Program: GN-2020B-LP-105
Title: | Validation and Characterization of Exoplanets with Gemini HIgh-Resolution Imaging |
PI: | Steve Howell |
Co-I(s): | Nic Scott, Rachel Matson, Katie Lester, Johanna Teske, Crystal Gnilka, Elise Furlan, Mark Everett, David Ciardi, Zach Hartman |
Abstract
The NASA TESS mission, building on the success of Kepler and K2, has again changed our view of exoplanets. TESS has observed the entire sky in its prime mission, finding candidate exoplanets orbiting bright and nearby stars, and is soon to start its extended mission. Validation and characterization of exoplanets by high-resolution imaging is routinely shown to be absolutely necessary in order to not only prove the planets existence but to allow assignment of a correct radius and density for each exoplanet. The true nature of exoplanet host star binarity, in terms of their orbital period distribution, mass ratio, binary orbit, and even which star the postulated planet orbits are not known a priori but our imaging solves these dilemmas. Given that ~50% of exoplanet host stars are binaries, without high resolution images of the host star a) small planets, especially those in habitable zone orbits, can not be validated and properly characterized and b) any true exoplanet will have, on average, an incorrect radius by a factor of 1.5, that is, the planet will be larger than assumed. We propose to continue our 8-year Gemini community-based speckle imaging program and observe TESS exoplanet host stars as well as some remaining high-value K2 candidates, CHEOPS detections, radial velocity detections with residuals, and repeat observations of a select set for orbits. We will continue to make all of our reduced data public at the Gemini and NASA Exoplanet Archives.
Publications using this program's data
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[data]
[ADS] Planet Hunters TESS II: findings from the first two years of TESS
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[data]
[ADS] Speckle Observations of TESS Exoplanet Host Stars. II. Stellar Companions at 1-1000 au and Implications for Small Planet Detection
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[data]
[ADS] Two Bright M Dwarfs Hosting Ultra-Short-Period Super-Earths with Earth-like Compositions
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[data]
[ADS] Twin High-resolution, High-speed Imagers for the Gemini Telescopes: Instrument description and science verification results
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[data]
[ADS] TOI-2109: An Ultrahot Gas Giant on a 16 hr Orbit
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[data]
[ADS] HATS-74Ab, HATS-75b, HATS-76b, and HATS-77b: Four Transiting Giant Planets Around K and M Dwarfs
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[data]
[ADS] Planet Hunters TESS IV: a massive, compact hierarchical triple star system TIC 470710327
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[data]
[ADS] A Dearth of Close-in Stellar Companions to M-dwarf TESS Objects of Interest
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[data]
[ADS] Speckle Interferometric Observations With the Gemini 8-m Telescopes: Signal-to-Noise Calculations and Observational Results
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[data]
[ADS] TOI-1696: A Nearby M4 Dwarf with a 3 R ⊕ Planet in the Neptunian Desert
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[data]
[ADS] TOI-2046b, TOI-1181b, and TOI-1516b, three new hot Jupiters from TESS: planets orbiting a young star, a subgiant, and a normal star
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[data]
[ADS] Determining Which Binary Component Hosts the TESS Transiting Planet
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[data]
[ADS] TOI-1468: A system of two transiting planets, a super-Earth and a mini-Neptune, on opposite sides of the radius valley
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[data]
[ADS] Characterization of a Set of Small Planets with TESS and CHEOPS and an Analysis of Photometric Performance