Sharif Digital Repository

We present photometric observations of four transits in the WASP-17 planetary system, obtained using telescope defocusing techniques and with scatters reaching 0.5mmag per point. Our revised orbital period is 4.0 ± 0.6s longer than previous measurements, a difference of 6.6σ, and does not support the published detections of orbital eccentricity in this system. We model the light curves using the jktebop code and calculate the physical properties of the system by recourse to five sets of theoretical stellar model predictions. The resulting planetary radius, R b = 1.932 ± 0.052 ± 0.010R Jup (statistical and systematic errors, respectively), provides confirmation that WASP-17b is the largest... 

We report on the mass and distance measurements of two single-lens events from the 2015 Spitzer microlensing campaign. With both finite-source effect and microlens parallax measurements, we find that the lens of OGLE-2015-BLG-1268 is very likely a brown dwarf (BD). Assuming that the source star lies behind the same amount of dust as the Bulge red clump, we find the lens is a 45 ±7 BD at 5.9 ±1.0 kpc. The lens of of the second event, OGLE-2015-BLG-0763, is a 0.50 ±0.04 star at 6.9 ±1.0 kpc. We show that the probability to definitively measure the mass of isolated microlenses is dramatically increased once simultaneous ground- and space-based observations are conducted  

WASP-80 is one of only two systems known to contain a hot Jupiter which transits its M-dwarf host star. We present eight light curves of one transit event, obtained simultaneously using two defocussed telescopes. These data were taken through the Bessell I, Sloan g and near-infrared JHK passbands. We use our data to search for opacity-induced changes in the planetary radius, but find that all values agree with each other. Our data are therefore consistent with a flat transmission spectrum to within the observational uncertainties. We also measure an activity index of the host star of log R 'HK =-4.495 log R HK ′ =-4.495, meaning that WASP-80 A shows strong chromospheric activity. The... 

We report CCD V and I time series photometry of the globular cluster NGC 6333 (M9). The technique of difference image analysis has been used, which enables photometric precision better than 0.05 mag for stars brighter than V ~ 19.0 mag, even in the crowded central regions of the cluster. The high photometric precision has resulted in the discovery of twonew RRc stars, three eclipsing binaries, seven long-term variables and one field RRab star behind the cluster. A detailed identification chart and equatorial coordinates are given for all the variable stars in the field of our images of the cluster. Our data together with the literature V-data obtained in 1994 and 1995 allowed us to refine... 

We present newphotometric observations ofWASP-15 andWASP-16, two transiting extrasolar planetary systems with measured orbital obliquities but without photometric follow-up since their discovery papers. Our new data for WASP-15 comprise observations of one transit simultaneously in four optical passbands using GROND on the MPG/European Southern Observatory (ESO) 2.2 m telescope, plus coverage of half a transit from DFOSC on the Danish 1.54 m telescope, both at ESO La Silla. ForWASP-16 we present observations of fourcomplete transits, all from the Danish telescope. We use these new data to refine the measured physical properties and orbital ephemerides of the two systems. Whilst our results... 

We present updates to PRISM, a photometric transit-starspot model, and GEMC, a hybrid optimization code combining MCMC and a genetic algorithm. We then present high-precision photometry of four transits in the WASP-6 planetary system, two of which contain a starspot anomaly. All four transits were modelled using PRISM and GEMC, and the physical properties of the system calculated. We find the mass and radius of the host star to be 0.836 ± 0.063 M⊙ and 0.864 ± 0.024 R⊙, respectively. For the planet, we find a mass of 0.485 ± 0.027 MJup, a radius of 1.230 ± 0.035 RJup and a density of 0.244 ± 0.014 ρJup. These values are consistent with... 

We present 13 high-precision and four additional light curves of four bright southernhemisphere transiting planetary systems: WASP-22, WASP-41, WASP-42 and WASP-55. In the cases of WASP-42 and WASP-55, these are the first follow-up observations since their discovery papers. We present refined measurements of the physical properties and orbital ephemerides of all four systems. No indications of transit timing variations were seen. All four planets have radii inflated above those expected from theoretical models of gas-giant planets; WASP-55 b is the most discrepant with a mass of 0.63MJup and a radius of 1.34 RJup. WASP-41 shows brightness anomalies during transit due to the planet occulting... 

Accurate measurements of the physical characteristics of a large number of exoplanets are useful to strongly constrain theoretical models of planet formation and evolution, which lead to the large variety of exoplanets and planetary-system configurations that have been observed. We present a study of the planetary systemsWASP-45 andWASP-46, both composed of a mainsequence star and a close-in hot Jupiter, based on 29 new high-quality light curves of transits events. In particular, one transit of WASP-45 b and four of WASP-46 b were simultaneously observed in four optical filters, while one transit of WASP-46 b was observed with the NTT obtaining a precision of 0.30 mmag with a cadence of... 

We present broad-band photometry of 11 planetary transits of the hot Jupiter WASP-74 b, using three medium-class telescopes and employing the telescope-defocusing technique. Most of the transits were monitored through I filters and one was simultaneously observed in five optical (U, g', r', i', z') and three near-infrared (J, H, K) passbands, for a total of 18 light curves. We also obtained new high-resolution spectra of the host star. We used these new data to review the orbital and physical properties of the WASP-74 planetary system. We were able to better constrain the main system characteristics, measuring smaller radius and mass for both the hot Jupiter and its host star than previously... 

HATS-18 b is a transiting planet with a large mass and a short orbital period, and is one of the best candidates for the detection of orbital decay induced by tidal effects. We present extensive photometry of HATS-18 from which we measure 27 times of mid-transit. Two further transit times were measured from data from the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) and three more taken from the literature. The transit timings were fitted with linear and quadratic ephemerides and an upper limit on orbital decay was determined. This corresponds to a lower limit on the modified stellar tidal quality factor of $Q_star ^{, prime } gt 10^{5.11 pm 0.04}$. This is at the cusp of constraining the... 

Context. The extrasolar planet WASP-67 b is the first hot Jupiter definitively known to undergo only partial eclipses. The lack of the second and third contact points in this planetary system makes it difficult to obtain accurate measurements of its physical parameters