Transitting exoplanet in Hercules (TrES-3)

Dear group,

One of the latest exoplanet discoveries (2007) involves TrES-3 in
Hercules. What is of great interest surrounding this discovery is the
exoplanet's proximity to its parent star and its degenerative orbit.
In other words, at some point this exoplanet will not be available for
study due to its orbit and impending collision into its sun.

What makes the photometry of this exoplanet most challenging is the
fact that its host star is very dim at magnitude 12.17 and the transit
depth of 25 mmag translates to very small changes in the overall
dimness of the parent star during transit. I am delighted to present
you with a light curve for TrES-3 taken with a well-known 160 mm
refractor (LOL!) and which most beautifully illustrates the 105-minute
transit.

I contacted a couple of individuals a priori surrounding this transit
and I was told that it is not possible in the slightest given the dim
magnitude of the parent star, the transit depth and my small aperture.
Well, no pain, no gain.

For the light-curve in two-formats as well as a finder chart, I kindly
direct you to http://www.perseus.gr/Astro-Photomet...3-20080503.htm
....

There are additional exoplanet transits over the next few months and
which I will certainly be pursuing.

Clear skies!

Anthony.

Anthony Ayiomamitis wrote, inter alia,

Dear group,

One of the latest exoplanet discoveries (2007) involves TrES-3 in
Hercules. What is of great interest surrounding this discovery is the
exoplanet's proximity to its parent star and its degenerative orbit.
In other words, at some point this exoplanet will not be available for
study due to its orbit and impending collision into its sun....

I contacted a couple of individuals a priori surrounding this transit
and I was told that it is not possible in the slightest given the dim
magnitude of the parent star, the transit depth and my small aperture.
Well, no pain, no gain....

They must not have been familiar with your level of determination!

For the light-curve in two-formats as well as a finder chart, I kindly
direct you to http://www.perseus.gr/Astro-Photomet...3-20080503.htm
...

There are additional exoplanet transits over the next few months and
which I will certainly be pursuing.

And catching, no doubt. This is truly distinguished work.

Davoud

--
usenet *at* davidillig dawt com

On Sat, 3 May 2008 08:23:36 -0700 (PDT), Anthony Ayiomamitis
wrote:

I contacted a couple of individuals a priori surrounding this transit
and I was told that it is not possible in the slightest given the dim
magnitude of the parent star, the transit depth and my small aperture.

Nice work. FWIW, I calculate that with the ST2K and your aperture, you
should be able to record about 10,000 e- with a 45-second exposure,
which is sufficient for a S/N of several hundred. 10 mmag precision with
differential photometry is quite possible at that S/N. I'm not sure why
you were advised otherwise, but clearly your experience and theory are
in good agreement.

As long as your other planned observations involve stars not a lot
dimmer than this one, and are slow enough to allow reasonably long
exposures (as in this case), I'd say your prospects for successful
transit recordings are excellent.

The biggest problem I have with mmag photometry comes from local
transparency events- tiny clouds or contrails that are too faint to even
see visually can pass through the field and play havoc with short
exposure differential photometry. Around here (and I suspect near Athens
as well) that's more of a problem during the summer, so if you see
unexpectedly noisy data, suspect that. If your target is in a rich
enough field to support it, using multiple references helps (both Maxim
and AIP can do this).
_________________________________________________

Chris L Peterson
Cloudbait Observatory
http://www.cloudbait.com

Anthony Ayiomamitis wrote:
Dear group,

One of the latest exoplanet discoveries (2007) involves TrES-3 in
Hercules.

In a word: Wow!

--
Greg Crinklaw
Astronomical Software Developer
Cloudcroft, New Mexico, USA (33N, 106W, 2700m)

SkyTools: http://www.skyhound.com/cs.html
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