Kilodegree Extremely Little Telescope
Alternative names | KELT |
---|---|
Coordinates | 34°17′N 111°40′W / 34.29°N 111.66°W |
The Kilodegree Extremely Little Telescope (or KELT) is an astronomical observation system formed by two robotic telescopes that are conducting a survey for transiting exoplanets around bright stars. The project is jointly administered by members of Ohio State University Department of Astronomy,[1] the Vanderbilt University Department of Physics and Astronomy[2] Astronomy Group,[3] the Lehigh University Department of Physics,[4] and the South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO).[5]
KELT Telescopes
[edit]KELT consists of two telescopes, KELT-North[6] in Arizona in the United States, and KELT-South[7] at the SAAO observing station near Sutherland, South Africa.
Each KELT telescope consists of a wide field (26 degrees × 26 degrees) medium format telephoto lens with a 4.2 cm aperture, mounted in front of a 4k × 4k Apogee CCD. Each can also be equipped with an alternative narrower field (10.8 degrees × 10.8 degrees) lens with a 7.1 cm aperture for a narrow angle campaign mode. KELT-North uses an Apogee AP16E camera, while KELT South uses an Apogee U16M. The optical assemblies and cameras are mounted on Paramount ME[8] mounts manufactured by Software Bisque.[9] The telescopes were made with off-the-shelf components, and were thus much cheaper than many observatories.[10]
- KELT-North is located at Winer Observatory in southeastern Arizona, about an hour's drive from Tucson. KELT-North was installed at Winer in 2005, and operated continuously until 2022, with occasional interruptions for equipment failures and poor weather. KELT-North was decommissioned in 2022.
- KELT-South is located at the Sutherland astronomical observation station owned and operated by SAAO, about 370 kilometers (230 mi) North of Cape Town. KELT-South was deployed at Sutherland in 2009.
Goals
[edit]KELT is dedicated to discovering transiting exoplanets orbiting stars in the apparent magnitude range of 8 < V < 10. This is the region just fainter than the set of stars comprehensively surveyed for planets by the radial-velocity surveys, but brighter than those typically observed by most transit surveys.
Operations
[edit]Both KELT telescopes operate by sequentially observing a series of predefined fields around the sky all night, every night when the weather is good. All recordings are made with 150-second exposures, optimized to observe stars in the target magnitude range.
Discoveries
[edit]KELT has made several exoplanet discoveries and at least one brown dwarf (which may be an extremely massive Super-Jupiter instead) to date. Yellow rows in the table below indicate the planet is contained in a binary system.
Exoplanets
[edit]Star | Constellation | Right ascension | Declination | App. mag. | Distance (ly) | Spectral type | Planet | Mass (MJ) | Radius (RJ) | Density (g/cm3) | Orbital period (d) | Semimajor axis (AU) | Orbital eccentricity | Inclination (°) | Discovery year |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
KELT-2A | Auriga | 06h 10m 39s | +30° 57′ 26″ | 8.77 | 420 | F7V | KELT-2Ab | 1.486 | 1.306 | 4.11379 | 0.05498 | 0.0 | 88.5 | 2012 | |
KELT-3 | Leo | 09h 54m 34.0s | +30° 38′ 24″ | 9.8 | 580 | F6V | KELT-3b | 1.418 | 1.333 | 0.75 | 2.70339 | 0.04117 | 0.0 | 84.32 | 2012 |
KELT-4A | Leo | 10h 28m 15.011s | +25° 34′ 23.5″ | 9.98 | 685 | F8V | KELT-4Ab | 0.878 | 1.706 | 2.9895933 | 0.04321 | 0.0 | 83.11 | 2015 | |
KELT-6 | Coma Berenices | 13h 03m 56s | +30° 38′ 24″ | 10.38 | 724 | F8IV | KELT-6b | 0.43 | 1.19 | 0.311 | 7.84563 | 0.079 | 0.22 +0.12 −0.10 | 88.81 | 2013 |
KELT-6c | 3.71 | 1.16 | 1,276 | 2.39 | 0.21 | 2015 | |||||||||
KELT-7 | Auriga | 05h 13m 11s | +33° 19′ 05″ | 8.54 | 420 | F2V | KELT-7b | 1.28 | 1.533 | 0.442 | 2.7347749 | 0.04415 | 0.0 | 83.76 | 2015 |
KELT-8 | Hercules | 18h 53m 13.31s | 24° 07′ 38.09″ | 10.85 | 664 | G2V | KELT-8b | 0.66 | 1.62 | 0.165 | 3.24 | 0.04550 | 0.04±0.05 | 82.65±0.90 | 2015 |
KELT-9 | Cygnus | 20h 31m 27s | +39° 56′ 20″ | 7.56 | 620 | B9.5V | KELT-9b | 2015 | |||||||
KELT-10 | Telescopium | 18h 58m 11.61s | −47° 00′ 11.91″ | 10.62 | 614 | G0V | KELT-10b | 0.68 | 1.4 | 0.308 | 4.17 | 0.05250 | 0? | 88.61 | 2015 |
KELT-11 | Sextans | 10h 46m 49.66s | −09° 23′ 57.71″ | 8.04 | 323 | G8/K0IV | KELT-11b | 0.171 | 1.35 | 0.009 | 4.74 | 0.06±0.005 | 0.0007±0.0015 | 85.3±0.2 | 2017 |
KELT-12 | Hercules | 17h 50m 33.72s | +36° 34′ 12.63″ | 10.59 | 1200 | F7III-IV | KELT-12b | 0.95 | 1.78 | 0.209 | 5.03 | 0.06708 | 0.0 | 84.47±0.15 | 2017 |
KELT-13/WASP-167 | Centaurus | 13h 04m 10.51s | −35° 32′ 58.31″ | 10.571 | 1381 | F1V | KELT-13/WASP-167b | <8 | 1.58 | 2.02 | 0.0365 | 79.9 | 2017 | ||
KELT-14/WASP-122 | Puppis | 7h 13m 12.34s | −42° 24′ 35.14″ | 11 | 816 | G2V | KELT-14/WASP-122b | 1.284 | 1.743 | 0.322 | 1.71 | 0.03 | 0.0 | 78.3 | 2016 |
KELT-15 | Carina | 07h 49m 39.59s | −52° 07′ 13.57″ | 11.39 | 1,068 | G0V | KELT-15Ab | 0.91 | 1.443 | 0.36 | 3.33 | 0.04 | 0 | 88.3 | 2015 |
KELT-16 | Cygnus | 20h 57m 04.44s | +31° 39′ 39.63″ | 11.72 | 1,469 | F7V | KELT-16Ab[11] | 2.75 | 1.415 | 1.20 ± 0.18 | 0.97 | 0.02 | 0 | 84.4 | 2017 |
KELT-17 | Cancer | 8h 22m 28.20s | +13° 44′ 07.14″ | 9.23 | 743 | A7V | KELT-17b | 1.32 | 1.525 | 0.46 | 3.08 | 0.05 | 84.87 | 2016 | |
KELT-18 | Ursa Major | 14h 26m 05.76s | +59° 26′ 39.29″ | 10.16 | 1,057 | F4V | KELT-18Ab[12] | 1.18 | 1.57 | 0.377 | 2.87 | 0.04 | 0 | 82.90 | 2017 |
KELT-19 | Canis Minor | 07h 26m 02.29s | +07° 36′ 56.18″ | 9.86 | 987 | A8V | KELT-19Ab | <4.07 | 1.91 | <0.744 | 4.61 | 0.064 | 85.14 | 2017 | |
KELT-20 | Cygnus | 19h 38m 38.74s | +31° 31′ 09.22″ | 7.58 | 446 | A2V | KELT-20b | <3.382 | 1.741 | <0.806 | 3.474 | 0.05 | 0? | 86.12 | 2017 |
KELT-21 | Cygnus | 20h 19m 12.00s | +32° 34′ 51.76″ | 10.48 | 1,556 | A6V | KELT-21b | <3.91 | 1.586 | <1.24 | 3.612 | 0.05 | 0 | 86.46 | 2018 |
KELT-22/WASP-173 | Sculptor | 23h 36m 40.38s | −34° 36′ 42.68″ | 11.3 | 766 | G3V | KELT-22/WASP-173Ab | 3.47 | 1.285 | 2.02 | 1.386 | 0.02 | 0 | 85.2 | 2018 |
KELT-23 | Ursa Minor | 15h 28m 35.19s | +66° 21′ 31.54″ | 10.31 | 413 | G1V | KELT-23b | 0.94 | 1.32 | 0.503 | 2.26 | 0.03 | 0 | 85.37 | 2019 |
KELT-24 | Ursa Major | 10h 47m 38.35s | +71° 39′ 21.16″ | 8.33 | 316 | F5.5V | KELT-24b | 5.18 | 1.27 | 3.13 | 5.55 | 0.07 | 0.08 | 89.17 | 2019 |
KELT-25 | Canis Major | 07h 12m 29.55s | −24° 57′ 12.82″ | 9.63 | 1,443 | A4V | |||||||||
KELT-26/WASP-178 | Lupus | 15h 09m 04.89s | −42° 42′ 17.79″ | 9.95 | 1,410 | A1V | KELT-26/WASP-178b | 1.41 | 1.94 | 0.238 | 3.35 | 0.06 | 0 | 84.45 | 2019 |
Brown dwarfs
[edit]In addition, the survey has discovered brown dwarfs like KELT-1b.
Star | Constellation | Right ascension | Declination | App. mag. | Distance (ly) | Spectral type | Planet | Mass (MJ) | Radius (RJ) | Density (g/cm3) | Orbital period (d) | Semimajor axis (AU) | Orbital eccentricity | Inclination (°) | Discovery year |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
KELT-1 | Andromeda | 00h 01m 26.92s | +39° 23′ 01.7″ | 10.00 | 854 | F5V | KELT-1b | 27.23 | 1.110 | 1.217513 | 0.0247 | 0.0 | 87.80 |
References
[edit]- ^ "The Ohio State University Department of Astronomy".
- ^ "Vanderbilt Department of Physics and Astronomy". Archived from the original on 2012-06-16. Retrieved 2012-06-12.
- ^ "Vanderbilt Astronomy Group".
- ^ "The Lehigh Department of Physics".
- ^ "South African Astronomical Observatory".
- ^ Pepper, Joshua; et al. (2007). "The Kilodegree Extremely Little Telescope (KELT): A Small Robotic Telescope for Large-Area Synoptic Surveys". Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. 119 (858): 923–935. arXiv:0704.0460. Bibcode:2007PASP..119..923P. doi:10.1086/521836. S2CID 13967723.
- ^ Pepper; et al. (2012). "The KELT-South Telescope". Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. 124 (913): 230–241. arXiv:1202.1826. Bibcode:2012PASP..124..230P. doi:10.1086/665044. S2CID 119207060.
- ^ "Paramount ME". Archived from the original on 2012-07-02.
- ^ "Software Bisque company page".
- ^ Sample, Ian (2017-06-05). "Kelt-9b: astronomers discover hottest known giant planet". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2023-11-28.
- ^ Oberst, Thomas E.; Rodriguez, Joseph E.; Colón, Knicole D.; Angerhausen, Daniel; Bieryla, Allyson; Ngo, Henry; Stevens, Daniel J.; Stassun, Keivan G.; Gaudi, B. Scott; Pepper, Joshua; Penev, Kaloyan; Mawet, Dimitri; Latham, David W.; Heintz, Tyler M.; Osei, Baffour W.; Collins, Karen A.; Kielkopf, John F.; Visgaitis, Tiffany; Reed, Phillip A.; Escamilla, Alejandra; Yazdi, Sormeh; McLeod, Kim K.; Lunsford, Leanne T.; Spencer, Michelle; Joner, Michael D.; Gregorio, Joao; Gaillard, Clement; Matt, Kyle; Dumont, Mary Thea; et al. (2017). "KELT-16b: A Highly Irradiated, Ultra-short Period Hot Jupiter Nearing Tidal Disruption". The Astronomical Journal. 153 (3): 97. arXiv:1608.00618. Bibcode:2017AJ....153...97O. doi:10.3847/1538-3881/153/3/97. S2CID 42949556.
- ^ McLeod, Kim K.; Rodriguez, Joseph E.; Oelkers, Ryan J.; Collins, Karen A.; Bieryla, Allyson; Fulton, Benjamin J.; Stassun, Keivan G.; Gaudi, B. Scott; Penev, Kaloyan; Stevens, Daniel J.; Colón, Knicole D.; Pepper, Joshua; Narita, Norio; Tsuguru, Ryu; Fukui, Akihiko; Reed, Phillip A.; Tirrell, Bethany; Visgaitis, Tiffany; Kielkopf, John F.; Cohen, David H.; Jensen, Eric L. N.; Gregorio, Joao; Baştürk, Özgür; Oberst, Thomas E.; Melton, Casey; Kempton, Eliza M.-R.; Baldrige, Andrew; Zhao, Y. Sunny; Zambelli, Roberto; et al. (2017). "KELT-18b: Puffy Planet, Hot Host, Probably Perturbed". The Astronomical Journal. 153 (6): 263. arXiv:1702.01657. Bibcode:2017AJ....153..263M. doi:10.3847/1538-3881/aa6d5d. S2CID 54667386.
External links
[edit]- KELT-North survey website Archived 2019-01-24 at the Wayback Machine
- KELT-South survey website