The Next Generation Transit Survey—Prototyping Phase. (6th January 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: McCormac, J.; Pollacco, D.; Wheatley, P. J.; West, R. G.; Walker, S.; Bento, J.; Skillen, I.; Faedi, F.; Burleigh, M. R.; Casewell, S. L.; Chazelas, B.; Genolet, L.; Gibson, N. P.; Goad, M. R.; Lawrie, K. A.; Ryans, R.; Todd, I.; Udry, S.; Watson, C. A.
• Is Part Of: Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. Volume 129:Number 972(2017)
• Publication Date: 2017-01-06
• Subjects: instrumentation: photometers -- methods: data analysis -- methods: observational -- techniques: photometric -- telescopes -- planets and satellites: detection; Astronomy -- Periodicals; Astronomy; Periodicals; Periodicals; 520.5
• DOI: 10.1088/1538-3873/129/972/025002
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0004-6280

Abstract

Abstract: We present the prototype telescope for the Next Generation Transit Survey, which was built in the UK in 2008/2009 and tested on La Palma in the Canary Islands in 2010. The goals for the prototype system were severalfold: to determine the level of systematic noise in an NGTS-like system; demonstrate that we can perform photometry at the (sub) millimagnitude level on transit timescales across a wide-field; show that it is possible to detect transiting super-Earth and Neptune-sized exoplanets and prove the technical feasibility of the proposed planet survey. We tested the system for around 100 nights and met each of the goals above. Several key areas for improvement were highlighted during the prototyping phase. They have been subsequently addressed in the final NGTS facility, which was recently commissioned at ESO Cerro Paranal, Chile.