Enhancing Exoplanet Ephemerides by Leveraging Professional and Citizen Science Data: A Test Case with WASP-77A b
We present an updated ephemeris and physical parameters for the exoplanet WASP-77 A b. In this effort, we combine 64 ground- and space-based transit observations, 6 space-based eclipse observations, and 32 radial velocity observations to produce the most precise orbital solution to date for this target, aiding in the planning of James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and Ariel observations and atmospheric studies.
We report a new orbital period of 1.360029395 +- 5.7e-8 days, a new mid-transit time of 2459957.337860 +- 4.3e-5 BJDTDB (Barycentric Julian Date in the Barycentric Dynamical Time scale; arXiv:1005.4415) and a new mid-eclipse time of 2459956.658192 +- 6.7e-5 BJDTDB. Furthermore, the methods presented in this study reduce the uncertainties in the planet mass to 1.6654 +- 4.5e-3 Mjup and orbital period to 1.360029395 +- 5.7e-8 days by factors of 15.1 and 10.9, respectively.
Through a joint fit analysis comparison of transit data taken by space-based and citizen science-led initiatives, our study demonstrates the power of including data collected by citizen scientists compared to a fit of the space-based data alone.
Additionally, by including a vast array of citizen science data from ExoClock, Exoplanet Transit Database (ETD), and Exoplanet Watch, we can increase our observational baseline and thus acquire better constraints on the forward propagation of our ephemeris than what is achievable with TESS data alone.
Federico R. Noguer, Suber Corley, Kyle A. Pearson, Robert T. Zellem, Molly N. Simon, Jennifer A. Burt, Isabela Huckabee, Prune C. August, Megan Weiner-Mansfield, Paul A. Dalba, Timothy Banks, Ira Bell, Dominique Daniel, Lindsay Dawson, Jesús De Mula, Marc Deldem, Dimitrios Deligeorgopoulos, Romina P. Di Sisto, Roger Dymock, Phil Evans, Giulio Follero, Martin J. F. Fowler, Eduardo Fernández-Lajús, Alex Hamrick, Nicoletta Iannascoli, Andre O. Kovacs, Denis Henrique Kulh, Claudio Lopresti, Antonio Marino, Bryan E. Martin, Paolo Arcangelo Matassa, Tasso Augusto Napoleão, Alessandro Nastasi, Anthony Norris, Alessandro Odasso, Nikolaos I. Paschalis, Pavel Pintr, Jake Postiglione, Justus Randolph, François Regembal, Lionel Rousselot, Sergio José Gonçalves da Silva, Andrew Smith, Andrea Tomacelli
Subjects: Earth and Planetary Astrophysics (astro-ph.EP); Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics (astro-ph.IM)
Cite as: arXiv:2405.19615 [astro-ph.EP] (or arXiv:2405.19615v1 [astro-ph.EP] for this version)
Submission history
From: Federico Noguer
[v1] Thu, 30 May 2024 02:08:58 UTC (5,722 KB)
https://arxiv.org/abs/2405.19615
Astrobiology
