Analytic Lightcurves for Planetary Transit Searches.pdfVIP

DRAFT VERSION FEBRUARY 2, 2008 A Preprint typeset using L T X style emulateapj v. 14/09/00 E ANALYTIC LIGHTCURVES FOR PLANETARY TRANSIT SEARCHES KAISEY MANDEL 1,2 AND ERIC AGOL 1,3 ABSTRACT We present exact analytic formulae for the eclipse of a star described by quadratic or nonlinear limb darkening. In the limit that the planet radius is less than a tenth of the stellar radius, we show that the exact lightcurve can be well approximated by assuming the region of the star blocked by the planet has constant surface brightness. We apply these results to the HST observations of HD 209458, showing that the ratio of the planetary to stellar 2 radii is 0 .1207 ± 0.0003. These formulae give a fast and accurate means of computing lightcurves using limb- 0 darkening coefficients from model atmospheres which should aid in the detection, simulation, and parameter 0 fitting of planetary transits. 2 Subject headings: eclipses — occultations — stars: binaries: eclipsing — stars: planetary systems t c O 1. INTRODUCTION and is fairly accurate. In section 6 we apply the results to some example cases, and in section 7 we conclude. 3 The eclipse of the star HD 209458 by an orbiting planet was recently used to measure the size and mass of the planet, which 2. UNIFORM SOURCE 1 had been found with velocity measurements (Charbonneau et v al. 2000; Henry et al. 2000). With this landmark discovery, We