Using long-term transit timing to detect terrestrial planets |
| |
Authors: | Jeremy S. Heyl &dagger , Brett J. Gladman &dagger |
| |
Affiliation: | Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia, 6244 agricultural Road, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada V6T 1Z1 |
| |
Abstract: | We propose that the presence of additional planets in extrasolar planetary systems can be detected by long-term transit timing studies. If a transiting planet is on an eccentric orbit then the presence of another planet causes a secular advance of the transiting planet's pericentre over and above the effect of general relativity. Although this secular effect is impractical to detect over a small number of orbits, it causes long-term differences when future transits occur, much like the long-term decay observed in pulsars. Measuring this transit-timing delay would thus allow the detection of either one or more additional planets in the system or the first measurements of non-zero oblateness ( J 2) of the central stars. |
| |
Keywords: | gravitation celestial mechanics planetary systems |
|
|