MULTI-PLANET SYSTEM DETECTION WITH EDDINGTON

摘要

The study of multi-planet systems is important in several respects, such as multi-planet dynamics (the interactions between planets and their role in building eccentric orbits), determining the relative inclinations of orbital planes, and assessing the role of giant planets in terrestrial planet formation. Several transit-based method for the detection of multi-planet systems are investigates in the present paper: 1. multi-transits (i.e. transits by more than one planet); 2. combining transits and radial velocity; 3. transit timing (this section includes a new method). In particular, the multi-transit method gives a very precise determination of the relative inclination of planetary orbits, which is interesting for the study of multi-planet dynamics. The combination of transits with radial velocity can allow the detection of very low mass planets in multi-planet systems, which would be undetectable the radial velocity method alone (i.e. an Earth + Jupiter-like configuration). An estimate of the expected number of multi-planet detections with Eddington is given. In addition, ambiguities which can arise in multi-transit scenarios are discussed.