Category: ExoClock

Another set of observations for the ExoClock project by member Simon Dawes :-)

Simon wrote ''This was a tricky observation, a bright star with faint comparisons, on the night of the summer solstice - the worst night of the year for astronomy, due to the lack of real night - there were 627 15s exposures which, when processed, works out at about 60Gb of disk space - for a single O-C measurement!''

''This far-off blue planet may look like a friendly haven – but don’t be deceived! Weather here is deadly. The planet’s cobalt blue colour comes from a hazy, blow-torched atmosphere containing clouds laced with glass. Howling winds send the storming glass sideways at 5,400 mph (2km/s), whipping all in a sickening spiral. It’s death by a million cuts on this slasher planet!'' Ref:https://exoplanets.nasa.gov/exoplanet-catalog/6876/hd-189733-b/

HD 189733b is an exoplanet approximately 64.5 light-years away in the constellation of Vulpecula. The planet was discovered on October 5, 2005.  HD 189733b orbits its host star once every 2.2 days.

The closest transiting hot Jupiter to Earth, scientists have extensively studied the exoplanet's atmosphere.  Researchers have found that the planet has an unusual rain of molten glass.

Another set of transit observations for the ExoClock project by Simon Dawes of Exoplanet HAT-P-12b.

HAT-P-12b is 468 light years away from Earth, orbiting a 13th magnitude K-type star in the constellation Canes Venatici.  It is was discovered by the HATNet Project on April 29, 2009.

The transit of EPIC 246851721b measured by CMHASD member and trustee Martin Crow for the ExoClock project on the 21st January 2023. The transit depth is a mere 5 thousandths of a magnitude. EPIC 246851721b is a gas giant exoplanet that orbits an F-type star in the constellation Taurus. Its mass is 3 Jupiters, it takes 6.2 days to complete one orbit of its star and is 0.07229 AU from its star. This planet was discovered by Yu et al. 2018. The discovery was made with the space telescope 0.95 m Kepler Telescope.

This is a montage of the exo-planet transits that CMHASD member and trustee Simon Dawes observed in 2022 for the ExoClock project.  A total of 60 for 2022. Well done Simon!

A huge congratulations to CMHASD trustees Martin Crow and Simon Dawes for jointly winning the BAA Sir Patrick Moore Prize for Pro-Am work on Exoplanet observations with the ExoClock project along with a Mr Adrian Jones.

Below is a photo of Martin and Simon being presented with their certificates by the President of the BAA David Arditti on Saturday 10th December 2022 at the BAA Christmas Meeting. 

   From left to right: David Arditti, Adrian Jones, Martin Crow & Simon Dawes.

Two more sets of exoplanet observations for the ExoClock project by member Simon Dawes of WASP-114b and Qatar-5b.  These are the 56th and 57th set of observations Simon has completed for the project.

WASP-114b is a Hot Jupiter in a 1.5-day orbit around a G0 star.

Qatar-5b is a Hot Jupiter orbiting the star Qatar-5 located in Andromeda constellation.  It orbits its star every 2.87 days. It was discovered in 2016 by the Qatar Exoplanet Survey (QES).

Three more sets of observations of exoplanet transits for the ExoClock project by Simon Dawes. WASP-52b, Qatar-1b and HAT-P-6b.

WASP-52 b is a gas giant exoplanet that orbits a K-type star. Its mass is 0.46 Jupiters. Exoplanet WASP-52b orbits at a distance of 4.07 million km from its host star WASP-52, taking 1.75 days to go round its orbit. Its discovery in the constellation Pegasus was announced in 2012.

Qatar-1 b is a gas giant exoplanet that orbits a metal-rich K-dwarf star, which is one of the faintest around which a planet has been discovered by ground based surveys. Its mass is 1.294 Jupiters, takes 1.4 days to complete one orbit of its star and is 0.02332 AU from its star. Its discovery was announced in 2010.

HAT-P-6b was discovered on October 15, 2007.  It is located in the constellation Andromeda.  It takes 92 hours, 28 minutes, 17 seconds and 9 deciseconds to orbit its host star.  The planet HAT-P-6b is named Nachtwacht. The name was selected in the NameExoWorlds campaign by the Netherlands, during the 100th anniversary of the IAU, after Rembrandt's painting The Night Watch.  It is one of the few planets that is in a retrograde orbit around its host star.

On Friday 30th September 2022 at the ExoClock 2 day meeting held at University College London, CMHASD trustees Martin Crow & Simon Dawes were awarded certificates for their impressive contribution to the ExoClock Project. 

ExoClock is a project to monitor the ephemerides of transiting exoplanets by the ARIEL Ephemerides Working Group. 

ARIEL is a space telescope (Atmospheric Remote‐sensing Infrared Exoplanet Large‐survey mission) that was selected by ESA as part of its Cosmic Vision plan and is ESA'S next science mission that will focus on the nature of planets orbiting stars in other systems.  It will be ESA's fourth medium-class science mission to be launched in 2029.

Both Simon and Martin have contributed over 50 exoplanet observations each to ExoClock and more are yet to come. 

Their certificates were presented to them by Anastasia Kokori, Coordinator of the ExoClock project & Professor Giovanna Tinetti, Principal Investigator of the Ariel mission. 

Congratulations Martin & Simon. Well done!

Martin Crow receiving his certificate.

Simon Dawes receiving his certificate.

You can view some of Simon & Martin's observations on the CMHASD ExoClock Project page.

One more for the ExoClock Project by Simon Dawes of HAT-P-29b also known as Surt.  Surt is the ruler of Muspelheim and the fire giants there in Norse mythology. At Ragnarok, the end of the world, he will lead the attack on our world and destroy it in flames.

See https://www.iau.org/public/themes/naming_exoplanets/