https://doi.org/10.1051/epjconf/20101105005
Reflected eclipses on circumbinary planets
1
Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, C/ Vía Láctea S/N, E-38200 La
Laguna, Spain
[hdeeg@iac.es]
2
SETI Institute, 189 N. Bernardo Avenue, Mountain View, CA 94043,
USA
A photometric method to detect planets orbiting around shortperiodic binary stars is presented. It is based on the detection of eclipse-signatures in the reflected light of circumbinary planets. Amplitudes of such ’reflected eclipses’ will depend on the orbital configurations of binary and planet relative to the observer. Reflected eclipses will occur with a period that is distinct from the binary eclipses, and their timing will also be modified by variations in the light-travel time of the eclipse signal. For the sample of eclipsing binaries found by the Kepler mission, reflected eclipses from close circumbinary planets may be detectable around at least several dozen binaries. A thorough detection effort of such reflected eclipses may then detect the inner planets present, or give solid limits to their abundance.
© Owned by the authors, published by EDP Sciences, 2011
