Transit Analysis Package : An IDL Graphical User Interface for Exoplanet Transit Photometry

We present an IDL graphical user-interface-driven software package designed for the analysis of exoplanet transit light curves. The Transit Analysis Package (TAP) software uses Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) techniques to fit light curves using the analytic model of Mandal and Agol (2002). The pack...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Advances in astronomy 2012-01, Vol.2012 (2012), p.1-8
Main Authors: Johnson, John A., Gazak, J. Zachary, Tonry, John, Dragomir, Diana, Eastman, Jason, Mann, Andrew W., Agol, Eric
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Astronomy
Computer programs
Extrasolar planets
Graphical user interface
Markov analysis
Mathematical models
Packages
Photometry
Software
Stars & galaxies
Studies
Transit
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Summary:We present an IDL graphical user-interface-driven software package designed for the analysis of exoplanet transit light curves. The Transit Analysis Package (TAP) software uses Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) techniques to fit light curves using the analytic model of Mandal and Agol (2002). The package incorporates a wavelet-based likelihood function developed by Carter and Winn (2009), which allows the MCMC to assess parameter uncertainties more robustly than classic χ2 methods by parameterizing uncorrelated “white” and correlated “red” noise. The software is able to simultaneously analyze multiple transits observed in different conditions (instrument, filter, weather, etc.). The graphical interface allows for the simple execution and interpretation of Bayesian MCMC analysis tailored to a user’s specific data set and has been thoroughly tested on ground-based and Kepler photometry. This paper describes the software release and provides applications to new and existing data. Reanalysis of ground-based observations of TrES-1b, WASP-4b, and WASP-10b (Winn et al., 2007, 2009; Johnson et al., 2009; resp.) and space-based Kepler 4b–8b (Kipping and Bakos 2010) show good agreement between TAP and those publications. We also present new multi-filter light curves of WASP-10b and we find excellent agreement with previously published values for a smaller radius.
ISSN:1687-7969
1687-7977
DOI:10.1155/2012/697967