Searching for the Transit of the Earth-mass Exoplanet Proxima Centauri b in Antarctica: Preliminary Result
Proxima Centauri is known as the closest star to the Sun. Recently, radial velocity (RV) observations revealed the existence of an Earth-mass planet around it. With an orbital period of ~11 days, Proxima Centauri b is probably in the habitable zone of its host star. We undertook a photometric monito...
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ftcaltechauth:oai:authors.library.caltech.edu:84081 2023-05-15T14:01:44+02:00 Searching for the Transit of the Earth-mass Exoplanet Proxima Centauri b in Antarctica: Preliminary Result Liu, Hui-Gen Jiang, Peng Huang, Xingxing Yu, Zhou-Yi Yang, Ming Jia, Minghao Awiphan, Supachai Pan, Xiang Liu, Bo Zhang, Hongfei Wang, Jian Li, Zhengyang Du, Fujia Li, Xiaoyan Lu, Haiping Zhang, Zhiyong Tian, Qi-Guo Li, Bin Ji, Tuo Zhang, Shaohua Shi, Xiheng Wang, Ji Zhou, Ji-Lin Zhou, Hongyan 2018-01 application/pdf https://authors.library.caltech.edu/84081/ https://authors.library.caltech.edu/84081/1/Liu_2018_AJ_155_12.pdf https://authors.library.caltech.edu/84081/2/1711.07018.pdf https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20180104-134958797 en eng American Astronomical Society https://authors.library.caltech.edu/84081/1/Liu_2018_AJ_155_12.pdf https://authors.library.caltech.edu/84081/2/1711.07018.pdf Liu, Hui-Gen and Jiang, Peng and Huang, Xingxing and Yu, Zhou-Yi and Yang, Ming and Jia, Minghao and Awiphan, Supachai and Pan, Xiang and Liu, Bo and Zhang, Hongfei and Wang, Jian and Li, Zhengyang and Du, Fujia and Li, Xiaoyan and Lu, Haiping and Zhang, Zhiyong and Tian, Qi-Guo and Li, Bin and Ji, Tuo and Zhang, Shaohua and Shi, Xiheng and Wang, Ji and Zhou, Ji-Lin and Zhou, Hongyan (2018) Searching for the Transit of the Earth-mass Exoplanet Proxima Centauri b in Antarctica: Preliminary Result. Astronomical Journal, 155 (1). Art. No. 12. ISSN 1538-3881. doi:10.3847/1538-3881/aa9b86. https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20180104-134958797 <https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20180104-134958797> other Article PeerReviewed 2018 ftcaltechauth https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/aa9b86 2021-11-18T18:44:40Z Proxima Centauri is known as the closest star to the Sun. Recently, radial velocity (RV) observations revealed the existence of an Earth-mass planet around it. With an orbital period of ~11 days, Proxima Centauri b is probably in the habitable zone of its host star. We undertook a photometric monitoring campaign to search for its transit, using the Bright Star Survey Telescope at the Zhongshan Station in Antarctica. A transit-like signal appearing on 2016 September 8 has been tentatively identified. Its midtime, T_C = 2,457,640.1990 ± 0.0017 HJD, is consistent with the predicted ephemeris based on the RV orbit in a 1σ confidence interval. Time-correlated noise is pronounced in the light curve of Proxima Centauri, affecting the detection of transits. We develop a technique, in a Gaussian process framework, to gauge the statistical significance of a potential transit detection. The tentative transit signal reported here has a confidence level of 2.5σ. Further detection of its periodic signals is necessary to confirm the planetary transit of Proxima Centauri b. We plan to monitor Proxima Centauri in the next polar night at Dome A in Antarctica, taking advantage of continuous darkness. Kipping et al. reported two tentative transit-like signals of Proxima Centauri b observed by the Microvariability and Oscillation of Stars space telescope in 2014 and 2015. The midtransit time of our detection is 138 minutes later than that predicted by their transit ephemeris. If all of the signals are real transits, the misalignment of the epochs plausibly suggests transit timing variations of Proxima Centauri b induced by an outer planet in this system. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctica polar night Caltech Authors (California Institute of Technology) Zhongshan ENVELOPE(76.371,76.371,-69.373,-69.373) Zhongshan Station ENVELOPE(76.371,76.371,-69.373,-69.373) The Astronomical Journal 155 1 12 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Caltech Authors (California Institute of Technology) |
op_collection_id |
ftcaltechauth |
language |
English |
description |
Proxima Centauri is known as the closest star to the Sun. Recently, radial velocity (RV) observations revealed the existence of an Earth-mass planet around it. With an orbital period of ~11 days, Proxima Centauri b is probably in the habitable zone of its host star. We undertook a photometric monitoring campaign to search for its transit, using the Bright Star Survey Telescope at the Zhongshan Station in Antarctica. A transit-like signal appearing on 2016 September 8 has been tentatively identified. Its midtime, T_C = 2,457,640.1990 ± 0.0017 HJD, is consistent with the predicted ephemeris based on the RV orbit in a 1σ confidence interval. Time-correlated noise is pronounced in the light curve of Proxima Centauri, affecting the detection of transits. We develop a technique, in a Gaussian process framework, to gauge the statistical significance of a potential transit detection. The tentative transit signal reported here has a confidence level of 2.5σ. Further detection of its periodic signals is necessary to confirm the planetary transit of Proxima Centauri b. We plan to monitor Proxima Centauri in the next polar night at Dome A in Antarctica, taking advantage of continuous darkness. Kipping et al. reported two tentative transit-like signals of Proxima Centauri b observed by the Microvariability and Oscillation of Stars space telescope in 2014 and 2015. The midtransit time of our detection is 138 minutes later than that predicted by their transit ephemeris. If all of the signals are real transits, the misalignment of the epochs plausibly suggests transit timing variations of Proxima Centauri b induced by an outer planet in this system. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Liu, Hui-Gen Jiang, Peng Huang, Xingxing Yu, Zhou-Yi Yang, Ming Jia, Minghao Awiphan, Supachai Pan, Xiang Liu, Bo Zhang, Hongfei Wang, Jian Li, Zhengyang Du, Fujia Li, Xiaoyan Lu, Haiping Zhang, Zhiyong Tian, Qi-Guo Li, Bin Ji, Tuo Zhang, Shaohua Shi, Xiheng Wang, Ji Zhou, Ji-Lin Zhou, Hongyan |
spellingShingle |
Liu, Hui-Gen Jiang, Peng Huang, Xingxing Yu, Zhou-Yi Yang, Ming Jia, Minghao Awiphan, Supachai Pan, Xiang Liu, Bo Zhang, Hongfei Wang, Jian Li, Zhengyang Du, Fujia Li, Xiaoyan Lu, Haiping Zhang, Zhiyong Tian, Qi-Guo Li, Bin Ji, Tuo Zhang, Shaohua Shi, Xiheng Wang, Ji Zhou, Ji-Lin Zhou, Hongyan Searching for the Transit of the Earth-mass Exoplanet Proxima Centauri b in Antarctica: Preliminary Result |
author_facet |
Liu, Hui-Gen Jiang, Peng Huang, Xingxing Yu, Zhou-Yi Yang, Ming Jia, Minghao Awiphan, Supachai Pan, Xiang Liu, Bo Zhang, Hongfei Wang, Jian Li, Zhengyang Du, Fujia Li, Xiaoyan Lu, Haiping Zhang, Zhiyong Tian, Qi-Guo Li, Bin Ji, Tuo Zhang, Shaohua Shi, Xiheng Wang, Ji Zhou, Ji-Lin Zhou, Hongyan |
author_sort |
Liu, Hui-Gen |
title |
Searching for the Transit of the Earth-mass Exoplanet Proxima Centauri b in Antarctica: Preliminary Result |
title_short |
Searching for the Transit of the Earth-mass Exoplanet Proxima Centauri b in Antarctica: Preliminary Result |
title_full |
Searching for the Transit of the Earth-mass Exoplanet Proxima Centauri b in Antarctica: Preliminary Result |
title_fullStr |
Searching for the Transit of the Earth-mass Exoplanet Proxima Centauri b in Antarctica: Preliminary Result |
title_full_unstemmed |
Searching for the Transit of the Earth-mass Exoplanet Proxima Centauri b in Antarctica: Preliminary Result |
title_sort |
searching for the transit of the earth-mass exoplanet proxima centauri b in antarctica: preliminary result |
publisher |
American Astronomical Society |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
https://authors.library.caltech.edu/84081/ https://authors.library.caltech.edu/84081/1/Liu_2018_AJ_155_12.pdf https://authors.library.caltech.edu/84081/2/1711.07018.pdf https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20180104-134958797 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(76.371,76.371,-69.373,-69.373) ENVELOPE(76.371,76.371,-69.373,-69.373) |
geographic |
Zhongshan Zhongshan Station |
geographic_facet |
Zhongshan Zhongshan Station |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctica polar night |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctica polar night |
op_relation |
https://authors.library.caltech.edu/84081/1/Liu_2018_AJ_155_12.pdf https://authors.library.caltech.edu/84081/2/1711.07018.pdf Liu, Hui-Gen and Jiang, Peng and Huang, Xingxing and Yu, Zhou-Yi and Yang, Ming and Jia, Minghao and Awiphan, Supachai and Pan, Xiang and Liu, Bo and Zhang, Hongfei and Wang, Jian and Li, Zhengyang and Du, Fujia and Li, Xiaoyan and Lu, Haiping and Zhang, Zhiyong and Tian, Qi-Guo and Li, Bin and Ji, Tuo and Zhang, Shaohua and Shi, Xiheng and Wang, Ji and Zhou, Ji-Lin and Zhou, Hongyan (2018) Searching for the Transit of the Earth-mass Exoplanet Proxima Centauri b in Antarctica: Preliminary Result. Astronomical Journal, 155 (1). Art. No. 12. ISSN 1538-3881. doi:10.3847/1538-3881/aa9b86. https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20180104-134958797 <https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20180104-134958797> |
op_rights |
other |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/aa9b86 |
container_title |
The Astronomical Journal |
container_volume |
155 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
12 |
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1766271775090409472 |