A transit-timing variation study of the extrasolar planet TrES-3

Portable Occultation Eclipse and Transit System (POETS) detectors [7] mounted on the Wallace Astrophysical Observatory (WAO) 0.8m and NASA Infrared Telescope Facility (IRTF) 3m telescopes are used to observe five stellar transit events of the extrasolar planet TrES-3 [5]. Model light curves are fit to the five data sets and transit midtimes are determined. Midtimes obtained in this study, along with midtimes reported by Sozzetti et al. (2008) [8], are compared to the ephemeris of the planet. The transit timing variation (TTV) of each midtime is calculated. Based on these data the presence of a third body in the TrES-3 system cannot be determined. Mass and period of a hypothetical perturbing body are calculated for several illustrative cases.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2009

Author dc:creator

• Lockhart, Matthew, S.M. Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• James L. Elliot.

• Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/53108

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/53108