MINERVA-Australis. I. Design, commissioning, and first photometric results

Brett Addison; Duncan J. Wright; Robert A. Wittenmyer; Jonathan Horner; Matthew W. Mengel; Daniel Johns; Connor Marti; Belinda Nicholson; Jack Soutter; Brendan Bowler; Ian Crossfield; Stephen R. Kane; John Kielkopf; Peter Plavchan; C. G. Tinney; Hui Zhang; Jake T. Clark; Mathieu Clerte; Jason D. Eastman; Jon Swift; Michael Bottom; Philip Muirhead; Nate McCrady; Erich Herzig; Kristina Hogstrom; Maurice Wilson; David Sliski; Samson A. Johnson; Jason T. Wright; John Asher Johnson; Cullen Blake; Reed Riddle; Brian Lin; Matthew Cornachione; Timothy R. Bedding; Dennis Stello; Daniel Huber; Stephen Marsden; Bradley D. Carter

doi:10.1088/1538-3873/ab03aa

MINERVA-Australis. I. Design, commissioning, and first photometric results

Brett Addison
, Duncan J. Wright
, Robert A. Wittenmyer
, Jonathan Horner
, Matthew W. Mengel
, Daniel Johns
, Connor Marti
, Belinda Nicholson
, Jack Soutter
, Brendan Bowler
, Ian Crossfield
, Stephen R. Kane
, John Kielkopf
, Peter Plavchan
, C. G. Tinney
, Hui Zhang
, Jake T. Clark
, Mathieu Clerte
, Jason D. Eastman
, Jon Swift

Michael Bottom, Philip Muirhead, Nate McCrady, Erich Herzig, Kristina Hogstrom, Maurice Wilson, David Sliski, Samson A. Johnson, Jason T. Wright, John Asher Johnson, Cullen Blake, Reed Riddle, Brian Lin, Matthew Cornachione, Timothy R. Bedding, Dennis Stello, Daniel Huber, Stephen Marsden, Bradley D. Carter

Physics and Astronomy

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

75 Scopus citations

Abstract

The MINERVA-Australis telescope array is a facility dedicated to the follow-up, confirmation, characterization, and mass measurement of planets orbiting bright stars discovered by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) —a category in which it is almost unique in the Southern Hemisphere. It is located at the University of Southern Queensland’s Mount Kent Observatory near Toowoomba, Australia. Its flexible design enables multiple 0.7 m robotic telescopes to be used both in combination, and independently, for high-resolution spectroscopy and precision photometry of TESS transit planet candidates. MINERVA-Australis also enables complementary studies of exoplanet spin–orbit alignments via Doppler observations of the Rossiter–McLaughlin effect, radial velocity searches for nontransiting planets, planet searches using transit timing variations, and ephemeris refinement for TESS planets. In this first paper, we describe the design, photometric instrumentation, software, and science goals of MINERVA-Australis, and note key differences from its Northern Hemisphere counterpart, the MINERVA array. We use recent transit observations of four planets, WASP-2b, WASP-44b, WASP-45b, and HD 189733b, to demonstrate the photometric capabilities of MINERVA-Australis.

Original language	English
Article number	115003
Pages (from-to)	1-15
Number of pages	15
Journal	Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific
Volume	131
Issue number	1005
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1088/1538-3873/ab03aa
State	Published - Nov 2019

Funding

The MINERVA in the Northern hemisphere, which laid the groundwork for our installation, is made possible by generous contributions from its collaborating institutions and Mt. Cuba Astronomical Foundation, The David & Lucile Packard Foundation, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (EPSCOR grant NNX13AM97A), The Australian Research Council (LIEF grant LE140100050), and the National Science Foundation (grants 1516242 and 1608203). MINERVA hardware has been partially funded by the Australian Research Council’s Linkage, Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities funding scheme (project LE140100050). We are grateful to the Mt. Cuba Astronomical Foundation and the David and Lucile Packard Foundation for their generous funding of MINERVA hardware and personnel. This research was supported by the Australian Government through the Australian Research Council’s Discovery Projects funding scheme (project DP180100972). MINERVA-Australis hardware is funded in part by the Australian government through the Australian Research Council, LIEF grants LE160100001. We acknowledge support from the Mount Cuba Astronomical Foundation. H.Z. is also grateful to the support from the Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC grants 11673011, 11333002). P.P. acknowledges support from the the National Science Foundation (Astronomy and Astrophysics grant 1716202) and George Mason University start-up funds.

Funders	Funder number
LE160100001
1716202
David and Lucile Packard Foundation
National Aeronautics and Space Administration	LE140100050, 1516242, 1608203, NNX13AM97A
George Mason University
Australian Research Council	DP180100972
National Natural Science Foundation of China	11673011, 11333002

Keywords

(stars:) planetary systems
Instrumentation: photometers
Instrumentation: spectrographs
Planets and satellites: detection
Techniques: photometric
Techniques: radial velocities
Techniques: spectroscopic

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10.1088/1538-3873/ab03aa

Cite this

Addison, B., Wright, D. J., Wittenmyer, R. A., Horner, J., Mengel, M. W., Johns, D., Marti, C., Nicholson, B., Soutter, J., Bowler, B., Crossfield, I., Kane, S. R., Kielkopf, J., Plavchan, P., Tinney, C. G., Zhang, H., Clark, J. T., Clerte, M., Eastman, J. D., ... Carter, B. D. (2019). MINERVA-Australis. I. Design, commissioning, and first photometric results. Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, 131(1005), 1-15. Article 115003. https://doi.org/10.1088/1538-3873/ab03aa

@article{320a2aa3330c40d898329b7817d669c4,

title = "MINERVA-Australis. I. Design, commissioning, and first photometric results",

abstract = "The MINERVA-Australis telescope array is a facility dedicated to the follow-up, confirmation, characterization, and mass measurement of planets orbiting bright stars discovered by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) —a category in which it is almost unique in the Southern Hemisphere. It is located at the University of Southern Queensland{\textquoteright}s Mount Kent Observatory near Toowoomba, Australia. Its flexible design enables multiple 0.7 m robotic telescopes to be used both in combination, and independently, for high-resolution spectroscopy and precision photometry of TESS transit planet candidates. MINERVA-Australis also enables complementary studies of exoplanet spin–orbit alignments via Doppler observations of the Rossiter–McLaughlin effect, radial velocity searches for nontransiting planets, planet searches using transit timing variations, and ephemeris refinement for TESS planets. In this first paper, we describe the design, photometric instrumentation, software, and science goals of MINERVA-Australis, and note key differences from its Northern Hemisphere counterpart, the MINERVA array. We use recent transit observations of four planets, WASP-2b, WASP-44b, WASP-45b, and HD 189733b, to demonstrate the photometric capabilities of MINERVA-Australis.",

keywords = "(stars:) planetary systems, Instrumentation: photometers, Instrumentation: spectrographs, Planets and satellites: detection, Techniques: photometric, Techniques: radial velocities, Techniques: spectroscopic",

author = "Brett Addison and Wright, \{Duncan J.\} and Wittenmyer, \{Robert A.\} and Jonathan Horner and Mengel, \{Matthew W.\} and Daniel Johns and Connor Marti and Belinda Nicholson and Jack Soutter and Brendan Bowler and Ian Crossfield and Kane, \{Stephen R.\} and John Kielkopf and Peter Plavchan and Tinney, \{C. G.\} and Hui Zhang and Clark, \{Jake T.\} and Mathieu Clerte and Eastman, \{Jason D.\} and Jon Swift and Michael Bottom and Philip Muirhead and Nate McCrady and Erich Herzig and Kristina Hogstrom and Maurice Wilson and David Sliski and Johnson, \{Samson A.\} and Wright, \{Jason T.\} and Johnson, \{John Asher\} and Cullen Blake and Reed Riddle and Brian Lin and Matthew Cornachione and Bedding, \{Timothy R.\} and Dennis Stello and Daniel Huber and Stephen Marsden and Carter, \{Bradley D.\}",

year = "2019",

month = nov,

doi = "10.1088/1538-3873/ab03aa",

language = "English",

volume = "131",

pages = "1--15",

journal = "Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific",

issn = "0004-6280",

publisher = "Institute of Physics",

number = "1005",

}

Addison, B, Wright, DJ, Wittenmyer, RA, Horner, J, Mengel, MW, Johns, D, Marti, C, Nicholson, B, Soutter, J, Bowler, B, Crossfield, I, Kane, SR, Kielkopf, J, Plavchan, P, Tinney, CG, Zhang, H, Clark, JT, Clerte, M, Eastman, JD, Swift, J, Bottom, M, Muirhead, P, McCrady, N, Herzig, E, Hogstrom, K, Wilson, M, Sliski, D, Johnson, SA, Wright, JT, Johnson, JA, Blake, C, Riddle, R, Lin, B, Cornachione, M, Bedding, TR, Stello, D, Huber, D, Marsden, S & Carter, BD 2019, 'MINERVA-Australis. I. Design, commissioning, and first photometric results', Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, vol. 131, no. 1005, 115003, pp. 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1088/1538-3873/ab03aa

TY - JOUR

T1 - MINERVA-Australis. I. Design, commissioning, and first photometric results

AU - Addison, Brett

AU - Wright, Duncan J.

AU - Wittenmyer, Robert A.

AU - Horner, Jonathan

AU - Mengel, Matthew W.

AU - Johns, Daniel

AU - Marti, Connor

AU - Nicholson, Belinda

AU - Soutter, Jack

AU - Bowler, Brendan

AU - Crossfield, Ian

AU - Kane, Stephen R.

AU - Kielkopf, John

AU - Plavchan, Peter

AU - Tinney, C. G.

AU - Zhang, Hui

AU - Clark, Jake T.

AU - Clerte, Mathieu

AU - Eastman, Jason D.

AU - Swift, Jon

AU - Bottom, Michael

AU - Muirhead, Philip

AU - McCrady, Nate

AU - Herzig, Erich

AU - Hogstrom, Kristina

AU - Wilson, Maurice

AU - Sliski, David

AU - Johnson, Samson A.

AU - Wright, Jason T.

AU - Johnson, John Asher

AU - Blake, Cullen

AU - Riddle, Reed

AU - Lin, Brian

AU - Cornachione, Matthew

AU - Bedding, Timothy R.

AU - Stello, Dennis

AU - Huber, Daniel

AU - Marsden, Stephen

AU - Carter, Bradley D.

PY - 2019/11

Y1 - 2019/11

N2 - The MINERVA-Australis telescope array is a facility dedicated to the follow-up, confirmation, characterization, and mass measurement of planets orbiting bright stars discovered by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) —a category in which it is almost unique in the Southern Hemisphere. It is located at the University of Southern Queensland’s Mount Kent Observatory near Toowoomba, Australia. Its flexible design enables multiple 0.7 m robotic telescopes to be used both in combination, and independently, for high-resolution spectroscopy and precision photometry of TESS transit planet candidates. MINERVA-Australis also enables complementary studies of exoplanet spin–orbit alignments via Doppler observations of the Rossiter–McLaughlin effect, radial velocity searches for nontransiting planets, planet searches using transit timing variations, and ephemeris refinement for TESS planets. In this first paper, we describe the design, photometric instrumentation, software, and science goals of MINERVA-Australis, and note key differences from its Northern Hemisphere counterpart, the MINERVA array. We use recent transit observations of four planets, WASP-2b, WASP-44b, WASP-45b, and HD 189733b, to demonstrate the photometric capabilities of MINERVA-Australis.

AB - The MINERVA-Australis telescope array is a facility dedicated to the follow-up, confirmation, characterization, and mass measurement of planets orbiting bright stars discovered by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) —a category in which it is almost unique in the Southern Hemisphere. It is located at the University of Southern Queensland’s Mount Kent Observatory near Toowoomba, Australia. Its flexible design enables multiple 0.7 m robotic telescopes to be used both in combination, and independently, for high-resolution spectroscopy and precision photometry of TESS transit planet candidates. MINERVA-Australis also enables complementary studies of exoplanet spin–orbit alignments via Doppler observations of the Rossiter–McLaughlin effect, radial velocity searches for nontransiting planets, planet searches using transit timing variations, and ephemeris refinement for TESS planets. In this first paper, we describe the design, photometric instrumentation, software, and science goals of MINERVA-Australis, and note key differences from its Northern Hemisphere counterpart, the MINERVA array. We use recent transit observations of four planets, WASP-2b, WASP-44b, WASP-45b, and HD 189733b, to demonstrate the photometric capabilities of MINERVA-Australis.

KW - (stars:) planetary systems

KW - Instrumentation: photometers

KW - Instrumentation: spectrographs

KW - Planets and satellites: detection

KW - Techniques: photometric

KW - Techniques: radial velocities

KW - Techniques: spectroscopic

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85087801275

U2 - 10.1088/1538-3873/ab03aa

DO - 10.1088/1538-3873/ab03aa

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85087801275

SN - 0004-6280

VL - 131

SP - 1

EP - 15

JO - Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific

JF - Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific

IS - 1005

M1 - 115003

ER -

MINERVA-Australis. I. Design, commissioning, and first photometric results

Abstract

Funding

Keywords

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