Transit analysis of exoplanets

• Grant number: 11/52096-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: May 01, 2012
• End date: April 30, 2015
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Astronomy - Positional Astronomy and Celestial Mechanics
• Principal Investigator: Sylvio Ferraz de Mello
• Grantee: Marcos Tadeu dos Santos
• Host Institution: Instituto de Astronomia, Geofísica e Ciências Atmosféricas (IAG). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

In this project we propose to study the orbital determination of exoplanets through the transit technique, a method that has grown in recent years due to improvements in the photometric measurements of stars. With spacial telescopes became possible to monitor them continuously and thus detect accurately small periodic variations that occur in time to the transits of exoplanets. The transit is not the primary means of detection because it have a great selective effect, the systems cataloged today have semi-axes less than 0.1 AU. However, the methodology can help us understand the dynamics of planets in short periods, known as hot Jupiters, and provides important information such as its radius, for example, which allow us determine, roughly, the density and internal structure. (AU)