1 research outputs found
The KELT Follow-up Network and Transit False-positive Catalog: Pre-vetted False Positives for TESS
The Kilodegree Extremely Little Telescope (KELT) project has been conducting
a photometric survey for transiting planets orbiting bright stars for over ten
years. The KELT images have a pixel scale of ~23"/pixel---very similar to that
of NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS)---as well as a large
point spread function, and the KELT reduction pipeline uses a weighted
photometric aperture with radius 3'. At this angular scale, multiple stars are
typically blended in the photometric apertures. In order to identify false
positives and confirm transiting exoplanets, we have assembled a follow-up
network (KELT-FUN) to conduct imaging with higher spatial resolution, cadence,
and photometric precision than the KELT telescopes, as well as spectroscopic
observations of the candidate host stars. The KELT-FUN team has followed-up
over 1,600 planet candidates since 2011, resulting in more than 20 planet
discoveries. Excluding ~450 false alarms of non-astrophysical origin (i.e.,
instrumental noise or systematics), we present an all-sky catalog of the 1,128
bright stars (6<V<10) that show transit-like features in the KELT light curves,
but which were subsequently determined to be astrophysical false positives
(FPs) after photometric and/or spectroscopic follow-up observations. The
KELT-FUN team continues to pursue KELT and other planet candidates and will
eventually follow up certain classes of TESS candidates. The KELT FP catalog
will help minimize the duplication of follow-up observations by current and
future transit surveys such as TESS.Comment: Accepted for publication in AJ, 21 pages, 12 figures, 7 table