Europlanet Science Congress 2020
Virtual meeting
21 September – 9 October 2020
Europlanet Science Congress 2020
Virtual meeting
21 September – 9 October 2020
EPSC Abstracts
Vol. 14, EPSC2020-337, 2020, updated on 09 Jan 2024
https://doi.org/10.5194/epsc2020-337
Europlanet Science Congress 2020
© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

The SPECULOOS Project: New targets to hunt planets of Ultra-cool dwarfs.

Daniel Sebastian1, Michael Gillon1, Elsa Ducrot1, Francisco J. Pozuelos1,2, Lionel J. Garcia1, and the SPECULOOS science team*
Daniel Sebastian et al.
  • 1University of Liège, Institut d'Astrophysique et de Géophysique, ExoTIC Lab - UR Astrobiology, Belgium (dsebastian@uliege.be)
  • 2University of Liège, Space Sciences, Technologies and Astrophysics Research (STAR) Institute, Belgium
  • *A full list of authors appears at the end of the abstract
One of the most promising roads for detailed analysis of temperate Earth-sized exoplanets is their detection in transit of small stars. If close enough, upcoming giant telescopes like ELT or JWST will make possible their thorough atmospheric characterisation. In this context, the TRAPPIST-1 planets form an unique benchmark system that has gathered broad interest in and out of the scientific community.

The SPECULOOS survey is a transit-search survey, targeting a volume-limited (40 pc) sample of ultracool dwarf stars (spectral type M7 and later). The survey is powered by a global network of dedicated robotic 1 m telescopes, and its strategy leverages on the synergy with TESS for its brighter and earlier targets. Given its detection potential, once completed, it will not only provide targets for atmospheric characterisation, but will also deliver robust constraints on the structure of planetary systems of ultracool dwarf stars. 
In this talk, I will detail the SPECULOOS target selection process, including new ultracool dwarf candidates, and introduce to its observing strategy.

 

SPECULOOS science team:

M. N. Günther, L. Delrez, D. Queloz, B. O. Demory, A. H.M.J. Triaud, A. Burgasser, J. de Wit, A. Burdanov, E. Jehin, J. McCormac, C. Murray, P. Niraula, P. P. Pedersen, B. V. Rackham, S. Sohy, S. Thompson, V. Van Grootel

How to cite: Sebastian, D., Gillon, M., Ducrot, E., Pozuelos, F. J., and Garcia, L. J. and the SPECULOOS science team: The SPECULOOS Project: New targets to hunt planets of Ultra-cool dwarfs. , Europlanet Science Congress 2020, online, 21 Sep–9 Oct 2020, EPSC2020-337, https://doi.org/10.5194/epsc2020-337, 2020.