A Blind Search for Transit Depth Variability with TESS
The phenomenon of transit depth variability offers a pathway through which processes such as exoplanet atmospheric activity and orbital dynamics can be studied. In this work we conduct a blind search for transit depth variations among 330 known planets observed by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Sat...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2023-01-01
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| Series: | The Astronomical Journal |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/ad09bd |
| _version_ | 1797435524173004800 |
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| author | Gavin Wang Néstor Espinoza |
| author_facet | Gavin Wang Néstor Espinoza |
| author_sort | Gavin Wang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The phenomenon of transit depth variability offers a pathway through which processes such as exoplanet atmospheric activity and orbital dynamics can be studied. In this work we conduct a blind search for transit depth variations among 330 known planets observed by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite within its first four years of operation. Through an automated periodogram analysis, we identify four targets (KELT-8b, HAT-P-7b, HIP 65 Ab, and TrES-3b) that appear to show significant transit depth variability. We find that KELT-8b’s transit depth variability likely comes from contaminating flux from a nearby star, while the apparent variabilities of HIP 65 Ab and TrES-3b are probable artifacts due to their grazing orbits. HAT-P-7b indicates signs of variability that possibly originate from the planet or its host star. A population-level analysis does not reveal any significant correlation between transit depth variability and the effective temperature and mass of the host star; such correlation could arise if stellar activity was the cause of depth variations via the transit light source effect. Extrapolating our ∼1% detection rate to the upcoming Roman mission, predicted to yield of order 100,000 transiting planets, we expect that ∼1000 of these targets will be found to exhibit significant transit depth variability. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T10:49:10Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-7fa37183b4fc4380af27c5b60d46cc75 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1538-3881 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T10:49:10Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | The Astronomical Journal |
| spelling | doaj.art-7fa37183b4fc4380af27c5b60d46cc752023-12-01T09:34:40ZengIOP PublishingThe Astronomical Journal1538-38812023-01-011671110.3847/1538-3881/ad09bdA Blind Search for Transit Depth Variability with TESSGavin Wang0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3092-4418Néstor Espinoza1https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9513-1449Department of Physics & Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University , Baltimore, MD 21218, USA ; gwang59@jhu.eduDepartment of Physics & Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University , Baltimore, MD 21218, USA ; gwang59@jhu.edu; Space Telescope Science Institute , Baltimore, MD 21218, USAThe phenomenon of transit depth variability offers a pathway through which processes such as exoplanet atmospheric activity and orbital dynamics can be studied. In this work we conduct a blind search for transit depth variations among 330 known planets observed by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite within its first four years of operation. Through an automated periodogram analysis, we identify four targets (KELT-8b, HAT-P-7b, HIP 65 Ab, and TrES-3b) that appear to show significant transit depth variability. We find that KELT-8b’s transit depth variability likely comes from contaminating flux from a nearby star, while the apparent variabilities of HIP 65 Ab and TrES-3b are probable artifacts due to their grazing orbits. HAT-P-7b indicates signs of variability that possibly originate from the planet or its host star. A population-level analysis does not reveal any significant correlation between transit depth variability and the effective temperature and mass of the host star; such correlation could arise if stellar activity was the cause of depth variations via the transit light source effect. Extrapolating our ∼1% detection rate to the upcoming Roman mission, predicted to yield of order 100,000 transiting planets, we expect that ∼1000 of these targets will be found to exhibit significant transit depth variability.https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/ad09bdExoplanetsCatalogsTransit photometry |
| spellingShingle | Gavin Wang Néstor Espinoza A Blind Search for Transit Depth Variability with TESS The Astronomical Journal Exoplanets Catalogs Transit photometry |
| title | A Blind Search for Transit Depth Variability with TESS |
| title_full | A Blind Search for Transit Depth Variability with TESS |
| title_fullStr | A Blind Search for Transit Depth Variability with TESS |
| title_full_unstemmed | A Blind Search for Transit Depth Variability with TESS |
| title_short | A Blind Search for Transit Depth Variability with TESS |
| title_sort | blind search for transit depth variability with tess |
| topic | Exoplanets Catalogs Transit photometry |
| url | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/ad09bd |
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