Detecting Planets Transiting Ultra-Cool Dwarfs with the SPECULOOS Project

由剑桥（英国）和列日（比利时）的研究小组组成的SPECULOOS项目（寻找可居住的行星EClipsing ULtra-cOOl恒星）旨在寻找大约1000颗最近的“超冷矮”恒星（UCD）的凌日。这类恒星的质量约为太阳质量的7-10%，光度小于太阳的0.1%，这意味着它们的可居住区只有几天的轨道。这些特性使UCD成为从地面1 m级机器人望远镜探测温带类地行星的主要目标，以及即将到来的设施（如JWST和E-ELT）对其进行详细的大气表征。这为我们提供了第一次探测温带类地行星大气层的机会，以寻找太阳系以外的宜居迹象。我的研究一直在为SPECULOOS开发一个管道，该管道将自动化数据简化和校准过程，测量精确的孔径测光，与目录（如盖亚和2 MASS）交叉匹配，并为视场中的每个星星生成光变曲线。光变曲线将自动消除趋势并搜索凌日。然后，我们将验证（通过交叉匹配，审查和后续观察）最佳候选系外行星。

Comprised of research teams in Cambridge (UK) and Liege (Belgium), the SPECULOOS Project (Search for habitable Planets EClipsing ULtra-cOOl Stars) aims to hunt for transits in approximately 1000 of the nearest "ultracool dwarf" stars (UCDs). These Jupiter-sized stars range from 7-10% of the solar mass and have luminosities less than 0.1% of the Sun meaning that their habitable zones span orbits of only a few days. These properties make UCDs prime targets for the detection of temperate terrestrial planets from ground-based 1m-class robotic telescopes, as well as for their detailed atmospheric characterization with upcoming facilities (such as JWST and E-ELT). This provides us with the first opportunity to probe the atmospheres of temperate terrestrial planets in the search for signs of habitability beyond the Solar System. My research has been in the development of a pipeline for SPECULOOS which will automate the processes of data reduction and calibration, measure precise aperture photometry, cross-match with catalogues (such as Gaia and 2MASS) and generate light-curves for each star in a field of view. The lightcurves will then be automatically detrended and searched for transits. We will then validate (through cross-matching, vetting and follow up observations) the best candidate exoplanets.