reflects the most accurate information available at the time of publication.