WE DESCRIBE A FOUR YEAR PLAN TO CONTINUE DISCOVERING AND CHARACTERIZING PLANETS THAT TRANSIT BRIGHT STARS. TO DATE ASTRONOMERS HAVE REPORTED MORE THAN 30 SUCH TRANSITING PLANETS ORBITING BRIGHT STARS AND THEIR NUMBERS ARE INCREASING RAPIDLY (BOTH THE NUMBER OF PLANETS AND THE NUMBER OF ASTRONOMERS STUDYING THEM). THE BRIGHTEST TYPICALLY ARE DISCOVERED BY OSCILLATING RADIAL VELOCITIES AND SOMEWHAT FAINTER ONES IN MUCH LARGER NUMBERS ARE DISCOVERED BY TRANSITS. THE XO OBSERVATORY HAS RECENTLY BEEN EXPANDED TO SIX 0.1-METER DIAMETER CAMERAS TWO OF WHICH HAVE BEEN OPERATING ROBOTICALLY SINCE SEP 2003 AND WITH WHICH WE HAVE DISCOVERED FIVE TRANSITING PLANETS. BY DEC 31 2013 XO WILL HAVE OBSERVED 90% OF THE NORTHERN SKY WITH TWO LENSES FOR TWO SEASONS PERMITTING ITS TEAM AND OTHERS TO DISCOVER AND CHARACTERIZE TRANSITING EXTRASOLAR PLANETS (TEPS). WE EVALUATE TRANSITING-PLANET CANDIDATES PRODUCED BY THE XO SURVEY CAMERAS WITH PRECISE PHOTOMETRIC OBSERVATIONS WHICH SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCES THE NUMBER OF CANDIDATES WE OBSERVE SPECTROSCOPICALLY. FOR THE FOLLOW-UP PHOTOMETRY WE HAVE RECRUITED A GLOBAL NETWORK OF AMATEUR ASTRONOMERS IN ADDITION TO OUR TEAM'S INSTITUTIONAL ACCESS TO OBSERVATORIES IN TEXAS AND ARIZONA. DOZENS OF CANDIDATES PER YEAR WILL BE SCRUTINIZED WITH MODERATE-PRECISION (1 KM/S) RADIAL VELOCITY OBSERVATIONS AND A FEW OF THOSE WILL BE CONFIRMED TO BE PLANETS WITH (5 M/S) PRECISION. WE WILL PURSUE PRECISE PHOTOMETRIC AND SPECTROSCOPIC FOLLOW UP OBSERVATIONS OF TRANSITING PLANETS. OUR TEAM HAS PRIOR EXPERIENCE WITH SCINTILLATION-LIMITED GROUND-BASED PHOTOMETRY TIME-SERIES PHOTOMETRY WITH SST IRAC SPECTROPHOTOMETRY WITH HST INSTRUMENTS NICMOS STIS FGS ACS AND WFC3 (IN GROUND-TESTS) AND IS DEVELOPING SPECTROSCOPIC ANALYSIS TECHNIQUES TO IMPROVE THE PRECISION OF RADIAL VELOCITIES FROM THE HET AND KECK. USING RADIAL VELOCITIES AND PHOTOMETRY WE WILL SEARCH FOR ADDITIONAL COMPANIONS AROUND STARS KNOWN TO HOST A TRANSITING PLANET. FOR THE PERIOD 2003-2009 THE XO TEAM HAS BEEN SUPPORTED BY TWO NASA ORIGINS AWARDS. FOLLOW-UP OBSERVATIONS WITH HST AND SST HAVE BEEN SUPPORTED BY THOSE NASA PROGRAMS. THE TRIPLING OF XO'S CAMERAS AND ASSOCIATED ELECTRONICS HAS BEEN SUPPORTED BY PEER-REVIEWED COMPETITION FOR INSTITUTIONAL FUNDS OF THE STSCI DIRECTOR.
$593,384FY2010National Aeronautics and Space AdministrationNASA
Association Of Universities For Research In Astronomy, Inc., Tucson AZ