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Recent Transits of the Super-Earth Exoplanet GJ 1214BWe report recent ground-based photometry of the transiting super-Earth exoplanet GJ1214b at several wavelengths, including the infrared near 1.25 microns (J-band). We observed a J-band transit with the FLAMINGOS infrared imager and the 2.1-meter telescope on Kitt Peak, and we observed several optical transits using a 0.5-meter telescope on Kitt Peak and the 0.36-meter Universidad de Monterrey Observatory telescope. Our high-precision J-band observations exploit the brightness of the M-dwarf host star at this infrared wavelength as compared to the optical, as well as being significantly less affected by stellar activity and limb darkening. We fit the J-band transit to obtain an independent determination of the planetary and stellar radii. Our radius for the planet (2.61 +0.30 / -0.11 Earth radii) is in excellent agreement with the discovery value reported by Charbonneau et al. based on optical data. We demonstrate that the planetary radius is insensitive to degeneracies in the fitting process. We use all of our observations to improve the transit ephemeris, finding P=1.5804043 +/- 0.0000005 days, and T0=2454964.94390 +/- 0.00006 BJD.
Document ID
20110007127
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Preprint (Draft being sent to journal)
Authors
Sada, Pedro V.
(Universidad de Monterrey Monterrey, Mexico)
Deming, Drake
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Jackson, Brian
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Jennings, Donald E.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Peterson, Steven W.
(Kitt Peak National Observatory Tucson, AZ, United States)
Haase, Flynn
(Kitt Peak National Observatory Tucson, AZ, United States)
Bays, Kevin
(Kitt Peak National Observatory Tucson, AZ, United States)
OGorman, Eamon
(Trinity Coll. Dublin, Ireland)
Lundsford, Alan
(Catholic Univ. of America Washington, DC, United States)
Date Acquired
August 25, 2013
Publication Date
November 12, 2001
Subject Category
Astronomy
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Public Use Permitted.
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