Gemini Observatory | 2019 Aug 29
n an unprecedented feat, an American research team discovered hidden secrets of an elusive exoplanet using a powerful new instrument at the 8-meter Gemini North telescope on Maunakea in Hawai‘i. The findings not only classify a Jupiter-sized exoplanet in a close binary star system, but also conclusively demonstrate, for the first time, which star the planet orbits.Artist's conception of the Kepler-13AB binary star system as revealed by observations
including the new Gemini Observatory data. The two stars (A and B) are large, massive
bluish stars (center) with the transiting "hot Jupiter" (Kepler-13b) in the foreground
(left corner). Star B and its low mass red dwarf companion star are seen in the
background to the right. Credit: Gemini Observatory/NSF/AURA/Joy Pollard
The breakthrough occurred when Steve B. Howell of the NASA Ames Research Center and his team used a high-resolution imaging instrument of their design — named ‘Alopeke (a contemporary Hawaiian word for Fox). The team observed exoplanet Kepler-13b as it passed in front of (transited) one of the stars in the Kepler-13AB binary star system some 2,000 light years distant. Prior to this attempt, the true nature of the exoplanet was a mystery.
“There was confusion over Kepler-13b: was it a low-mass star or a hot Jupiter-like world? So we devised an experiment using the sly instrument ‘Alopeke,” Howell said. ... "We monitored both stars, Kepler A and Kepler B, simultaneously while looking for any changes in brightness during the planet’s transit,” Howell explained. “To our pleasure, we not only solved the mystery, but also opened a window into a new era of exoplanet research.” ...
High-Resolution Imaging Transit Photometry of Kepler-13AB ~ Steve B. Howell et al
- Astronomical Journal 158(3):113 (2019 Sep) DOI: 10.3847/1538-3881/ab2f7b