294 research outputs found
MDia and POTS - The Munich Difference Imaging Analysis for the pre-OmegaTranS Project
We describe the Munich Difference Imaging Analysis pipeline that we developed
and implemented in the framework of the Astro-WISE package to automatically
measure high precision light curves of a large number of stellar objects using
the difference imaging approach. Combined with programs to detect time
variability, this software can be used to search for planetary systems or
binary stars with the transit method and for variable stars of different kinds.
As a first scientific application, we discuss the data reduction and analysis
performed with Astro-WISE on the pre-OmegaTranS data set, that we collected
during a monitoring campaign of a dense stellar field with the Wide Field
Imager at the ESO 2.2m telescope.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in topical issue of
Experimental Astronomy on Astro-WISE information syste
Microlensing events from the 11-year observations of the Wendelstein Calar Alto Pixellensing Project
We present the results of the decade-long M31 observation from the
Wendelstein Calar Alto Pixellensing Project (WeCAPP). WeCAPP has monitored M31
from 1997 till 2008 in both R- and I-filters, thus provides the longest
baseline of all M31 microlensing surveys. The data are analyzed with the
difference imaging analysis, which is most suitable to study variability in
crowded stellar fields. We extracted light curves based on each pixel, and
devised selection criteria that are optimized to identify microlensing events.
This leads to 10 new events, and sums up to a total of 12 microlensing events
from WeCAPP, for which we derive their timescales, flux excesses, and colors
from their light curves. The color of the lensed stars fall between (R-I) =
0.56 to 1.36, with a median of 1.0 mag, in agreement with our expectation that
the sources are most likely bright, red stars at post main-sequence stage. The
event FWHM timescales range from 0.5 to 14 days, with a median of 3 days, in
good agreement with predictions based on the model of Riffeser et al. (2006).Comment: 44 pages, 16 figures, 5 tables. ApJ accepte
Search for giant planets in M67 IV: survey results
We present the results of a seven-year-long radial velocity survey of a
sample of 88 main-sequence and evolved stars to reveal signatures of
Jupiter-mass planets in the solar-age and solar-metallicity open cluster M67.
We aim at studying the frequency of giant planets in this cluster with respect
to the field stars. In addition, our sample is also ideal to perform a
long-term study to compare the chemical composition of stars with and without
giant planets in detail. We analyzed precise radial velocity (RV) measurements
obtained with five different instruments. We conducted Monte Carlo simulations
to estimate the occurrence rate of giant planets in our radial velocity survey.
All the planets previously announced in this RV campaign with their properties
are summarized here: 3 hot Jupiters around the main-sequence stars YBP1194,
YBP1514, and YBP401, and 1 giant planet around the evolved star S364. Two
additional planet candidates around the stars YBP778 and S978 are also analyzed
in the present work. We discuss stars that exhibit large RV variability or
trends individually. For 2 additional stars, long-term trends are compatible
with new binary candidates or substellar objects, which increases the total
number of binary candidates detected in our campaign to 14. Based on the
Doppler-detected planets discovered in this survey, we find an occurrence of
giant planets of ~18.0%(+12.0/-8.0%) in the selected period-mass range. This
frequency is slightly higher but consistent within the errors with the estimate
for the field stars, which leads to the general conclusion that open cluster
and field statistics agree. However, we find that the rate of hot Jupiters in
the cluster (~5.7%(+5.5/-3.0%)) is substantially higher than in the field.Comment: Accepted by A&
A hot Jupiter transiting a mid-K dwarf found in the pre-OmegaCam Transit Survey
We describe the pre-OmegaTranS project, a deep survey for transiting
extra-solar planets in the Carina region of the Galactic Disk. In 2006-2008 we
observed a single dense stellar field with a very high cadence of ~2min using
the ESO Wide Field Imager at the La Silla Observatory. Using the Astronomical
Wide-field System for Europe and the Munich Difference Imaging Analysis
pipeline, a module that has been developed for this project, we created the
light curves of 16000 stars with more than 4000 data points which we searched
for periodic transit signals using a box-fitting least-squares detection
algorithm. All light curves are publicly available. In the course of the
pre-OmegaTranS project we identified two planet candidates - POTS-1b and
POTS-C2b - which we present in this work. With extensive follow-up observations
we were able to confirm one of them, POTS-1b, a hot Jupiter transiting a mid-K
dwarf. The planet has a mass of 2.31+-0.77M_Jup and a radius of 0.94+-0.04R_Jup
and a period of P=3.16d. The host star POTS-1 has a radius of 0.59+-0.02R_Sun
and a mass of 0.70+-0.05M_Sun. Due to its low apparent brightness of I=16.1mag
the follow-up and confirmation of POTS-1b was particularly challenging and
costly.Comment: 18 pages, 23 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA
Transit observations at the observatory in Grossschwabhausen: XO-1b and TrES-1
We report on observations of transit events of the transiting planets XO-1b
and TrES-1 with the AIU Jena telescope in Grossschwabhausen. Based on our IR
photometry (in March 2007) and available transit timings (SuperWASP, XO and
TLC-project-data) we improved the orbital period of XO-1b (P =
3.9414970.000006) and TrES-1 (P = 3.03007370.000006), respectively.
The new ephemeris for the both systems are presented.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure
Properties of M31. II: A Cepheid disk sample derived from the first year of PS1 PAndromeda data
We present a sample of Cepheid variable stars towards M31 based on the first
year of regular M31 observations of the PS1 survey in the r_P1 and i_P1
filters. We describe the selection procedure for Cepheid variable stars from
the overall variable source sample and develop an automatic classification
scheme using Fourier decomposition and the location of the instability strip.
We find 1440 fundamental mode (classical \delta) Cep stars, 126 Cepheids in the
first overtone mode, and 147 belonging to the Population II types. 296 Cepheids
could not be assigned to one of these classes and 354 Cepheids were found in
other surveys. These 2009 Cepheids constitute the largest Cepheid sample in M31
known so far and the full catalog is presented in this paper. We briefly
describe the properties of our sample in its spatial distribution throughout
the M31 galaxy, in its age properties, and we derive an apparent
period-luminosity relation (PLR) in our two bands. The Population I Cepheids
nicely follow the dust pattern of the M31 disk, whereas the 147 Type II
Cepheids are distributed throughout the halo of M31. We outline the time
evolution of the star formation in the major ring found previously and find an
age gradient. A comparison of our PLR to previous results indicates a curvature
term in the PLR
Searching for transits in the Wide Field Camera Transit Survey with difference-imaging light curves
The Wide Field Camera Transit Survey is a pioneer program aiming at for searching extra-solar planets in the near-infrared. The images from the survey are processed by a data reduction pipeline, which uses aperture photometry to construct the light curves. We produce an alternative set of light curves using the difference-imaging method for the most complete field in the survey and carry out a quantitative comparison between the photometric precision achieved with both methods. The results show that differencephotometry light curves present an important improvement for stars with J > 16. We report an implementation on the box-fitting transit detection algorithm, which performs a trapezoid-fit to the folded light curve, providing more accurate results than the boxfitting model. We describe and optimize a set of selection criteria to search for transit candidates, including the V-shape parameter calculated by our detection algorithm. The optimized selection criteria are applied to the aperture photometry and difference-imaging light curves, resulting in the automatic detection of the best 200 transit candidates from a sample of ~475 000 sources. We carry out a detailed analysis in the 18 best detections and classify them as transiting planet and eclipsing binary candidates. We present one planet candidate orbiting a late G-type star. No planet candidate around M-stars has been found, confirming the null detection hypothesis and upper limits on the occurrence rate of short-period giant planets around M-dwarfs presented in a prior study. We extend the search for transiting planets to stars with J ≤ 18, which enables us to set a stricter upper limit of 1.1%. Furthermore, we present the detection of five faint extremely-short period eclipsing binaries and three M-dwarf/M-dwarf binary candidates. The detections demonstrate the benefits of using the difference-imaging light curves, especially when going to fainter magnitudes.Peer reviewe
Transit observation at the observatory in Großschwabhausen: XO-1b and TrES-1
We report on observations of transit events of the transiting planets XO-1b and TrES-1 with the AIU Jena telescope in Großschwabhausen. Based on our (IR) photometry (in March 2007) and available transit timings (SuperWASP, XO and TLC-project-data) we improved the orbital period of XO-1b (P = 3.941497 ± 0.000006) and TrES-1 (P = 3.0300737 ± 0.000006), respectively. The new ephemeris for the both systems are presente
Observations of the transiting planet TrES-2 with the AIU Jena telescope in Großschwabhausen
We have started high precision photometric monitoring observations at the AIU Jena observatory in Großschwabhausen near Jena in fall 2006. We used a 25.4cm Cassegrain telescope equipped with a CCD-camera mounted piggyback on a 90cm telescope. To test the attainable photometric precision, we observed stars with known transiting planets. We could recover all planetary transits observed by us. We observed the parent star of the transiting planet TrES-2 over a longer period in Großschwabhausen. Between March and November 2007 seven different transits and almost a complete orbital period were analyzed. Overall, in 31 nights of observation 3423 exposures (in total 57.05h of observation) of the TrES-2 parent star were taken. Here, we present our methods and the resulting light curves. Using our observations we could improve the orbital parameters of the syste
Lorentz angle measurements in irradiated silicon detectors between 77 K and 300 K
Future experiments are using silicon detectors in a high
radiation environment and in high magnetic fields. The radiation
tolerance of silicon improves by cooling it to temperatures
below 180 K. At low temperatures the mobility increases, which
leads to larger de of the charge carriers by the Lorentz force.
A good knowledge of the Lorentz angle is needed for design and
operation of silicon detectors. We present measurements of the
Lorentz angle between 77 K and 300 K before and after
irradiation with a primary beam of 21 MeV protons
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