Date of Award

5-12-2012

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Honors Thesis

Department

Physics

First Advisor

Brian Murphy

Abstract

We present two new transits of GJ~1214b, five of TrES-lb, two of XO~2b, and one each of TrES~3b)WASP-16b and WASP- 36b. These observations were made with multiple observatories including IRTF-MORIS, Butler University's Holcomb Observatory, SARA-KPNO, and SARA-eTIO. Due to poor conditions and a lack of good comparison stars within the field of view, the parameter values for the radius ratio, inclination, and orbital distance, found for GJ-1214b are not reliable. The timing values, while still suspect, suggest consistency with the current ephemeris. After further analysis, the radius ratio we found for TrES-1b in Sloan r' is 0.0.13501±0.0001l, which differs by 30- from the Winn et al. (2007) value in z'. A possible cause for this inconsistency is wavelength variation by depth. The other parameters found for TrES-1b were consistent with the Winn et al. (2007) values. In the timing analysis, TrES-lb demonstrated a trend which could suggest an incorrect ephemeris. The radius ratio, inclination, orbital distance, etc., found for TrES-3b were consistent with previous values, which can be attributed to smooth data from good observational conditions and a bright comparison star. Likewise, the values found for WASP-16b deviated very little from previous literature. The parameter values for XO-2b and WASP-36b were consistent with previously published values with the exception of their radius ratios. Both TrESvalues, while the lack of observations of \VASP-16b and WASP- 36b caused the respective timing analyses to be inconclusive.

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