Original Research by Young Twinkle Students (ORBYTS): ephemeris refinement of transiting exoplanets
Billy Edwards, Quentin Changeat, Kai Hou Yip, Angelos Tsiaras, Jake Taylor, Bilal Akhtar, Josef AlDaghir, P. Bhattarai, Tushar Bhudia, Aashish Chapagai, Michael Huang, Danyaal Kabir, Vieran Khag, Summyyah Khaliq, Kush Khatri, Jaidev Kneth, Manisha Kothari, Ibrahim Najmudin, Lobanaa Panchalingam, Manthan Patel, Luxshan Premachandran, Adam Qayyum, Prasen Rana, Zain Shaikh, Sheryar Syed, Harnam Theti, Mahmoud Zaidani, Manasvee Saraf, Damien de Mijolla, Hamish Caines, Anatasia Kokori, M. Rocchetto, M. Mallonn, Matthieu Bachschmidt, J. M. Bosch, M. Bretton, Philippe Chatelain, Marc Deldem, Romina Di Sisto, Phil Evans, E. Fernández Lajús, P. Guerra, Ferran Grau Horta, Wonseok Kang, Taewoo Kim, A. Leroy, F. Lomoz, Juan Lozano de Haro, V. P. Hentunen, Y. Jongen, D. Molina, Romain Montaigut, Ramon Naves, M. Raetz, Thomas Sauer, Americo Watkins, A. Wünsche, M. Zíbar, W. R. Dunn, Marcell Tessenyi, G. Savini, G. Tinetti, Jonathan Tennyson
Abstract
ABSTRACT We report follow-up observations of transiting exoplanets that have either large uncertainties (>10 min) in their transit times or have not been observed for over 3 yr. A fully robotic ground-based telescope network, observations from citizen astronomers, and data from TESS have been used to study eight planets, refining their ephemerides and orbital data. Such follow-up observations are key for ensuring accurate transit times for upcoming ground- and space-based telescopes, which may seek to characterize the atmospheres of these planets. We find deviations from the expected transit time for all planets, with transits occurring outside the 1σ uncertainties for seven planets. Using the newly acquired observations, we subsequently refine their periods and reduce the current predicted ephemeris uncertainties to 0.28–4.01 min. A significant portion of this work has been completed by students at two high schools in London as part of the Original Research By Young Twinkle Students (ORBYTS) programme.