Ground-based search for the brightest transiting planets with the Multi-site All-Sky CAmeRA: MASCARA

Ignas A. G. Snellen; Remko Stuik; Ramon Navarro; Felix Bettonvil; Matthew Kenworthy; Ernst de Mooij; Gilles Otten; Rik ter Horst; Rudolf le Poole

doi:10.1117/12.925178

27 September 2012 Ground-based search for the brightest transiting planets with the Multi-site All-Sky CAmeRA: MASCARA

Ignas A. G. Snellen, Remko Stuik, Ramon Navarro, Felix Bettonvil, Matthew Kenworthy, Ernst de Mooij, Gilles Otten, Rik ter Horst, Rudolf le Poole

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 8444, Ground-based and Airborne Telescopes IV; 84440I (2012) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.925178
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2012, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Abstract

The Multi-site All-sky CAmeRA MASCARA is an instrument concept consisting of several stations across the globe, with each station containing a battery of low-cost cameras to monitor the near-entire sky at each location. Once all stations have been installed, MASCARA will be able to provide a nearly 24-hr coverage of the complete dark sky, down to magnitude 8, at sub-minute cadence. Its purpose is to find the brightest transiting exoplanet systems, expected in the V=4-8 magnitude range - currently not probed by space- or ground-based surveys. The bright/nearby transiting planet systems, which MASCARA will discover, will be the key targets for detailed planet atmosphere observations. We present studies on the initial design of a MASCARA station, including the camera housing, domes, and computer equipment, and on the photometric stability of low-cost cameras showing that a precision of 0.3-1% per hour can be readily achieved. We plan to roll out the first MASCARA station before the end of 2013. A 5-station MASCARA can within two years discover up to a dozen of the brightest transiting planet systems in the sky.

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Ignas A. G. Snellen, Remko Stuik, Ramon Navarro, Felix Bettonvil, Matthew Kenworthy, Ernst de Mooij, Gilles Otten, Rik ter Horst, and Rudolf le Poole "Ground-based search for the brightest transiting planets with the Multi-site All-Sky CAmeRA: MASCARA", Proc. SPIE 8444, Ground-based and Airborne Telescopes IV, 84440I (27 September 2012); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.925178

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