An Improved Ephemeris for HD 209458b
Abstract
Of the nearly 100 known extrasolar planets, only HD 209458b has been observed to transit its host star. An extremely precise ephemeris can allow one to infer the presence of moons or other planets by the gravitational effects of such objects on the transit times. We present I band observations of transits of HD 209458b taken with SDSU's Mount Laguna Observatory 1-meter telescope during the 2001-2002 observing season. The Eclipsing Light Curve code (ELC) written by Dr. Jerome Orosz for binary star modelling was used to fit the observations. We present a revised ephemeris for the planetary orbit as well as for other system parameters, such as the inclination and relative radius. Future efforts to include HST/FGS observations and radial-velocity data will be discussed.
- Publication:
-
American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2002
- Bibcode:
- 2002AAS...201.4611W