From: LARRY KLAES (ljk4_at_msn.com)
Date: Tue Jul 26 2005 - 15:53:40 UTC
Paper: astro-ph/0507548
Date: Fri, 22 Jul 2005 20:00:16 GMT (25kb)
Title: Detecting Transiting Hot Earths and Hot Neptunes in Galactic Open
Clusters
Authors: Joshua Pepper and B. Scott Gaudi
Comments: 5 pages, 2 figures, submitted to ApJL
\\
Radial velocity searches for extrasolar planets have recently detected
several very low mass (7-20 M_Earth) planets in close orbits with periods <
10
days. The nature and origin of these planets is unknown, although some
theories
suggest that such planets, as well as planets of even lower mass, should be
ubiquitous. Radius measurements for these objects would allow one to
distinguish between various alternatives for their origin. We consider the
prospects for detecting the analogs of these planets in Galactic open
clusters
via transits. We outline the requirements for constructing a transit survey
that would allow one to probe such ``Hot Earths'' and ``Hot Neptunes.''
Specifically, we present a simple criterion for detection that defines the
minimum aperture required to detect planets of a given radius in a cluster
at a
given distance. We then predict the number of planets one could detect with
transit surveys toward several open clusters. Dedicated, 20-night surveys
with
Pan-STARRS toward the Hyades and Praesepe could detect a handful of Hot
Earths,
if the majority of stars host such planets. Similar surveys with larger
aperture telescopes (e.g. CFHT, MMT), toward M67, M35, M50, and M37 could
detect Hot Neptunes, provided that their frequency is > 1%.
\\ ( http://arXiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0507548 , 25kb)
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