IRVEES: Project Lalande

[ProtoJeb21]

Besides hunting from transits in a specific patch of sky, IRVEES has another goal: confirm more planets around nearby stars by Direct Imaging. I have picked out 10 target stars all within 15 light-years from Earth, but a popular and mysterious star in that group is Lalande 21185.

PROJECT LALANDE

With Project Lalande, the IRVEES program will use a variety of detection methods to pick up any planets. It will mostly use Direct Imaging with large scopes and a coronagraph, but the transit method can be used for other observations. There have been multiple other searches for planetary companions around Lalande 21185. In the early 1950's through 60's, Peter van de Kamp and his student Sarah Lippincott made multiple claims for finding planets via photographic plates. These claims were blown out of the water in 1974. Over 20 years later, in 1996, George Gatewood made the claim of finding more planets via astrometry. This was also proven to be a mistake. Since then, there have not been many other searches. 

Project Lalande takes on this challenge in a different way. Instead of using the classic radial velocity method or the confusing astrometry, this search will take images of the system. Why not radial velocity? Well, other scientists like Geoff Marcy have shown that the RV of Lalande 21185 is "stable," meaning that there aren't many or any large planets, and little stellar activity. Imaging will be easier on Lalande 21185 because of its size and close distance. When the search begins, small coronagraphs will be distributed. How I will make and distribute them is still on the drawing board. But these instruments will be able to block out Lalande 21185 while exposing regions closer to the star. See the main IRVEES thread for instructions on direct imaging. Those same steps will be used for Project Lalande.

MEMBERS:

@ProtoJeb21

STATUS: NOT ACTIVE YET

DATA:

-None Yet-

Edited May 16, 2016 by ProtoJeb21

[Nibb31]

What's IRVEES ?

[Spaceception]

1 hour ago, Nibb31 said:

What's IRVEES ?

 

[Spaceception]

1 hour ago, ProtoJeb21 said:

snippy

What are the other targets?

[PB666]

I found a planet, woke up this morning, crawled out of bed and put my feet down, there it was! How could you guys have missed it?

[ProtoJeb21]

3 hours ago, Spaceception said:

What are the other targets?

Here are a few:

• UV Ceti
• Ross 248
• Gliese 1
• Groombridge 1
• Barnard's Star

[Spaceception]

6 minutes ago, ProtoJeb21 said:

Here are a few:

• UV Ceti
• Ross 248
• Gliese 1
• Groombridge 1
• Barnard's Star

Gliese 1 is basically a Lalande twin, and UV Ceti is a binary Brown dwarf system, 2 really good targets, I don't see any "Groombridge 1" Ross 248 would be a quick planet find if there's any nearby planets, and it's really close! And Barnard's star is also really good looking at its distance

All and all, excellent targets! When are you beginning observing Lalande?

Edited May 14, 2016 by Spaceception

[ProtoJeb21]

12 hours ago, Spaceception said:

Gliese 1 is basically a Lalande twin, and UV Ceti is a binary Brown dwarf system, 2 really good targets, I don't see any "Groombridge 1" Ross 248 would be a quick planet find if there's any nearby planets, and it's really close! And Barnard's star is also really good looking at its distance

All and all, excellent targets! When are you beginning observing Lalande?

Oops, I meant Groombridge 1618. Anyways, I'm not too sure when I'll be observing Lalande 21185. But I do have a leg for the IRVEES program. I found a guy who works at a local observatory who has monitored transiting exoplanets before and will be able to help with the program. I also did a good job at picking the star for IDR-2. HD 89744 doesn't set until 5 am from where I live, so there can actually be all-night viewings. That observatory's telescope is hooked up to a bunch of computers, is a 16-20" reflector, and has several types of cameras and instruments on it.

One of the reasons why I put UV Ceti as a target is because of Kepler-438b. This poor planet is being struck again and again by monster flares every 100 days. But Kepler-438 is not nearly as powerful as UV Ceti when it comes to their solar flares. Imaging an exoplanet around a nearby flare star will give scientists a rare opportunity to study how these stellar megastorms affect planetary atmospheres and possibly color, too.

[Spaceception]

3 minutes ago, ProtoJeb21 said:

Oops, I meant Groombridge 1618. Anyways, I'm not too sure when I'll be observing Lalande 21185. But I do have a leg for the IRVEES program. I found a guy who works at a local observatory who has monitored transiting exoplanets before and will be able to help with the program. I also did a good job at picking the star for IDR-2. HD 89744 doesn't set until 5 am from where I live, so there can actually be all-night viewings. That observatory's telescope is hooked up to a bunch of computers, is a 16-20" reflector, and has several types of cameras and instruments on it.

One of the reasons why I put UV Ceti as a target is because of Kepler-438b. This poor planet is being struck again and again by monster flares every 100 days. But Kepler-438 is not nearly as powerful as UV Ceti when it comes to their solar flares. Imaging an exoplanet around a nearby flare star will give scientists a rare opportunity to study how these stellar megastorms affect planetary atmospheres and possibly color, too.

Oooh, Groombridge 1618, If a Earthlike planet orbits that star, It's highly, highly likely it'll have a day/night cycle, perhaps similar to Earth's.

And that's pretty good that you found someone to help you

Anyway, do you have any website links for good Exoplanet hunting telescopes (Never thought I'd put that into a sentence)? So I can make a wish list of what I could get.

Edited May 15, 2016 by Spaceception

[ProtoJeb21]

Just now, Spaceception said:

Oooh, Groombridge 1618, If a Earthlike planet orbits that star, It's highly, highly likely it'll have a day/night cycle, perhaps similar to Earth's.

And that's pretty good that you found someone to help you

Anyway, do you have any website links for good Exoplanet hunting telescopes (Never thought I'd put that into a sentence)? So I can make a wish list of what I could get.

It's possible that a local observatory can help you out, especially if they're open to the public. With the observatory that's helping my branch of the IRVEES program, members of the public can reserve a night for observing - with no extra cost. Odds are there's one like that in your area, or maybe an astronomy club/star party that can help. But for Project Lalande, you're going to need some high-tech equipment, such as a large telescope, tracking systems, and a sensitive CCD camera. The Orion Intelliscope is the smallest of what I would recommend. However, it would be better to get help for this project. 

[Spaceception]

My answer is Wolf 359, it's small, close, and dim, so it should be easy and quick to find planets.

[Spaceception]

@ProtoJeb21 When do you think you'll begin looking at Lalande?

[ProtoJeb21]

1 hour ago, Spaceception said:

@ProtoJeb21 When do you think you'll begin looking at Lalande?

Probably not anytime soon. Maybe in the winter when Lalande 21185 is higher in the sky.