Presentation Abstract

Presentation Number 120.07
Presentation Time: Monday, Jun 11, 2012, 3:00 PM - 3:10 PM
Title The KELT-North Transit Survey's First Planetary Detections
Author Block Thomas G. Beatty1, A. Bieryla2, D. Cohen3, K. Collins4, J. Eastman5, B. J. Fulton5, B. Gary6, B. S. Gaudi1, L. Hebb6, E. L. N. Jensen3, D. W. Latham2, M. Manner7, J. Pepper6, R. Siverd6, K. Stassun6, R. A. Street5
1Ohio State University, 2Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 3Swarthmore College, 4University of Louisville, 5Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network, 6Vanderbilt University, 7Spot Observatory.
Abstract I will present the first planetary detections from the KELT-North transit survey. KELT-North is a 42mm robotic camera system at Winer Observatory in Arizona, and survey operations are based out of the Ohio State and Vanderbilt Universities. The KELT-North survey fields are 26 by 26 degrees, and are arranged in a contiguous strip around the sky centered at a declination of +30 degrees. The small aperture and wide field of view of the telescope enables KELT-North to effectively survey some of the brightest stars in the Northern sky for transiting planets. Our focus is on planet candidates around stars between 8 < V < 10. These bright systems are of prime scientific interest, since they provide the best follow-up opportunities from the ground and space. We have been collecting science data since 2006, and actively vetting planet candidates since the spring of 2011. Over the past winter we recorded our first detections of sub-stellar companions. I will briefly discuss KELT-North survey operations before describing the results from our observations of these intriguing systems. We are grateful to the observers and the support staff at the FLWO 60- and 48-inch telescopes. This work was supported by NSF CAREER grant AST-1056524.