Planetary transit candidates in the CoRoT LRa01 field

in Astronomy and Astrophysics (2012), 538

Context: CoRoT is a pioneering space mission whose primary goals are stellar seismology and extrasolar planets search. Its surveys of large stellar fields generate numerous planetary candidates whose ... [more ▼]

Context: CoRoT is a pioneering space mission whose primary goals are stellar seismology and extrasolar planets search. Its surveys of large stellar fields generate numerous planetary candidates whose lightcurves have transit-like features. An extensive analytical and observational follow-up effort is undertaken to classify these candidates. Aims: The list of planetary transit candidates from the CoRoT LRa01 star field in the Monoceros constellation towards the Galactic anti-center is presented. The CoRoT observations of LRa01 lasted from 24 October 2007 to 3 March 2008. Methods: 7470 chromatic and 3938 monochromatic lightcurves were acquired and analysed. Instrumental noise and stellar variability were treated with several filtering tools by different teams from the CoRoT community. Different transit search algorithms were applied to the lightcurves. Results: Fifty-one stars were classified as planetary transit candidates in LRa01. Thirty-seven (i.e., 73 % of all candidates) are "good" planetary candidates based on photometric analysis only. Thirty-two (i.e., 87 % of the "good" candidates) have been followed-up. At the time of this writing twenty-two cases have been solved and five planets have been discovered: three transiting hot-Jupiters (CoRoT-5b, CoRoT-12b, and CoRoT-21b), the first terrestrial transiting planet (CoRoT-7b), and another planet in the same system (CoRoT-7c, detected by radial velocity survey only). Evidences of another non-transiting planet in the CoRoT-7 system, namely CoRoT-7d, have been recently found. [less ▲]

The HARPS search for southern extra-solar planets XXXII. Only 4 planets in the Gl~581 system

E-print/Working paper (2011)

The Gl 581 planetary system has generated wide interest, because its 4 planets include both the lowest mass planet known around a main sequence star other than the Sun and the first super-Earth planet in ... [more ▼]

The Gl 581 planetary system has generated wide interest, because its 4 planets include both the lowest mass planet known around a main sequence star other than the Sun and the first super-Earth planet in the habitable zone of its star. A recent paper announced the possible discovery of two additional super-Earth planets in that system, one of which would be in the middle of the habitable zone of Gl 581. The statistical significance of those two discoveries has, however, been questioned. We have obtained 121 new radial velocity measurements of Gl 581 with the HARPS spectrograph on the ESO 3.6 m telescope, and analyse those together with our previous 119 measurements of that star to examine these potential additional planets. We find that neither is likely to exist with their proposed parameters. We also obtained photometric observations with the 2.5 m Isaac Newton Telescope during a potential transit of the inner planet, Gl 581e, which had a 5% geometric transit probability. Those observations exclude transits for planet densities under 4 times the Earth density within -0.2 sigma to +2.7 sigma of the predicted transit center. [less ▲]

A transiting giant planet with a temperature between 250K and 430K

in Nature (2010), 464

Of the over 400 known exoplanets, there are about 70 planets that transit their central star, a situation that permits the derivation of their basic parameters and facilitates investigations of their ... [more ▼]

Of the over 400 known exoplanets, there are about 70 planets that transit their central star, a situation that permits the derivation of their basic parameters and facilitates investigations of their atmospheres. Some short-period planets, including the first terrestrial exoplanet (CoRoT-7b), have been discovered using a space mission designed to find smaller and more distant planets than can be seen from the ground. Here we report transit observations of CoRoT-9b, which orbits with a period of 95.274days on a low eccentricity of 0.11+/-0.04 around a solar-like star. Its periastron distance of 0.36 astronomical units is by far the largest of all transiting planets, yielding a `temperate' photospheric temperature estimated to be between 250 and 430K. Unlike previously known transiting planets, the present size of CoRoT-9b should not have been affected by tidal heat dissipation processes. Indeed, the planet is found to be well described by standard evolution models with an inferred interior composition consistent with that of Jupiter and Saturn. [less ▲]

Transiting exoplanets from the CoRoT space mission. VII. The ``hot-Jupiter''-type planet CoRoT-5b

in Astronomy and Astrophysics (2009), 506

Aims: The CoRoT space mission continues to photometrically monitor about 12 000 stars in its field-of-view for a series of target fields to search for transiting extrasolar planets ever since 2007. Deep ... [more ▼]

Aims: The CoRoT space mission continues to photometrically monitor about 12 000 stars in its field-of-view for a series of target fields to search for transiting extrasolar planets ever since 2007. Deep transit signals can be detected quickly in the â alarm-modeâ in parallel to the ongoing target field monitoring. CoRoT's first planets have been detected in this mode. <BR />Methods: The CoRoT raw lightcurves are filtered for orbital residuals, outliers, and low-frequency stellar signals. The phase folded lightcurve is used to fit the transit signal and derive the main planetary parameters. Radial velocity follow-up observations were initiated to secure the detection and to derive the planet mass. <BR />Results: We report the detection of CoRoT-5b, detected during observations of the LRa01 field, the first long-duration field in the galactic anti-center direction. CoRoT-5b is a â hot Jupiter-typeâ planet with a radius of 1.388[SUP]+0.046[/SUP][SUB]-0.047[/SUB] R_Jup, a mass of 0.467[SUP]+0.047[/SUP][SUB]-0.024[/SUB] M_Jup, and therefore, a mean density of 0.217[SUP]+0.031[/SUP][SUB]-0.025[/SUB] g cm[SUP]-3[/SUP]. The planet orbits an F9V star of 14.0 mag in 4.0378962 ± 0.0000019 days at an orbital distance of 0.04947[SUP]+0.00026[/SUP][SUB]-0.00029[/SUB] AU. Observations made with SOPHIE spectrograph at the Observatoire de Haute Provence (07B.PNP.MOUT), France, and HARPS spectrograph at ESO La Silla Observatory (072.C-0488(E), 082.C-0312(A)), and partly based on observations made at the Anglo-Australian Telescope. The CoRoT space mission, launched on December 27, 2006, was developed and is operated by CNES, with the contribution of Austria, Belgium, Brasil, ESA, Germany, and Spain. [less ▲]

Transiting exoplanets from the CoRoT space mission. V. CoRoT-Exo-4b: stellar and planetary parameters

in Astronomy and Astrophysics (2008), 488

Aims. The CoRoT satellite has announced its fourth transiting planet (Aigrain et al. 2008, A&A, 488, L43) with space photometry. We describe and analyse complementary observations of this system performed ... [more ▼]

Aims. The CoRoT satellite has announced its fourth transiting planet (Aigrain et al. 2008, A&A, 488, L43) with space photometry. We describe and analyse complementary observations of this system performed to establish the planetary nature of the transiting body and to estimate the fundamental parameters of the planet and its parent star. Methods: We have analysed high precision radial-velocity data, ground-based photometry, and high signal-to-noise ratio spectroscopy. Results: The parent star CoRoT-Exo-4 (2MASS 06484671-0040219) is a late F-type star of mass of 1.16 M[SUB]o[/SUB] and radius of 1.17 R[SUB]o[/SUB]. The planet has a circular orbit with a period of 9.20205 d. The planet radius is 1.19 R_Jup and the mass is 0.72 M_Jup. It is a gas-giant planet with a ``normal'' internal structure of mainly H and He. CoRoT-Exo-4b has the second longest period of the known transiting planets. It is an important discovery since it occupies an empty area in the mass-period diagram of transiting exoplanets. Based on observations obtained with CoRoT, a space project operated by the French Space Agency, CNES, with participation of the Science Programme of ESA, ESTEC/RSSD, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Germany and Spain; and on observations made with the SOPHIE spectrograph at Observatoire de Haute Provence, France (PNP.07B.MOUT), and the HARPS spectrograph at ESO La Silla Observatory (079.C-0127/F). Table 2 and Fig. 5 are only available in electronic form at http://www.aanda.org [less ▲]