Found 6 talks width keyword photometry

Planetary systems have been found systematically orbiting main sequence stars and red giants. But the detection of planets per se during the white dwarf phase has been more elusive with only 3 systems.  We have, however, ample indirect evidence  of the existence of planetary debris around these systems in the form of material acreted onto the white dwarf, disks and even planetesimals. In this talk, I will review how we can put the pieces together: how we can reconcile what we see in white dwarfs with what we can infer regarding the evolution of planetary systems from the main sequence phase.

At present, our understanding of the formation history of the MW is limited due to the complexity of observing the imprints of accretion events and of reproducing them in numerical simulations. Moreover, though being the only galaxy, in which the Galactic potential can be probed in detail, the distribution of mass in the MW, and hence of the dark matter, is poorly constraint, especially at large distances. In addition, the MW is not isolated, and it has recently been suggested that the infall of the LMC can induce a perturbation in the stellar and dark matter distribution of the MW. As a consequence, the details of the formation history of our Galaxy are still unknown, such as the number of accretion events, the mass of the accreted galaxies, and the epoch of these events. Yet this information is crucial to understand our environment and to constrain the theoretical models and simulations that try to reproduce it.

One of the major challenges of the field is that a tremendous number of multi-aspect (astrometric, photometric and spectroscopic) observations at significant depth is required to study the morphology, the kinematics and the chemistry of the outskirts of our Galaxy, where are located the signatures of these events. Hopefully, the advent of recent and incoming complementary large surveys, such as the European Gaia mission, UNIONS (Ultraviolet Near Infrared Optical Northern Survey), Pristine, Pan-STARRS (PS), WEAVE or LSST (Legacy Survey of Space and Time), is offering a new global point of view on our Galaxy’s halo, allowing us to precisely probe the Galactic potential our the MW, and to retrace itsaccretion history.

In this talk I will present recent works that have been conducted to better catarerized our Galaxy and its history with some of the existing surveys mentioned above. In addition, I will present the major improvement that will bring this new generation of large, multi-aspect surveys, to study both our Galactic history, as well as the fundamental nature of the dark matter.

The Southeastern Association for Research in Astronomy (SARA) is a consortium of 11 US universities that currently remotely operates a 0.9 m telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory and a 0.6 m telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory. Collectively, the SARA institutes predominantly use differential photometry techniques for studies ranging in scale from solar system asteroids and minor planets, to transiting exo-planets, most types of variable stars and binaries, to active galactic nuclei and blazers. In addition, the SARA telescopes are frequently used in preliminary observations for other major observatories (HST, for example). In this talk a brief history and the philosophy of SARA will be given, as well as more details on the current types of scientific programs run by the SARA institutes. The new scientific opportunities enabled by the JKT will also be highlighted. Finally, our development and funding plans will be presented. A description of the telescope automat ion process by Astronomical Consultants & Equipment, Inc. will conclude.

Among the over 450 known exoplanets, the planets that transit their central star stand out, due to the wealth of information that can be gained about both planet and central star. The CoRoT mission has been designed to detect smaller and longer-periodic transiting exoplanets than can be found from ground observations. CoRoT-9b was detected by the satellite in summer 2008 and underwent follow-up observations from ground for another year. It stands out as having the largest periastron distance of all transiting planets, being expected to maintain permanently a moderate surface temperature, estimated between 250 and 430K. It is also the first exoplanet to which planet evolution models can be applied, without uncertain corrections that have been needed for 'hot' transiting planets. These models indicate it to be rather similar to Jupiter. Temperate gas-giant planets with low-to-moderate eccentric orbits constitute the largest group of currently known planets; they are probably similar to the gas giants of the solar system. With CoRoT-9b being this group’s first transiting planet, it may give rise to a much better understanding of these common planets. While CoRoT-9b itself is certainly not habitable, moons around it could be similar to Titan and provide some chance of habitability. Upcoming observations with the Spitzer space telescope are designed to improve on planet parameters and to perform a deeper search for the detection of its moons.

Up to now more than 400 extrasolar planets have been discovered, about 60 of them are transiting. Transiting extra-solar planets are particularly interesting, because their masses, diameters, densities and orientations of their orbits can be determined. Observations with the CoRoT Satellite have now turned up 10 transiting extrasolar planets. Although most of them are gas giants, it turns out that each of them is very special, and many of them have surprising properties. An unexpected discovery was for example the detection of emission lines from CoRoT 1b. Other interesting discoveries are CoRoT 2b, a planet orbiting a young star, and CoRoT 3b the first transiting brown dwarf orbiting a main sequence star. While the detection of transiting gas giants is interesting, the ultimate goal of CoRoT clearly was the detection of rocky planets. CoRoT has detected a solar-like star which shows transits that are only 0.03% deep. In this talk it it is demonstrated that this planet is in fact the first planet found outside our solar system from which we can firmly say that it is a rocky planet. New observations of this interesting object even constrain the properties of its exosphere.