Bibcode
Doyle, L. R.; Deeg, H.-J.; Martin, E.; Jenkins, J. M.; Schneider, J.; Chevreton, M.; Lee, W.-B.; Kim, H.-I.; Ninkov, Z.; Blue, J. E.; Stone, R.; Toublanc, D.; Paleologou, E.; Papamastorakis, J.; Kozhevnikov, V. P.; Zakhavova, P. E.; Doyle, M.
Bibliographical reference
American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #28, #12.02; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 28, p.1110
Advertised on:
9
1996
Citations
0
Refereed citations
0
Description
Planets forming around close binary systems should form in the binary
orbital plane (varying precession periods of protoplanetary material
should provide strong collisional damping; Schneider and Doyle 1995).
Planets around eclipsing binaries may then be expected to have formed in
the binary orbital plane and thus to be detected by their transits
across the line of sight. It has been demonstrated that 1-meter ground
based observations of the smallest eclipsing binaries could detect such
transits with reasonably precise ground-based photometry using a matched
filter analysis (cross-correlating all possible transit signatures with
the light curves derived from aperture photometry on CCD images;
Jenkins, Doyle, and Cullers 1996). Incidentally, precise (GPS) timing of
the eclipses of the binaries themselves will provide sufficient
precision to allow the detection of any gas giant planets around dozens
of small mass systems; the drift in timing being produced by the offset
of the binary barycenter by the gas giant planet). The TEP (transit of
extrasolar planets) observing network has now completed over 1000 hours
of observations on the CM Draconis system with a consequent dozen
candidate (i.e. terrestrial sized planet) transit events that are in the
process of being verified. This system also shows a drift in eclipse
minima epoch indicative of a possible larger, gas giant planetary third
body also awaiting confirmation. Finally, 11 additional small-mass
eclipsing binary systems have been added to our program beginning this
year at U.C. Lick Observatory. We hope to begin to be able to say
something observationally useful about habitable-sized planets around
small, close binary systems soon. 1) J. Schneider, L.R. Doyle, 1995,
Earth, Moon, Planets 71, 153-173. 2) J.M. Jenkins, L.R. Doyle, D.K.
Cullers, 1996, Icarus 119, 244-260. 3) L.R. Doyle, E.T. Dunham, H.-J.
Deeg, J.E. Blue, J.M. Jenkins, J. Geophy. Res. Planets 101, 14823-14829.