Searching for transit timing variations in the known transiting exoplanet systems can reveal the presence of other bodies in the system. Here we report such searches for two transiting exoplanet systems, TrES-1 and WASP-2. Their new transits were observed with the 4.2m William Herschel Telescope located on La Palma, Spain. In a continuing programme, three consecutive transits were observed for TrES-1, and one for WASP-2 during September 2007. We used the Markov Chain Monte Carlo simulations to derive transit times and their uncertainties. The resulting transit times are consistent with the most recent ephemerides and no conclusive proof of additional bodies in either system was found.

In this introductory review, I summarize the path from the initial 1995 radial-velocity discovery of hot Jupiters to the current rich panoply of investigations that are afforded when such objects are observed to transit their parent stars. Forty transiting exoplanets are now known, and the time for that population to double has dropped below one year. Only for these objects do we have direct estimates of their masses and radii, and can we (at the current time) undertake direct studies of the chemistries and dynamics of their atmospheres. Informed by the successes of hot Jupiter studies, I outline a path for the spectroscopic study of certain habitable exoplanets that obviates the need for direct imaging.

The orbital parameters of extra-solar planets have a significant impact on the probability that the planet will transit the host star. This was recently demonstrated by the transit detection of HD 17156b whose favourable eccentricity and argument of periastron dramatically increased its transit likelihood. We present a study which provides a quantitative analysis of how these two orbital parameters affect the geometric transit probability as a function of period. Further, we apply these results to known radial velocity planets and show that there are unexpectedly high transit probabilities for planets at relatively long periods. For a photometric monitoring campaign which aims to determine if the planet indeed transits, we calculate the significance of a null result and the subsequent constraints that may be applied to orbital parameters.

Both ground and space-based transit observatories are poised to significantly increase the number of known transiting planets and the number of precisely measured transit times. A planet's transit times represent a clock that can be used to infer the presence of additional planets. Although modeling the transit time variations (TTVs) of a known system is simple, interpreting those variations in terms of the mass and orbital elements of a perturbing planet is much more challenging. Because mutual planetary perturbations are often the dominant source of TTVs, the observable signal can be extremely complex. In these proceedings, we present early results based on a simplistic analysis of the root-mean-square TTV deviation amplitude. We are preparing a more thorough analysis based on a computationally efficient surrogate Bayesian model, which may be combined with analytic approximations and n-body integrations in order to establish the sensitivity of TTV observations to terrestrial-like planets as a function of the system architecture. Besides aiding the interpretation of future transit timing observations, we hope our results can help maximize the productivity of transit timing follow-up campaigns by guiding survey design decisions such as the choice of targets, required precision, and desired number/time span of TTV observations.

We present three full z-band transit light curves for the extrasolar planet XO-2 obtained with KeplerCam and the FLWO 1.2m telescope. The system parameters were determined fitting the data to transit models using a Markov Chain Monte Carlo simulation (MCMC). The main results presented in this poster are revised values for the parameters Rp/Rs, a/Rs and b.

The radial velocity technique is commonly used to classify transiting exoplanet candidates. However, stars are intrinsically noisy in radial velocity. No good description of this noise has yet been proffered, although activity in general has been suggested as the source, making it impossible to evaluate its effect on signal detection. In this poster, we propose an activity-based model that incorporates both light and dark stellar spots, capable of producing both photometric and radial velocity time series. We demonstrate its consistency with both SOHO/VIRGO photometry and SOHO/GOLF radial velocities. We then use this model to establish lower and upper limits on the effects of intrinsic stellar noise on the metal lines used to follow up transit candidates, making use of Monte Carlo simulations. Based on these results, we can suggest an optimal observational sampling rate.

We present here results from observations of TrES-2 made using the Infrared Array Camera on the Spitzer Space Telescope. We monitored this transiting system during two secondary eclipses, when the planetary emission is blocked by the star. The resulting decrease in flux is 0.135 ± 0.036%, 0.245 ± 0.027%, 0.162 ± 0.064%, and 0.295 ± 0.066%, at 3.6-μm, 4.5-μm, 5.8-μm, and 8.0-μm, respectively. We find evidence for a temperature inversion in the atmosphere of TrES-2, which is predicted by Fortney and collaborators based on the proposed importance of TiO and VO opacities for this highly irradiated gas giant. We also find the time of the center of the eclipse to be consistent with predictions from transit timing observations of TrES-2. This implies that TrES-2 most likely has a circular orbit, and thus does not obtain additional thermal energy from tidal dissipation of a non-zero orbital eccentricity, a proposed explanation of the large planetary radius.

The Microlensing Observations in Astrophysics (MOA) is a microlensing survey conducted at Mt. John Observatory in New Zealand. We searched transiting planet candidates from the MOA-I Galactic bulge data, which have been obtained with a 61cm B&C telescope from 2000 to 2005 for a microlensing search. Although this survey data were dedicated to microlensing, they are also quite useful for searching transiting objects because of the large number of stars monitored (~7 million) and the long span of the survey (~6 years). From our analysis, we found 58 transiting planet candidates. We are planning to follow up these candidates with high-precision spectroscopic and photometric observations for further selection, toward the detection of planets by radial velocity observations.

With more than 80 transits observed in the CoRoT lightcurve with a cadence of 32 s, CoRoT-Exo-2b provides an excellent case to search for the secondary eclipse of the planet, with an expected signal of less than 10−4 in relative flux. The activity of the star causes a modulation on the flux that makes the detection of this signal challenging. We describe the technique used to seek for the secondary eclipse, that leads to a tentative 2.5σ detection of a 5.5×10−5 eclipse. If the effect of the spots are not taken into account, the times of transit centers will also be affected. They could lead to an erroneous detection of periodic transit timing variations of ~20 s and with a 7.45 d period. By measuring the transit central times at different depths of the transit (transit bisectors), we show that there are no such periodic variations in the CoRoT-Exo-2b O-C residuals larger than ~10 s.

Exoplanet search programs need to study how to disentangle radial-velocity (RV) variations due to Doppler motion and the noise induced by stellar activity. We monitored the active K2V HD 189733 with the high-resolution SOPHIE spectrograph (OHP, France). We refined the orbital parameters of HD 189733b and put limitations on the eccentricity and on a long-term velocity gradient. We subtracted the orbital motion of the planet and compared the variability of activity spectroscopic indices (HeI, Hα, Ca II H&K lines) to the evolution of the RV residuals and the shape of spectral lines. All are in agreement with an active stellar surface in rotation. We used such correlations to correct for the RV jitter due to stellar activity. This results in achieving a high precision on the orbital parameters, with a semi-amplitude: K=200.56±0.88m⋅s−1 and a derived planet mass of MP=1.13±0.03 MJup.

We present a search for Trojan companions to 25 transiting exoplanets. We use the technique of Ford & Gaudi, in which a difference is sought between the observed transit time and the transit time that is calculated by fitting a two-body Keplerian orbit to the radial-velocity data. This technique is sensitive to the imbalance of mass at the L4/L5 points of the planet-star orbit. No companions were detected. The median 2σ upper limit is 60 M⊕, and the most constraining limit is 2.5 M⊕ for the case of GJ 436.

A variety of new observational opportunities have made transit and more generally light curve analysis central to the study of exoplanets. Talks at this IAU 253 Symposium have dramatically highlighted the measurement of the radius, density, atmospheric composition and atmospheric thermal structure, presently for relatively large, hot planets, but soon for smaller planets orbiting further from their host stars. On-going and future space observations will play a key role in the detection and characterization of these planetary systems. After a brief review, I focus on two topics: the need for a sensitive all-sky survey for planets transiting the brightest, closest stars and the follow-up opportunities afforded by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).

We present an analysis of the HD planetary system based on a photometric transit dataset and radial velocities obtained on 3 December 2007. We also present limits on the presence of close stellar companions based on high resolution images.

Gaia, an ESA cornerstone mission, will obtain of the order of 100 high-precision photometric observations over five years for tens of millions of stars with V < 17. The vast number of red dwarfs in this data set, with their correspondingly deep (high S/N) transits, makes it worthwhile to explore the possibility of detecting transits in such data. Searching for transits under these circumstances requires a very different approach from that used for a normal, highly-sampled transit survey if the search is to be performed in a reasonable amount of time. It should be possible to identify a portion of the transiting Hot Jupiter/M dwarf systems in the data set, if the photometry is as stable and precise as specified by design. This same approach could be applied to ground-based transit searches – a transit survey targeted at red dwarfs with Jupiter-sized companions.

Radial Velocity follow-up is essential to establish or exclude the planetary nature of a transiting companion as well as to accurately determine its mass. Here we present some elements of an efficient Doppler follow-up strategy, based on high-resolution spectroscopy, devoted to the characterization of transiting candidates. Some aspects and results of the radial velocity follow-up of the CoRoT space mission are presented in order to illustrate the strategy used to deal with the zoo of transiting candidates.

The NASA Star and Exoplanet Database (NStED) is a general purpose stellar archive with the aim of providing support for NASA's planet finding and characterization goals, stellar astrophysics, and the planning of NASA and other space missions. There are two principal components of NStED: a database of (currently) 140,000 nearby stars and exoplanet-hosting stars, and an archive dedicated to high-precision photometric surveys for transiting exoplanets. We present a summary of the latter component: the NStED Exoplanet Transit Survey Service (NStED-ETSS), along with its content, functionality, tools, and user interface. NStED-ETSS currently serves data from the TrES Survey of the Kepler Field as well as dedicated photometric surveys of four stellar clusters. NStED-ETSS aims to serve both the surveys and the broader astronomical community by archiving these data and making them available in a homogeneous format. Examples of usability of ETSS include investigation of any time-variable phenomena in data sets not studied by the original survey team, application of different techniques or algorithms for planet transit detections, combination of data from different surveys for given objects, statistical studies, etc. NStED-ETSS can be accessed at http://nsted.ipac.caltech.edu.

Many recent observational studies have concluded that planetary systems commonly exist in multiple-star systems. At least ~20%, and presumably a larger fraction, of the known extrasolar planetary systems are associated with one or more stellar companions. These stellar companions normally exist at large distances from the planetary systems (typical projected binary separations are 102–104 AU) and are often faint (ranging from F to T spectral types). Yet, secular cyclic angular momentum exchange with these distant stellar companions can significantly alter the orbital configuration of the planets around the primaries. One of the most interesting and fairly common outcomes seen in numerical simulations is the opening of a large mutual inclination angle between the planetary orbits, forced by differential nodal precessions caused by the binary companion. The growth of the mutual inclination angle between planetary orbits induces additional large-amplitude eccentricity oscillations of the inner planet due to the quadrupole gravitational perturbation by the outer planet. This eccentricity oscillation may eventually result in the orbital decay of the inner planet through tidal friction, as previously proposed as Kozai migration or Kozai cycles with tidal friction (KCTF). This orbital decay mechanism induced by the binary perturbation and subsequent tidal dissipation may stand as an alternative formation channel for close-in extrasolar planets.

EPOXI (EPOCh + DIXI) is a NASA Discovery Program Mission of Opportunity using the Deep Impact flyby spacecraft. The EPOCh (Extrasolar Planet Observation and Characterization) Science Investigation will gather photometric time series of known transiting exoplanet systems from January through August 2008. Here we describe the steps in the photometric extraction of the time series and present preliminary results of the first four EPOCh targets.

The CoRoT Mission and its performances in flight are summarised. After more than 500 days in orbit, the early results in the exoplanet finding programme are highlighted. The first 5 planets discovered are compared to the previous population of exoplanets.

Transiting planets like HD209458b offer a unique opportunity to scrutinize their atmospheric composition and structure. Transit spectroscopy probes the transition region between the day and night sides, called the limb. We present a re-analysis of existing HST/STIS transmission spectra of HD209458b's atmosphere. From these observations we identify H2 Rayleigh scattering, derive the absolute Sodium abundance and quantify its depletion in the upper atmosphere, extract a stratospheric T-P profile and find a temperature inversion and explain broad band absorptions with the presence of TiO and VO molecules.