Detecting Extra-solar Planetary Transits with a Schmidt

Ian R. Parry, Fred G. Watson, B. Esperanza Carrasco
1995 International Astronomical Union Colloquium  
AbstractWe describe an instrumental configuration for detecting large gas-giant planets orbiting main sequence stars via the small drop in stellar brightness that occurs when the planet transits the stellar disk. Our proposed scheme involves the long-term monitoring of the light-curves of tens of thousands of stars using a Schmidt telescope coupled to a CCD via a bundle of 10,000 optical fibres. Using an existing theoretical model of planetary system formation we calculate a detection rate of 14 transits per year for our proposed system.
doi:10.1017/s0252921100021813 fatcat:kh42btcwt5ap5ouulaxvyeywpe