Long-period transiting exoplanets are incredibly important, allowing us to study planets with temperatures similar to those in our own solar system. However, due to the nature of its observing strategy, the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) is heavily biased towards the discovery of short-period planets. To increase the yield of long-period planets, I am using TESS ‘duotransits’ - planet candidates with two observed transits separated by a large gap, typically two years. From the two non-consecutive transits, the period of the planet is unknown, but there exists a discrete set of period aliases. As a member of the CHaracterising ExOPlanet Satellite (CHEOPS) Duotransit Program, we perform targeted follow-up of TESS duotransits to recover their true periods. To identify the best targets for our CHEOPS follow-up, I developed a specialised pipeline to discover TESS duotransits. In this seminar, I will present my duotransit pipeline and the latest results from the CHEOPS Duotransit Program. We have discovered 19 long-period exoplanets, all of which have P > 20d, RP < 5RE and Gaia magnitude < 12. These small, long-period planets transiting bright stars are amenable to radial velocity follow-up and future atmospheric characterisation.

Host: Eric Ford

Please email CEHW-SEMINAR-QUESTIONS@lists.psu.edu to attend virtually.