Finding Hot-Jupiters by Gaia photometry using the Directed Follow-Up strategy

TL;DR

This paper introduces the Directed Follow-Up strategy (DFU), a novel method to detect transiting Hot-Jupiters using Gaia's low-cadence photometry, significantly enhancing detection capabilities and expected yields.

Contribution

The paper presents the DFU strategy, a new approach to identify transiting planets in sparse Gaia data, increasing detection potential for Hot-Jupiters and brown dwarfs.

Findings

Expected to detect a few thousand Hot-Jupiters with Gaia and DFU.

Gaia's yield includes tens of transiting brown dwarfs for characterization.

DFU strategy enhances detection in low-cadence, all-sky surveys.

Abstract

All-sky surveys of low-cadence nature, such as the promising Gaia Space mission, have the potential to "hide" planetary transit signals. We developed a novel detection technique, the Directed Follow-Up strategy (DFU), to search for transiting planets using sparse, low-cadence data. According to our analysis, the expected yield of transiting Hot-Jupiters that can be revealed by Gaia will reach a few thousands, if the DFU strategy will be applied to facilitate detection of transiting planets with ground-based observations. This will guaranty that Gaia will exploit its photometric capabilities and will have a strong impact on the field of transiting planets, and in particular on detection of Hot-Jupiters. Besides transiting exoplanets Gaia's yield is expected to include a few tens of transiting brown dwarfs, that will be candidates for detailed characterization, thus will help to bridge the gap between giant planets and stars.