Photometric Planetary Search (Abstract)

Volume 21 number 1 (1992)

Eric R. Craine

Western Research Company, Tucson, AZ

Abstract

(Abstract only) Conventional search techniques for extra-solar system planets have not yet yielded indisputable evidence of the existence of such planets. Furthermore, because of their very small sample size, most previously employed search techniques ensure that a null result provides little or no useful information on the numbers or distributions of such planets. The photometric technique, wherein monitoring is undertaken to detect light curves distinctively characteristic of a planetary transit, has been a tantalizing prospect, but because of its observational intensity has always been rejected. Recent developments make a review of this photometric technique worthwhile. The incorporation of the Global Network of automatic Telescopes (GNAT), based on development of automated telescopes and associated instrumentation, appears to provide a feasible solution to the intense observational requirements. The development of an extensive catalogue of cool dwarf stars provides a useful program star list which has the advantage of producing orbital geometries and photometric properties. enabling detection of planetary transits with a network of equipment of modest proportions. We discuss the development of the cool star candidate list, the nature of the observational program, and the data analysis. We also present a discussion of the parameters of detectable planetary systems. This work has been supported in part by a NASA grant to E. R. Craine.