The discovery lightcurve of exoplanet KELT-10b is overlaid on an image
of the KELT-S Telescope in South Africa. The lightcurve was obtained
using 4967 observations over about 4-years. A 30-minute binned
lightcurve is shown in red. Image Credit: R. Kuhn & Vanderbilt
University/SAAO.
Transiting planets orbiting bright stars provide a golden opportunity
to learn about the nature of exoplanets, their composition and origin. A
robotic survey of the southern sky, designed to detect such systems,
has discovered its first exoplanet: KELT-10b, a highly inflated giant
planet. Although it is only 2/3 the mass of Jupiter, KELT-10b is 40%
larger than Jupiter in radius. Because of its large size, when the
planet passes in front of its star, it blocks out a whopping 1.4% of the
star’s light, generating a transit signal that is relatively easy to
detect. As one of only 25 planets known to transit bright stars (V <
11) in the southern hemisphere, KELT-10b is an attractive target for
future studies aimed at characterizing planetary atmospheres.
KELT-10b was discovered by the Kilodegree Extremely LIttle
Telescope-South (KELT-S) transit survey. KELT-S is a robotic telescope
located at the Sutherland site of the South African Astronomical
Observatory. It is operated by Vanderbilt University and the South
African Astronomical Observatory. NOAO astronomer David James is a
founding member of the project.
Describing his enthusiasm for the KELT-S project, James explained,
“Efforts to detect and characterize extra-solar planets are driven by
the deep-rooted desires of humanity to understand the origin of the
solar system and their place in it. Although small aperture
planet-hunting telescopes like KELT-S are typically are modest in
budget, they deliver a strong return in science. They are also a
powerful educational experience for students.”
James is excited by the future of exoplanet research, as it moves
from the era of exoplanet detection and taxonomy to the characterization
of their atmospheres and searches for bio-signatures. He mused, “When
my daughter is my age, perhaps having detected exoplanets of her own,
she may well be using a 30-50m class telescope to describe their biology
and potential for hosting life.”
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