Prospect for Kepler Detecting Planets in Open Clusters
Abstract
Measuring the frequency and orbital properties of planets around stars in open clusters would provide insight into planet formation and the evolution of planetary systems. While several transiting-planet searches found no planets in open clusters, recently the radial velocity technique has identified planets in two small open clusters, Hyades and Praesepe. We consider how these and future transiting-planet searches with the Kepler mission can address whether planet formation in clusters differs from planet formation around field stars. We model NGC 6791, an open cluster in the Kepler field of view, including a population of planet-harboring stars, using a fast and accurate Hénon-type Monte Carlo code. We evaluate the prospects for Kepler to detect transiting planets around normal main-sequence stars in NGC 6791. We make predictions for the number of detectable planets, and the properties of such planets and their host stars, assuming that planets form in this cluster at the same rate as is observed in the field. We show that the most promising hunting grounds for transiting planets in this cluster are around main sequence stars at a distance of about 5' from the cluster center.
- Publication:
-
American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts #221
- Pub Date:
- January 2013
- Bibcode:
- 2013AAS...22140706C