Exoplanets in the Antarctic Sky: from Searching to Characterizing
Abstract
Thanks for the wide-field exoplanet surveys on the ground and in the space, thousands of exoplanet samples have been found in the last two decades. From Dome A, the highest point of the Antarctic plateau, we have also contributed over 100 candidates using the AST3 telescopes in 2018. Now, besides searching, we are progressing forward to study special exoplanet systems in details to reveal their dynamics and physics properties. I will first introduce our recent works on searching exoplanets with the help from deep learning methods. And I'll present some results on characterizing Proxima Cent b, the nearest potential habitable world, using AST3-II. We find a temporary solar-like oscillation in Proxima. We know that M dwarf stars are dominated by advection layer, there should be some kinds of Solar-like oscillation. But the oscillation won't be stable so although believed, no positive detection was made. This may be the first observation proof. This is an excellent example to show the advantages of monitoring high-value targets from Dome A. To further utilize these advantages I'll also introduce the KISS (Kunlun Infrared Sky Survey) project and its usage on exoplanet characterization. We also monitored Beta Pictoris a couple of hours each day during the twilights (when the weather was permitting), using AST3 II telescope, in 2017. At the end of the polar winter, we had acquired around 70,000 frames on this target at a cadence of 3.5 sec. Although no obvious eclipse was found, we've found some new pulsating frequencies, e.g. around 14.3, 20.6, 58.98/day , and some ultra-high-freqency signals, which are not mentioned before. We think this phenomena can reveal some properties of Beta Pictoris b's circumplanetary environment.
- Publication:
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AAS/Division for Extreme Solar Systems Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- August 2019
- Bibcode:
- 2019ESS.....433309Z