Constraining The Magnetic Fields Of Transiting Exoplanets Through Ground-based Near-UV And Optical Observations
Abstract
Studying the magnetic fields of exoplanets allow for the investigation of their interior structure and rotation period, the presence of extrasolar moons, atmospheric retention, and potential habitability. We observed the primary transits of the hot Jupiters TrES-3b, WASP-12b, TrES-4b, WASP-26b, WASP-33b, HAT-P-1b, WASP-14b, HAT-P-6b, XO-2b, CoRoT-9b, and CoRoT-1b, the hot Neptune GJ 436b, and the super Earth GJ 1214b with the Steward Observatory 1.55 meter Kuiper Telescope using near-UV and optical filters in an attempt to constrain their magnetic fields. Vidotto et al. (2011) suggest that the magnetic field of these planets can be constrained if their near-UV light curve shows an early ingress compared to its optical light curve, while their egress remains unaffected. Our study provides the first constraints on the effect proposed by Vidotto et al. (2011) and the magnetic field strengths for many of our targets.
- Publication:
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American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts #221
- Pub Date:
- January 2013
- Bibcode:
- 2013AAS...22134328T