Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Search For Transits Of A Short-Period, Sub-Saturn Extrasolar Planet Orbiting Hd 46375, Gregory W. Henry

Information Systems and Engineering Management Research Publications

Precise brightness measurements of HD 46375 have been acquired with an automatic telescope to search for transits of its short-period, sub-Saturn extrasolar planet. Transits of the companion do not occur, indicating that the inclination of the orbit i is less than 83° and sin i is less than 0.992. This upper limit on sin i still preserves the possibility that the mass of the planet is less than Saturn's. Analysis of the photometry for HD 46375 reveals no photometric variability larger than 0.0001 ± 0.0002 mag at the orbital period of the planet. This effectively eliminates starspots and stellar pulsations …