MOST Space Telescope Photometry of the 2010 January Transit of Extrasolar Planet HD80606b

TL;DR

This study uses space-based MOST telescope data to precisely observe the 2010 transit of exoplanet HD80606b, improving measurement accuracy and confirming transit timing consistency with previous space observations.

Contribution

First full transit observation of HD80606b from space, providing refined planetary and orbital parameters with reduced systematic errors.

Findings

Planetary radius measured as 0.987±0.061 R_Jup

Transit mid-time consistent with Spitzer results

Transit timing earlier than some ground-based predictions

Abstract

We present observations of the full January 2010 transit of HD80606b from the Canadian microsatellite, Microvariability and Oscillations of Stars (MOST). By employing a space-based telescope, we monitor the entire transit thus limiting systematic errors that result from ground observations. We determine measurements for the planetary radius (R_{p}=0.987\pm0.061R_{Jup}) and inclination (i=89.283^{o}\pm0.024) by constraining our fits with the observed parameters of different groups. Our measured mid-transit time of 2455210.6449\pm0.0034 HJD is consistant with the 2010 Spitzer results and is 20 minutes earlier than predicted by groups who observed the June 2009 transit.