Original Research by Young Twinkle Students (Orbyts): Ephemeris Refinement of Transiting Exoplanets II

Abstract

Abstract We report follow-up observations of four transiting exoplanets, TRES-2 b, HAT-P-22 b, HAT-P-36 b and XO-2 b, as part of the Original Research By Young Twinkle Students (ORBYTS) program. These observations were taken using the Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network’s (LCOGT) robotic 0.4 m telescopes and were analyzed using the HOlomon Photometric Software (HOPS). Such observations are key for ensuring accurate transit times for upcoming telescopes, such as the James Webb Space Telescope, Twinkle (Edwards et al. 2019b) and Ariel (Tinetti et al. 2018), which may seek to characterize the atmospheres of these planets. The data have been uploaded to ExoClock and a significant portion of this work has been completed by secondary school students in London.