Transit-timing measurements with the model-independent barycenter method: Application to the LHS 6343 system

Abstract

We present a model-independent technique for calculating the time of mid-transits. This technique, named "barycenter method", uses the light-curve's symmetry to determine the transit timing by calculating the transit light-curve barycenter. Unlike the other methods of calculating mid-transit timing, this technique does not depend on the parameters of the system and central star. We demonstrate the capabilities of the barycenter method by applying this technique to some known transiting systems including several \emph{Kepler} confirmed planets. Results indicate that for complete and symmetric transit lightcurves, the barycenter method achieves the same precision as other techniques, but with fewer assumptions and much faster. Among the transiting systems studied with the barycenter method, we focus in particular on LHS 6343C, a brown dwarf that transits a member of an M+M binary system, LHS 6343AB. We present the results of our analysis, which can be used to set an upper limit on the period and mass of a possible second small perturber.

10 pages, 15 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics

References in corpus (10)

• DHP Framework: Digital Health Passports Using Blockchain -- Use case on international tourism during the COVID-19 pandemic
• Transit timing effects due to an exomoon
• Starspots, spin-orbit misalignment, and active latitudes in the HAT-P-11 exoplanetary system
• The Kepler-19 System: A Transiting 2.2 R_Earth Planet and a Second Planet Detected via Transit Timing Variations
• Determination of the size, mass, and density of "exomoons" from photometric transit timing variations
• Estimating stellar rotation from starspot detection during planetary transits
• A limit on the presence of Earth-mass planets around a Sun-like star
• A cool starspot or a second transiting planet in the TrES-1 system?
• Extrasolar planet detection by binary stellar eclipse timing: evidence for a third body around CM Draconis
• Lack of Transit Timing Variations of OGLE-TR-111b: A re-analysis with six new epochs

Cited by in corpus (6)

• Effect of stellar spots on high-precision transit light-curve
• Stellar chromospheric activity of 1,674 FGK stars from the AMBRE-HARPS sample I. A catalogue of homogeneous chromospheric activity
• SOAP-T: A tool to study the light-curve and radial velocity of a system with a transiting planet and a rotating spotted star
• A new analysis of the WASP-3 system: no evidence for an additional companion
• Characterizing the Cool KOIs. VII. Refined Physical Properties of the Transiting Brown Dwarf LHS 6343 C
• TEE, a simple estimator for the precision of eclipse and transit minimum times