Astronomy Club

University of Arizona

Extrasolar Planet Project

Project Overview

This project is designed to get aspiring astronomers involved with an introductory level astronomy project, giving students a learning experience beyond the classroom.

For the younger team members this project is meant to introduce them to research in order to help them invest in the department early and hopefully improve the retention rate of astronomy majors. For the older team members, this project is meant to enhance their research experience as well as their mentoring skills, since they will need to help teach the process to the younger members as the research progresses.

We intend for all group members to be actively involved in each stage of the project from preparing and conducting observations, doing data reduction to the final presentation of our results.

This project will be carried out by a large group of students, it will enhance the members’ skills at collaborative research which is an important component of professional research.

Through the presentation of our results, this project will give its members experience in public speaking, which will be useful in the future. Since the topic of extrasolar planets seems to be at the forefront of observational astronomy, there is a lot of opportunity to continue in this field of research.

 Scientific Goal

1.) Confirm and refine the planetary and orbital parameters of known transiting systems

  • Look for signs of other planets in the system by searching for Transit Timing Variations

2.) Atmospheric Characterization

  • By looking at the dip in brightness at different wavelengths you can learn about the atmosphere composition

3.) Magnetic Field Characterization

  • Vidotto et al 2011 proposed that the magnetic field of a transiting exoplanet can be detected by observing asymmetries in their near-UV light curves

Telescopes Used

Steward Observatory 61″ Kuiper Telescope on Mt. Bigelow

Steward Observatory 90″ Bok Telescope on Kitt Peak

University of London Observatory 0.36-m EAST and WEST Celestron CGE 1400 telescopes

Professional Publications

We have one professionally published paper and have four more in prep (See Citations Below).

AAS Presentations

We have presented at the last 7 AAS meetings (218th-222nd) with a total of 16 posters and 8 different first-authors (See Citations Below).

In the media

For UA Astronomy Students, the Sky is Not the Limit. University Communications | April 12, 2012

University of Arizona astronomy club sees its research published in major publication. Arizona Daily Star | February 24, 2013

UA Astronomy Club student research published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Arizona Daily Wildcat | February 27, 2013

Class Information

The astronomy club project can be taken for Astronomy Independent Research Credit. See the class website:

https://sites.google.com/a/email.arizona.edu/ua-extrasolar-planet-project/

Special Thanks

Dr. John Bieging, the Steward Observatory TAC, the Steward Observatory telescope day crew, Dr. Don McCarthy, Dr Elizabeth Green, Ms. Maria Schuchardt, the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, the Catalina Sky Survey, the Associated Students of the University of Arizona.

 

Professional Paper Citations

Turner Jake D., Smart Brianna M., Hardegree-Ullman Kevin K., Carleton Timothy M., Walker-LaFollette Amanda M., Crawford Benjamin E., Smith Carter-Thaxton W., McGraw Allison M., Small Lindsay C., Rocchetto Marco, Cunningham Kathryn I., Towner Allison P. M., Zellem Robert, Robertson Amy N., Guvenen Blythe C.,Schwarz Kamber R., Hardegree-Ullman Emily E., Collura Daniel, Henz Triana N., Lejoly Cassandra, Richardson Logan L., Weinand Michael A., Taylor Joanna M., Daugherty Michael J., Wilson Ashley A., Austin Carmen L. 2013. Near-UV and optical observations of the transiting exoplanet TrES-3b. MNRAS. 428. 678.

  • Third most read article in MNRAS in Nov 2012

Pearson Kyle A., Turner Jake D., 2013. Constraining the Magnetic Field of HAT-P-16b via Near-UV Photometry. MNRAS. In press.

Turner Jake, et al. Constraining the Magnetic Fields of Transiting Exoplanets through Ground-based Near-UV Observations. MNRAS. In press

Thompson Robert, Turner Jake D., Jones Christen, Pearson Kyle, Biddle L.auren I., Berube Micheal. 2013. The University of Arizona Astronomy Club Follow-up Observations of Transiting Extra-solar Planet HAT-P-36b. MNRAS. In prep.

Cates Ian T., Turner Jake D., Pearson Kyle A., Walker-LaFollette Amanda M., Towner Allison P., McGraw Allison M., Guvenen Blythe C., Small Lindsay C., Smith Carter-Thaxton W., Carleton Timothy M., Hardegree-Ullman Kevin K.  Follow-up Observations of WASP-44b. MNRAS. In prep.

 

AAS Presentation Citations

Turner  J., Hardegree-Ullman K., Smart B., Walker-LaFollette  A., Cunninghan  K., Hardegree-Ullmann E. E., Crawford B., Mueting J., Carleton T., Schwarz K., Robertson  A., Guvenen B. 2011. The University of Arizona Astronomy Club Observations of Transiting Extrasolar Planets TrES-3b and TrES-4b. 218th American Astronomical Society Meeting May 22-26; Boston, MA. Poster Session. 128.11.

Turner J., Griffith C. A., Zellem R., Hardegree-Ullman K., Richardson L. 2012. Detecting the Magnetic Field of the Transiting Exoplanet WASP-12b. 219th American Astronomical Society Meeting January 8-12; Austin, TX. Poster Session. 339.08.

Walker-LaFollette A.,Turner J. D., Hardegree-Ullman K. K., Smart  B. M., Crawford B. E., Carleton T. M., Guvenen B. C., Towner A. P. M, Smith C. W.,Small L. C., A. M., McGraw, Wilson A. A. The University of Arizona Astronomy Club Follow-Up Observations of Transiting Extrasolar Planets TrES-3b and TrES-4b. 219th American Astronomical Society Meeting January 8-12; Austin, TX. Poster Session. 339.09

Turner J., Griffith C.A, Teske J.K., Crawford B.E., Robertson A.N., Smart B.M, Hardegree-Ullman K.K., Zellem R.T. 2012. Detecting The Magnetic Field Of The Transiting Exoplanet Wasp-12b Through Ground-based And Space-based Near-UV And Optical Observations. 220th American Astronomical Society Meeting June 10-14; Anchorage, AL. Poster Session. 129.01

Smith C. W., Smart B., Turner J. D, Walker-LaFollette A, Hardegree-Ullman K.K, Small L. C, McGraw A.  M., Crawford B., Carleton T. M., Robertson  A. N, Towner A. P. M., Daugherty M.J, Guvenen B. 2012. Near-UV and Optical Observations of the Transiting Extrasolar Planet Tres-3b. 220th American Astronomical Society Meeting June 10-14; Anchorage, AL. Poster Session. 129.04.

Jones C., Turner J., Cates I., Cook K., Crawford B., Guvenen B., Hardegree-Ullman K., McGraw A., Nguyen C., Pearson K., Robertson A., Sanford B., Small L., Smith C., Teske J., Tombleson R., Towner A.P., Walker-LoFollette A., Richardson L. 2013. The University of Arizona Astronomy Club Follow-up Observations of Known Exoplanets. 221st American Astronomical Society Meeting Jan. 6-10; Long Beach, CA. Poster Session. 343.01.

Turner J.D., Smart B, Hardegree-Ullman K, Griffith C.A., Biddle L., Carleton T., Crawford B., Rosa R., Donnels M., Guvenen B., Hofmann R., McGraw A. M., Nieberding M., Robertson A., Scott A., Small L., Smith C., Teske J., Towner A.P., Walker-LaFollette A., Zellem R. 2013. Constraining the Magnetic Fields of Transiting Exoplanets Through Ground-based Near-UV and Optical Observations. 221st American Astronomical Society Meeting Jan. 6-10; Long Beach, CA. Poster Session. 343.28.
Jones C., Turner J., Cates I., Cook K., Crawford B., Guvenen B., Hardegree-Ullman K., McGraw A., Nguyen C., Pearson K., Robertson A., Sanford B., Small L., Smith C., Teske J., Tombleson R., Towner A.P., Walker-LoFollette A., Richardson L. 2013. The University of Arizona Astronomy Club Follow-up Observations of Known Exoplanets. 221st American Astronomical Society Meeting Jan. 6-10; Long Beach, CA. Poster Session. 343.01.

Biddle L., Turner J.D., Smith C., Towner A.P., Walker-LaFollette A., Teske J. 2013. Detecting the Magnetic Field of the Transiting Exoplanet WASP-26b Through Near-UV and Optical Observations. 221st American Astronomical Society Meeting Jan. 6-10; Long Beach, CA. Poster Session. 343.11
Thompson R., Turner J.D., Hardegree-Ullman K., Raphael B., Smith C., Towner A.P., Walker-LaFollette A., Wallace S., Berkson E., Greenwood N. 2013. Transit of Exoplanet WASP-24b. 221st American Astronomical Society Meeting Jan. 6-10; Long Beach, CA. Poster Session. 343.12.

Smith C., Turner J.D., Carleton T., Crawford B., Guvenen B., Hardegree-Ullman K, Small L. Towner A.P., Walker-LaFollette A., Henz T. 2013. Optical and Near-UV Observations of the Transiting Extrasolar Planet TrES-4b. 221st American Astronomical Society Meeting Jan. 6-10; Long Beach, CA. Poster Session. 343.17.

Pearson K., Turner J.D. 2013. Near UV Observation of HAT-P-16b. 221st American Astronomical Society Meeting June. 2-6; Indianapolis, IN. Poster Session. 217.09.

Cates I., Turner J.D., Pearson K. 2013. Measuring the Magnetic Field Strength of the Transiting Extra-solar Planet TrES-2b Using Near-UV Observations. 221st American Astronomical Society Meeting June. 2-6; Indianapolis, IN. Poster Session. 217.08.

Thompson R., Turner J., Jones C., Pearson K., Biddle L.I., Berube M. 2013. The University of Arizona Astronomy Club Follow-up Observations of Transiting Extra-solar Planet HAT-P-36b. 221st American Astronomical Society Meeting June. 2-6; Indianapolis, IN. Poster Session. 217.04

Biddle L.I., Turner J.D., Pearson K., Teske J. 2013. Testing a Method of Detecting a Magnetic Field of Transiting Hot-Jupiter CoRot-1b. 221st American Astronomical Society Meeting June. 2-6; Indianapolis, IN. Poster Session. 217.13

  • Carlson Chambliss Undergraduate Student Honorable Mention Award