Gaussian processes (GPs) are commonly used as a model of stochastic variability in astrophysical time series. In particular, GPs are frequently employed to account for correlated stellar variability in planetary transit light curves. The efficient application of GPs to light curves containing thousands to tens of thousands of datapoints has been made possible by recent advances in GP methods, including the celerite method. Here we present an extension of the celerite method to two input dimensions, where, typically, the second dimension is small. This method scales linearly with the total number of datapoints when the noise in each large dimension is proportional to the same celerite kernel and only the amplitude of the correlated noise varies in the second dimension. We demonstrate the application of this method to the problem of measuring precise transit parameters from multiwavelength light curves and show that it has the potential to improve transit parameters measurements by orders of magnitude. Applications of this method include transit spectroscopy and exomoon detection, as well a broader set of astronomical problems.
The Unrealised Interdisciplinary Advantage of Observing High Mass Transiting Exoplanets and Brown Dwarfs -- Strategic Exoplanet Initiatives with HST and JWST White Paper
In the search for life in the cosmos, transiting exoplanets are currently our best targets. In the search for life in the cosmos, transiting exoplanets are currently our best targets. With thousands already detected, our search is entering a new era of discovery with upcoming large telescopes that will look for signs of life in the atmospheres of transiting worlds. However, the universe is dynamic, and which stars in the solar neighborhood have a vantage point to see Earth as a transiting planet and can identify its vibrant biosphere since early human civilizations are unknown. Here we show th…
Transit observations have found the majority of exoplanets to date. Spectroscopic observations of transits and eclipses are the most commonly used tool to characterize exoplanet atmospheres and will be used in the search for life. However, an exoplanet's orbit must be aligned with our line of sight to observe a transit. Here we ask, from which stellar vantage points would a distant observer be able to search for life on Earth in the same way? We use the TESS Input Catalog and data from Gaia DR2 to identify the closest stars that could see Earth as a transiting exoplanet: We identify 1,004 Main…
Catholic University of America（美国天主教大学）；Tel Aviv University（特拉维夫大学）；ThetaRay（ThetaRay公司）
A novel artificial intelligence (AI) technique that uses machine learning (ML) methodologies combines several algorithms, which were developed by ThetaRay, Inc., is applied to NASA's Transiting Exoplanets Survey Satellite (TESS) dataset to identify exoplanetary candidates. The AI/ML ThetaRay system is trained initially with Kepler exoplanetary data and validated with confirmed exoplanets before its application to TESS data. Existing and new features of the data, based on various observational parameters, are constructed and used in the AI/ML analysis by employing semi-supervised and unsupervis…
We present the STScI WFC3 project webpage, Transiting Exoplanets List of Space Telescope Spectroscopy, TrExoLiSTS. It tabulates existing observations of transiting exoplanet atmospheres, available in the MAST archive made with HST WFC3 using the stare or spatial scan mode. A parallel page is available for all instruments aboard JWST using the spectral Time Series Observation (TSO) mode. The web pages include observations obtained during primary transits, secondary eclipses and phase curves. TREXOLISTS facilitates proposal preparation for programs that are highly-complementary to existing progr…
Characterising transiting exoplanets at long orbital period: lessons learned for PLATO from 10 years of monitoring the HIP41378 system
Univ. Grenoble Alpes（格勒诺布尔阿尔卑斯大学）；CNRS（法国国家科学研究中心）；IPAG（天体物理学与行星学研究所）；Aix Marseille Univ（艾克斯-马赛大学）；CNES（法国国家空间研究中心）；LAM（拉奥朗实验室）；Department of Astronomy, University of Geneva（日内瓦大学天文系）
We propose a method for observing transiting exoplanets with near-infrared high-resolution spectrometers. We aim to create a robust data analysis method for recovering atmospheric transmission spectra from transiting exoplanets over a wide wavelength range in the near infrared. By using an inverse method approach, combined with stellar models and telluric transmission spectra, the method recovers the transiting exoplanet's atmospheric transmittance at high precision over a wide wavelength range. We describe our method and have tested it by simulating observations. This method is capable of rec…
The Near Earth Object Surveillance Satellite (NEOSSat) is a Canadian-led 15 cm Earth-orbiting telescope originally designed to detect asteroids near the Sun. Its design is however also suitable for the observation of exoplanetary transits of bright stars. We used the NEOSSat platform to perform followup observations of several Transiting Exoplanets Survey Satellite (TESS) targets, both as a demonstration of NEOSSat capabilities for exoplanetary science and improve the orbital ephemerides and properties of these exoplanet systems. We are able to recover / confirm the orbital properties of such …
This tutorial is an introduction to techniques used to characterize the atmospheres of transiting exoplanets. We intend it to be a useful guide for the undergraduate, graduate student, or postdoctoral scholar who wants to begin research in this field, but who has no prior experience with transiting exoplanets. We begin with a discussion of the properties of exoplanetary systems that allow us to measure exoplanetary spectra, and the principles that underlie transit techniques. Subsequently, we discuss the most favorable wavelengths for observing, and explain the specific techniques of secondary…
Transmission spectroscopy of exoplanets is a tool to characterize rocky planets and explore their habitability. Using the Earth itself as a proxy, we model the atmospheric cross section as a function of wavelength, and show the effect of each atmospheric species, Rayleigh scattering and refraction from 115 to 1000nm. Clouds do not significantly affect this picture because refraction prevents the lowest 12.75km of the atmosphere, in a transiting geometry for an Earth-Sun analog, to be sampled by a distant observer. We calculate the effective planetary radius for the primary eclipse spectrum of …
Very high quality light curves are now available for thousands of detached eclipsing binary stars and transiting exoplanet systems as a result of surveys for transiting exoplanets and other large-scale photometric surveys. I have developed a binary star model (ELLC) that can be used to analyse the light curves of detached eclipsing binary stars and transiting exoplanet systems that is fast and accurate, and that can include the effects of star spots, Doppler boosting and light-travel time within binaries with eccentric orbits. The model represents the stars as triaxial ellipsoids. The apparent…
Inaccurate limb-darkening models can be a significant source of error in the analysis of the light curves for transiting exoplanet and eclipsing binary star systems, particularly for high-precision light curves at optical wavelengths. The power-2 limb-darkening law, $I_λ(μ) = 1 - c\left(1-μ^α\right)$, has recently been proposed as a good compromise between complexity and precision in the treatment of limb-darkening. I have used synthetic spectra based on the 3D stellar atmosphere models from the Stagger-grid to compute the limb-darkening for several passbands (UBVRI, CHEOPS, TESS, Kepler, etc.…
The Kilodegree Extremely Little Telescope (KELT) survey is a ground-based program designed to search for transiting exoplanets orbiting relatively bright stars. To achieve this, the KELT Science Team operates two planets facilities - KELT-North, at Winer Observatory, Arizona, and KELT-South, at the South African Astronomical Observatory. The telescopes used at these observatories have particularly wide fields of view, allowing KELT to study a large number of potential exoplanet host stars. One of the major advantages of targeting bright stars is that the exoplanet candidates detected can be ea…
Colour-Magnitude Diagrams provide a convenient way of comparing populations of similar objects. When well populated with precise measurements, they allow quick inferences to be made about the bulk properties of an astronomic object simply from its proximity on a diagram to other objects. We present here a Python toolkit which allows a user to produce colour-magnitude diagrams of transiting exoplanets, comparing planets to populations of ultra-cool dwarfs, of directly imaged exoplanets, to theoretical models of planetary atmospheres, and to other transiting exoplanets. Using a selection of near…
The Kepler Mission has discovered thousands of exoplanets and revolutionized our understanding of their population. This large, homogeneous catalog of discoveries has enabled rigorous studies of the occurrence rate of exoplanets and planetary systems as a function of their physical properties. However, transit surveys like Kepler are most sensitive to planets with orbital periods much shorter than the orbital periods of Jupiter and Saturn, the most massive planets in our Solar System. To address this deficiency, we perform a fully automated search for long-period exoplanets with only one or tw…
To date, the ability for observers to reveal the composition or thermal structure of an exoplanet's atmosphere has rested on two techniques: high-contrast direct imaging and time-series observations of transiting exoplanets. The former is currently limited to characterizing young, massive objects while the latter requires near 90 degree orbital inclinations, thus limiting atmospheric studies to a small fraction of the total exoplanet population. Here we present an observational and analysis technique for studying the atmospheres of non-transiting exoplanets that relies on acquiring simultaneou…
One of the main science motivations for the ESA PLAnetary Transit and Oscillations (PLATO) mission is to measure exoplanet transit radii with 3% precision. In addition to flares and starspots, stellar oscillations and granulation will enforce fundamental noise floors for transiting exoplanet radius measurements. We simulate light curves of Earth-sized exoplanets transiting continuum intensity images of the Sun taken by the HMI instrument aboard SDO to investigate the uncertainties introduced on the exoplanet radius measurements by stellar granulation and oscillations. After modeling the solar …
We present scope (Simulated CCD Observations for Photometric Experimentation), a Python package to create a forward model of telescope detectors and simulate stellar targets with motion relative to the CCD. The primary application of this package is the simulation of the Kepler Space Telescope detector to predict and characterize increased instrumental noise in the spacecraft's final campaigns of observation. As the fuel powering the spacecraft's stabilizing thrusters ran out and thruster fires began to sputter and fail, stellar Point Spread Functions (PSFs) experienced more extreme and less p…
High contrast direct imaging of exoplanets can provide many important observables, including measurements of the orbit, spectra that probe the lower layers of the atmosphere, and phase variations of the planet, but cannot directly measure planet radius or mass. Our future understanding of directly imaged exoplanets will therefore rely on extrapolated models of planetary atmospheres and bulk composition, which need robust calibration. We estimate the population of extrasolar planets that could serve as calibrators for these models. Critically, this population of "standard planets" must be acces…
Dept. of Physics, University of Warwick（华威大学物理系）；Centre for Exoplanets and Habitability, University of Warwick（华威大学系外行星与宜居性中心）
Young exoplanets and their corresponding host stars are fascinating laboratories for constraining the timescale of planetary evolution and planet-star interactions. However, because young stars are typically much more active than the older population, in order to discover more young exoplanets, greater knowledge of the wide array of young star variability is needed. Here Kohonen Self Organising Maps (SOMs) are used to explore young star variability present in the first year of observations from the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), with such knowledge valuable to perform targeted d…
We present the results of a high-cadence photometric survey of an $11'\times11'$ field centred on the globular cluster M71, with the Near-Infrared Transiting ExoplanetS Telescope. The aim of our survey is to search for stellar variability and transiting giant exoplanets. This survey differs from previous photometric surveys of M71 in that it is more sensitive to lower amplitude ($ΔM\leq0.02$ mag) and longer period ($P>2$ d) variability than previous work on this cluster. We have discovered $17$ new variable stars towards M71 and confirm the nature of $13$ previously known objects, for which th…
This white paper advocates for the creation of a community-wide program to maintain precise mid-transit times of exoplanets that would likely be targeted by future platforms. Given the sheer number of targets that will require careful monitoring between now and the launch of the next generation of exoplanet characterization missions, this network will initially be devised as a citizen science project -- focused on the numerous amateur astronomers, small universities and community colleges and high schools that have access to modest sized telescopes and off-the-shelf CCDs.
We report first results from the CHinese Exoplanet Searching Program from Antarctica (CHESPA)---a wide-field high-resolution photometric survey for transiting exoplanets carried out using telescopes of the AST3 (Antarctic Survey Telescopes times 3) project. There are now three telescopes (AST3-I, AST3-II, and CSTAR-II) operating at Dome A---the highest point on the Antarctic Plateau---in a fully automatic and remote mode to exploit the superb observing conditions of the site, and its long and uninterrupted polar nights. The search for transiting exoplanets is one of the key projects for AST3. …
The space missions TESS and PLATO plan to double the number of 4000 exoplanets already discovered and will measure the size of thousands of exoplanets around the brightest stars in the sky, allowing ground-based radial velocity spectroscopy follow-up to determine the orbit and mass of the detected planets. The new facility we are developing, MARVEL (Raskin et al. this conference), will enable the ground-based follow-up of large numbers of exoplanet detections, expected from TESS and PLATO, which cannot be carried out only by the current facilities that achieve the necessary radial velocity acc…
Stellar activity causes difficulties in the characterization of transiting exoplanets. Studies have been performed to quantify its impact on infrared interferometry, but not in the visible domain, which however allows reaching better angular resolution and is also the one mostly used for spectroscopic and photometric measurements. We use a standard case to completely analyse the impact of an exoplanet and a spot on interferometric observables and relate it to current instrument capabilities, taking into account realistic achievable precisions. We built a numerical code called COMETS using anal…
This paper presents a conceptual design for a spectrometer designed specifically for characterizing transiting exoplanets with space-borne infrared telescopes. The design adopting cross-dispersion is intended to be simple, compact, highly stable, and has capability of simultaneous coverage over a wide wavelength region with high throughput. Typical wavelength coverage and spectral resolving power is 1-13 micron with a spectral resolving power of ~ a few hundred, respectively. The baseline design consists of two detectors, two prisms with a dichroic coating and microstructured grating surfaces,…
Spectrophotometric stability, which is crucial in the spectral characterization of transiting exoplanets, is affected by photometric variations arising from field-stop loss in space telescopes with pointing jitter or primary mirror deformation. This paper focuses on a new method for removing slit-loss or field-stop-loss photometric variation through the use of a pupil mask. Two types of pupil function are introduced: the first uses conventional (e.g., Gaussian or hyper-Gaussian) apodizing patterns; whereas the second, which we call a block-shaped mask, employs a new type of pupil mask designed…
We present design considerations for the Transiting Exosatellites, Moons, and Planets in Orion (TEMPO) Survey with the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. This proposed 30-day survey is designed to detect a population of transiting extrasolar satellites, moons, and planets in the Orion Nebula Cluster (ONC). The young (1-3 Myr), densely-populated ONC harbors about a thousand bright brown dwarfs (BDs) and free-floating planetary-mass objects (FFPs). TEMPO offers sufficient photometric precision to monitor FFPs with ${\rm M}\geq1{\rm M}_{\rm J}$ for transiting satellites. The survey is also capabl…
The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) near-IR channel is extensively used in time-resolved observations, especially for transiting exoplanet spectroscopy and brown dwarf and directly imaged exoplanet rotational phase mapping. The ramp effect is the dominant source of systematics in the WFC3 for time-resolved observations, which limits its photometric precision. Current mitigation strategies are based on empirical fits and require additional orbits "to help the telescope reach a thermal equilibrium". We show that the ramp effect profiles can be explained and corrected with…
In this work, six convolutional neural networks (CNNs) have been trained based on %different feature images and arrays from the database including 15,638 superflare candidates on solar-type stars, which are collected from the three-years observations of Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite ({\em TESS}). These networks are used to replace the artificially visual inspection, which was a direct way to search for superflares, and exclude false positive events in recent years. Unlike other methods, which only used stellar light curves to search superflare signals, we try to identify superflares th…
We present a new solution of the direct problem of planet transits based on transformation of double integrals to single ones. On the basis of our direct problem solution we created the code TAC-maker for rapid and interactive calculation of synthetic planet transits by numerical computations of the integrals. The validation of our approach was made by comparison with the results of the wide-spread Mandel & Agol (2002) method for the cases of linear, quadratic and squared root limb-darkening laws and various combinations of model parameters. For the first time our approach allows the use of ar…
Context: The space telescope Gaia is dedicated mainly to performing high-precision astrometry, but also spectroscopy and epoch photometry which can be used to study various types of photometric variability. One such variability type is exoplanetary transits. The photometric data accumulated so far have finally matured enough to allow the detection of some exoplanets. Aims: In order to fully exploit the scientific potential of Gaia, we search its photometric data for the signatures of exoplanetary transits. Methods: The search relies on a version of the Box-Least-Square (BLS) method, applied to…
We present TSARDI, an efficient rejection algorithm designed to improve the transit detection efficiency in data collected by large scale surveys. TSARDI is based on the Machine Learning clustering algorithm DBSCAN, and its purpose is to serve as a robust and adaptable filter aiming to identify unwanted noise points left over from data detrending processes. TSARDI is an unsupervised method, which can treat each light curve individually; there is no need of previous knowledge of any other field light curves. We conduct a simulated transit search by injecting planets on real data obtained by the…
This paper, first, presents introductory reviews of the Space Infrared Telescope for Cosmology and Astrophysics (SPICA) mission and the SPICA Coronagraph Instrument (SCI). SPICA will realize a 3m class telescope cooled to 6K in orbit. The launch of SPICA is planned to take place in FY2018. The SPICA mission provides us with a unique opportunity to make high dynamic-range observations because of its large telescope aperture, high stability, and the capability for making infrared observations from deep space. The SCI is a high dynamic-range instrument proposed for SPICA. The primary objectives f…
Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology, Bhopal（毛拉纳·阿扎德国立技术学院，博帕尔）
We are at a unique timeline in the history of human evolution where we may be able to discover earth-like planets around stars outside our solar system where conditions can support life or even find evidence of life on those planets. With the launch of several satellites in recent years by NASA, ESA, and other major space agencies, an ample amount of datasets are at our disposal which can be utilized to train machine learning models that can automate the arduous tasks of exoplanet detection, its identification, and habitability determination. Automating these tasks can save a considerable amou…
The James Webb Space Telescope will revolutionize transiting exoplanet atmospheric science due to its capability for continuous, long-duration observations and its larger collecting area, spectral coverage, and spectral resolution compared to existing space-based facilities. However, it is unclear precisely how well JWST will perform and which of its myriad instruments and observing modes will be best suited for transiting exoplanet studies. In this article, we describe a prefatory JWST Early Release Science (ERS) program that focuses on testing specific observing modes to quickly give the com…
Traditionally, ground-based spectrophotometric observations probing transiting exoplanet atmospheres have employed a linear map between comparison and target star light curves (e.g. via differential spectrophotometry) to correct for systematics contaminating the transit signal. As an alternative to this conventional method, we introduce a new Gaussian Processes (GP) regression-based method to analyse ground-based spectrophotometric data. Our new method allows for a generalised non-linear mapping between the target transit light curves and the time series used to detrend them. This represents a…
This article summarizes a workshop held on March, 2014, on the potential of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to revolutionize our knowledge of the physical properties of exoplanets through transit observations. JWST's unique combination of high sensitivity and broad wavelength coverage will enable the accurate measurement of transits with high signal-to-noise. Most importantly, JWST spectroscopy will investigate planetary atmospheres to determine atomic and molecular compositions, to probe vertical and horizontal structure, and to follow dynamical evolution, i.e. exoplanet weather. JWST w…
A number of transiting, potentially habitable Earth-sized exoplanets have recently been detected around several nearby M dwarf stars. These worlds represent important targets for atmospheric characterization for the upcoming NASA James Webb Space Telescope. Given that available time for exoplanet characterization will be limited, it is critically important to first understand the capabilities and limitations of JWST when attempting to detect atmospheric constituents for potentially Earth-like worlds orbiting cool stars. Here, we explore coupled climate-chemistry atmospheric models for Earth-li…
This paper describes the design, operations, and performance of the Multi-site All-Sky CAmeRA (MASCARA). Its primary goal is to find new exoplanets transiting bright stars, $4 < m_V < 8$, by monitoring the full sky. MASCARA consists of one northern station on La Palma, Canary Islands (fully operational since February 2015), one southern station at La Silla Observatory, Chile (operational from early 2017), and a data centre at Leiden Observatory in the Netherlands. Both MASCARA stations are equipped with five interline CCD cameras using wide field lenses (24 mm focal length) with fixed pointing…
Rings around giant exoplanets (hereafter 'exorings') are still a missing planetary phenomenon among the vast number of discovered planets. Despite the fact there exist a large number of methods for identifying and characterizing these exorings, none of them has been successful to date. Most of those efforts focus on the photometric signatures produced by rings around transiting exoplanets; thus, little interest has been intended for the detectable signatures that non-transiting ringed planets might cause owing to the excess of scattered starlight from both their atmosphere and the considerably…
Predictions of Transiting Exoplanet Confirmations from Rubin LSST Surveys
School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University（亚利桑那州立大学地球与太空探索学院）；Penn State University（宾夕法尼亚州立大学）；Universidad Andres Bello（安德烈斯贝略大学）；Universidad Nacional Autonoma de México（墨西哥国立自治大学）；University of Belgrade（贝尔格莱德大学）
