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A STEP: Towards a Large Photometric Survey for Exoplanets at Dome C

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 May 2007

N. Epchtein ,
M. Candidi ,
F. Fressin ,
T. Guillot ,
F.-X. Schmider ,
A. Agabi ,
C. Moutou ,
S. Aigrain ,
F. Bouchy  and
M. Boer
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F. Fressin
Affiliation:
Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur
T. Guillot
Affiliation:
Laboratoire Universitaire Astrophysique de Nice
F.-X. Schmider
Affiliation:
Laboratoire Universitaire Astrophysique de Nice
A. Agabi
Affiliation:
Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille
C. Moutou
Affiliation:
Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille
S. Aigrain
Affiliation:
University of Exeter
F. Bouchy
Affiliation:
Observatoire de Haute Provence
M. Boer
Affiliation:
Observatoire de Haute Provence
F. Pont
Affiliation:
Observatoire de Genêve
A. Erikson
Affiliation:
Berlin DLR
H. Rauer
Affiliation:
Berlin DLR
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Abstract

We present “A STEP” (Antarctica Search for Transiting ExtrasolarPlanets), a project dedicated to the search for planetary transitsfrom Antartica. The project consists of a semi-automatic ~40 cmtelescope equipped with a 16-million-pixel CCD installed at DomeC. The site offers crucial assets for a ground-based exoplanet transitsearch: uninterrupted phase coverage, excellent weather, low air-massvariations and reduced scintillation.
This system would be able to detect Pegasids transiting in front ofstars as faint as magnitude sixteen and could also detect smallerplanets in close-in period around brighter stars. This short termproject is meant to be a photometric qualifyer for the site and thefirst stage of a massive detection campaign. A mid-term objective of1000 detections for 2012 could be achieved either with many smalltelescopes or with a large Schmidt telescope with a large field ofview.
The project is relatively simple and cost-effective, and has thedouble purpose of qualifying the site and obtaining first-classscientific results. Our team is already familiar with transitdetection with an automated telescope and cold temperaturequalification.


Type
Research Article
Information
European Astronomical Society Publications Series , Volume 25: 1st ARENA Conference on "Large Astronomical Infrastructures at CONCORDIA, prospects and constraints for Antarctic Optical/IR Astronomy" , 2007 , pp. 225 - 232
Copyright
© EAS, EDP Sciences, 2007

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