The Multi-site All-Sky CAmeRA (MASCARA). Finding transiting exoplanets around bright (m_V < 8) stars

InstrumentationStars and planetary system

Bright Southern Variable Stars in the bRing Survey

In addition to monitoring the bright star β Pic during the near-transit event for its giant exoplanet, the β Pictoris b Ring (bRing) observatories at Siding Springs Observatory, Australia and Sutherland, South Africa have monitored the brightnesses of bright stars (V  4–8 mag) centered on the south celestial pole (δ ≤ −30°) for approximately two years. Here we present a comprehensive study of the bRing time-series photometry for bright southern stars monitored between 2017 June and 2019 January. Of the 16,762 stars monitored by bRing, 353 were found to be variable. Of the variable stars, 80% had previously known variability and 20% were new variables. Each of the new variables was classified, including three new eclipsing binaries (HD 77669, HD 142049, HD 155781), 26 δ Scutis, 4 slowly pulsating B stars, and others. This survey also reclassified four stars based on their period of pulsation, light curve, spectral classification, and color–magnitude information. The survey data were searched for new examples of transiting circumsecondary disk systems, but no candidates were found.Stars and planetary system

The MASCARA and bRing photometric monitoring networks

Instrumentatio

Properties of the Hyades, the eclipsing binary HD 27130, and the oscillating red giant ɛ Tauri

Stars and planetary system

Don't blink : detecting transiting exoplanets with MASCARA

This thesis describes the Multi-site All-Sky CAmeRA (MASCARA), which consists of two small robotic telescope designed to detect exoplanets around the brightest stars in the sky. These telescopes search for exoplanets by continuously taking images of the sky and measuring the brightness of stars in these images, searching for the characteristic dimming that occurs when a planet passes in front of the star, blocking some of the starlight. An introduction to exoplanets is provided in chapter 1. The optical and mechanical design of the MASCARA telescopes, as well as the image processing algorithms, are described in chapter 2. The primary and secondary calibration methods used to remove systematic effects from the brightness measurements, as well as the transit search algorithm used, are described in chapter 3. The first planets discovered by MASCARA, two hot Jupiters orbiting the stars HD 201585 and HD 185603, are described in chapters 4 and 5. </table

Don't blink : detecting transiting exoplanets with MASCARA

This thesis describes the Multi-site All-Sky CAmeRA (MASCARA), which consists of two small robotic telescope designed to detect exoplanets around the brightest stars in the sky. These telescopes search for exoplanets by continuously taking images of the sky and measuring the brightness of stars in these images, searching for the characteristic dimming that occurs when a planet passes in front of the star, blocking some of the starlight. An introduction to exoplanets is provided in chapter 1. The optical and mechanical design of the MASCARA telescopes, as well as the image processing algorithms, are described in chapter 2. The primary and secondary calibration methods used to remove systematic effects from the brightness measurements, as well as the transit search algorithm used, are described in chapter 3. The first planets discovered by MASCARA, two hot Jupiters orbiting the stars HD 201585 and HD 185603, are described in chapters 4 and 5. Stars and planetary system

Studying bright variable stars with the Multi-site All-Sky CAmeRA (MASCARA)

The Centre for Asian Studies at University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, organises the Ananda Coomaraswamy Memorial Conference on Asian Art and Culture on 8–10 September 2012. The conference coincides with the 135th birth anniversary and 65th death anniversary of Ananda Coomaraswamy, renowned Ceylonese philosopher and metaphysician, as well as a pioneering historian and philosopher of Indian art (particularly art history and symbolism). He was an early interpreter of Indian culture to the West. Dea..

Discovery of delta Scuti Pulsations in the Young Hybrid Debris Disk Star HD 156623

Environmental Biolog

MASCARA and bRing, finding bright transiting planets and synergies with TESS

Stars and planetary system

Properties of the Hyades, the eclipsing binary HD 27130, and the oscillating red giant \ucf\u3bc Tauri

Context. The derivation of accurate and precise masses and radii is possible for eclipsing binary stars, allowing for insights into their evolution. When residing in star clusters, they provide measurements of even greater precision, along with additional information on their properties. Asteroseismic investigations of solar-like oscillations offers similar possibilities for single stars. Aims. We wish to improve the previously established properties of the Hyades eclipsing binary HD 27130 and re-assess the asteroseismic properties of the giant star \u3f5 Tau. The physical properties of these members of the Hyades can be used to constrain the helium content and age of the cluster. Methods. New multi-colour light curves were combined with multi-epoch radial velocities to yield masses and radii of HD 27130. Measurements of Teff were derived from spectroscopy and photometry, and verified using the Gaia parallax. We estimated the cluster age from re-evaluated asteroseismic properties of \u3f5 Tau while using HD 27130 to constrain the helium content. Results. The masses, radii, and Teff of HD 27130 were found to be M = 1.0245 \ub1 0.0024 M\ub7 , R = 0.9226 \ub1 0.015 R\ub7 , Teff = 5650 \ub1 50 K for the primary, and M = 0.7426 \ub1 0.0016 M\ub7 , R = 0.7388 \ub1 0.026 R\ub7 , Teff = 4300 \ub1 100 K for the secondary component. Our re-evaluation of \u3f5 Tau suggests that the previous literature estimates are trustworthy and that the HIPPARCOS parallax is more reliable than the Gaia DR2 parallax. Conclusions. The helium content of HD 27130 and, thus, of the Hyades is found to be Y = 0.27 but with a significant model dependency. Correlations with the adopted metallicity result in a robust helium enrichment law, with \u394Y/\u394Z close to 1.2 We estimate the age of the Hyades to be 0.9 \ub1 0.1 (stat) \ub10.1 (sys) Gyr, which is in slight tension with recent age estimates based on the cluster white dwarfs. The precision of the age estimate can be much improved via asteroseismic investigations of the other Hyades giants and by future improvements to the Gaia parallax for bright stars