First results of the Kourovka Planet Search: discovery of transiting exoplanet candidates in the first three target fields

We present the first results of our search for transiting exoplanet candidates as part of the Kourovka Planet Search (KPS) project. The primary objective of the project is to search for new hot Jupiters which transit their host stars, mainly in the Galactic plane, in the $R_c$ magnitude range of 11 to 14 mag. Our observations were performed with the telescope of the MASTER robotic network, installed at the Kourovka astronomical observatory of the Ural Federal University (Russia), and the Rowe-Ackermann Schmidt Astrograph, installed at the private Acton Sky Portal Observatory (USA). As test observations, we observed three celestial fields of size $2\times2$ deg$^2$ during the period from 2012 to 2015. As a result, we discovered four transiting exoplanet candidates among the 39000 stars of the input catalogue. In this paper, we provide the description of the project and analyse additional photometric, spectral, and speckle interferometric observations of the discovered transiting exoplanet candidates. Three of the four transiting exoplanet candidates are most likely astrophysical false positives, while the nature of the fourth (most promising) candidate remains to be ascertained. Also, we propose an alternative observing strategy that could increase the project's exoplanet haul.Comment: 11 pages, 16 figures; Accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 201

Benchmarking the power of amateur observatories for TTV exoplanets detection

We perform an analysis of ~80 000 photometric measurements for the following 10 stars hosting transiting planets:WASP-2, -4, -5, -52, Kelt-1, CoRoT-2, XO-2, TrES-1, HD 189733, GJ 436. Our analysis includes mainly transit light curves from the Exoplanet Transit Database, public photometry from the literature, and some proprietary photometry privately supplied by other authors. Half of these light curves were obtained by amateurs. From this photometry we derive 306 transit timing measurements, as well as improved planetary transit parameters. Additionally, for 6 of these 10 stars we present a set of radial velocity measurements obtained from the spectra stored in the HARPS, HARPS-N and SOPHIE archives using the HARPS- TERRA pipeline. Our analysis of these transit timing and radial velocity data did not reveal significant hints of additional orbiting bodies in almost all of the cases. In the WASP-4 case, we found hints of marginally significant TTV signals having amplitude 10-20 s, although their parameters are model dependent and uncertain, while radial velocities did not reveal statistically significant Doppler signals.Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y GeofísicasInstituto de Astrofísica de La Plat

Benchmarking the power of amateur observatories for TTV exoplanets detection

This document is the Accepted Manuscript version of the following article: Roman v. Baluev, et al, ‘Benchmarking the power of amateur observatories for TTV exoplanets detection’, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Vol. 450(3): 3101-3113, first published online 9 May 2015. The version of record is available at doi: https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stv788 © 2015 The Authors. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society.We perform an analysis of ~80000 photometric measurements for the following 10 stars hosting transiting planets: WASP-2, -4, -5, -52, Kelt-1, CoRoT-2, XO-2, TrES-1, HD 189733, GJ 436. Our analysis includes mainly transit lightcurves from the Exoplanet Transit Database, public photometry from the literature, and some proprietary photometry privately supplied by other authors. Half of these lightcurves were obtained by amateurs. From this photometry we derive 306 transit timing measurements, as well as improved planetary transit parameters. Additionally, for 6 of these 10 stars we present a set of radial velocity measurements obtained from the spectra stored in the HARPS, HARPS-N, and SOPHIE archives using the HARPS-TERRA pipeline. Our analysis of these TTV and RV data did not reveal significant hints of additional orbiting bodies in almost all of the cases. In the WASP-4 case, we found hints of marginally significant TTV signals having amplitude 10-20 sec, although their parameters are model-dependent and uncertain, while radial velocities did not reveal statistically significant Doppler signals.Peer reviewe

Benchmarking the power of amateur observatories for TTV exoplanets detection

We perform an analysis of ~80 000 photometric measurements for the following 10 stars hosting transiting planets:WASP-2, -4, -5, -52, Kelt-1, CoRoT-2, XO-2, TrES-1, HD 189733, GJ 436. Our analysis includes mainly transit light curves from the Exoplanet Transit Database, public photometry from the literature, and some proprietary photometry privately supplied by other authors. Half of these light curves were obtained by amateurs. From this photometry we derive 306 transit timing measurements, as well as improved planetary transit parameters. Additionally, for 6 of these 10 stars we present a set of radial velocity measurements obtained from the spectra stored in the HARPS, HARPS-N and SOPHIE archives using the HARPS- TERRA pipeline. Our analysis of these transit timing and radial velocity data did not reveal significant hints of additional orbiting bodies in almost all of the cases. In the WASP-4 case, we found hints of marginally significant TTV signals having amplitude 10-20 s, although their parameters are model dependent and uncertain, while radial velocities did not reveal statistically significant Doppler signals.Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y GeofísicasInstituto de Astrofísica de La Plat

KPS-1b: The First Transiting Exoplanet Discovered Using an Amateur Astronomer's Wide-field CCD Data

We report the discovery of the transiting hot Jupiter KPS-1b. This exoplanet orbits a V = 13.0 K1-type main sequence star every 1.7 days, has a mass of 1.090 (+0.086 -0.087) MJup and a radius of 1.03 (+0.13 -0.12) RJup. The discovery was made by the prototype Kourovka Planet Search (KPS) project, which used wide-field CCD data gathered by an amateur astronomer using readily available and relatively affordable equipment. Here we describe the equipment and observing technique used for the discovery of KPS-1b, its characterization with spectroscopic observations by the SOPHIE spectrograph and with high-precision photometry obtained with 1m class telescopes. We also outline the KPS project evolution into the Galactic Plane eXoplanet survey. The discovery of KPS-1b represents a new major step of the contribution of amateur astronomers to the burgeoning field of exoplanetology

4963 Kanroku: Asteroid with a possible precession of rotation axis

Based on photometric observations of 4963 Kanroku as part of a campaign to measure its light-curve, changes of the light-curve profile have been detected. These changes are of a periodic nature, i.e. the profiles change with a detected period P = 16.4032 h. Based on simulations of the shape of the asteroid and using observational data, we make the assumption that such changes of the light-curve of the asteroid could be caused by the existence of a precession force acting on the axis of rotation of the asteroid. Simulations of the 4963 Kanroku light-curve, taking into account the detected precession, and the parameters for the shape of the asteroid, the modeled light-curves are in good agreement with the light-curves obtained from the observation campaign. Thus, the detected precession force may indicate a possible satellite of the asteroid 4963 Kanroku

Results of the investigation of the asteroid (2121) Sevastopol based on photometric observations of mutual phenomena

The asteroid (2121) Sevastopol is a binary asteroid from the main belt. The duplicity of the asteroid was discovered based on photometric observations of mutual phenomena (eclipses and occultations) that were detected in its light curves (Higgins et al, 2010). We organized a photometrical observational campaign for the observations of mutual phenomena in binary system of the asteroid (2121) Sevastopol and an investigation of the properties of the asteroid’s satellite. The observations allowed us to define mass, density, taxonomical class and preliminary orbit of the satellite of the asteroid (2121) Sevastopol