End of EPOCh observations

EPOCh observations concluded on August 31, with observations of the strongly irradiated giant planet HAT-P-7. During the January - August period of EPOCh observations, we collected over 180,000 photometric quality images.

The transiting planet systems we observed include: HAT-P-4, TrES-2, TrES-3, XO-2, GJ436, WASP-3, and HAT-P-7. Each system was observed for 5 to 6 transits, as well as secondary eclipses. We observed the Gliese 436 system for over 20 days, and this time period corresponds to orbits in the habitable zone of this M-dwarf star.

The EPOXI data processing computers are still busily calibrating the images, and the science team is deep into the process of extracting precision photometry from the images. Already we have seen that our photometric precision averages down as the inverse square root of the number of images, so our space-based data are free of the "red noise" that often plagues ground-based observations.

In addition to transiting planet observations, EPOCh observed the Earth-as-a-planet. The Earth observations comprised narrow-band visible filter images, and 2- to 5-micron infrared spectroscopy, over a full Earth rotation, at three well-separated dates.

The EPOCh science team will present preliminary results at the October 10-15 meeting of the AAS Division for Planetary Sciences, at Cornell University. EPOCh presentations at the DPS meeting include:

• "Education And Public Outreach For NASA's EPOXI Mission"
  Lucy-Ann A. McFadden et al.
• "The Astronomical Color of Earth from EPOXI Observations"
  Tilak Hewagama et al.
• "EPOXI Empirical Test of Optical Characterization of an Earth-like Planet"
  Timothy A. Livengood et al.
• "Preliminary Results From The NASA EPOXI Mission"
  Sarah Ballard et al.
• "Simulating the Earth as an Extrasolar Planet"
  Tyler Robinson et al.
• "The EPOXI/EPOCh Investigation of Transiting Extrasolar Planets"
  Drake Deming et al.

Source: University of Maryland
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