COROT planets |
COROT planets |
May 3 2007, 02:20 PM
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Junior Member Group: Members Posts: 22 Joined: 3-January 07 Member No.: 1551 |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6611557.stm
is reporting that Corot has found its first planet. I can't find an arxiv paper about this, or even a press release, but there are many here better at squirreling out data releases than me. 1.3Mj, 1.8Rj so it's a very inflated planet, 1.5-day orbit around a 'star quite similar to the Sun' might account for that. In the Monoceros field (Corot is now pointing at the Scutum/Aquila field). |
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May 9 2007, 03:04 AM
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#2
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 1018 Joined: 29-November 05 From: Seattle, WA, USA Member No.: 590 |
Steve: What is more interesting about the 0.5% number is that it is independent of the distance of the star; at first it would seem that the further away it is, the less likely a planet is to be lined up so as to transit, but it turns out this is not the case. (Play with the geometry a bit and see.)
Of course the further away a star is, the harder it will be to tell that there was a transit; geometry can't fix that! --Greg |
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May 9 2007, 01:28 PM
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#3
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Member Group: Members Posts: 723 Joined: 13-June 04 Member No.: 82 |
Steve: What is more interesting about the 0.5% number is that it is independent of the distance of the star; at first it would seem that the further away it is, the less likely a planet is to be lined up so as to transit, but it turns out this is not the case. (Play with the geometry a bit and see.) Are you sure about this? The width of the 'band' of sky that can see a transit is the same width as the diameter of the primary as seen from the planet, hence a planet twice as close as another will be visible as transiting from twice the area of sky. The 0.5% number comes from the fact that a planet in a habitable orbit should have its primary subtend about 0.5 degree -- which actually suggests that its transit should be visible from about 0.44% of the sky. A planet ten times closer would have its primary subtend about 5%, so its transit would be visible over about 4.4% of the sky, and so on. Bill |
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