Supplementary materials for PhD thesis - "Observations of transiting exoplanets"

This dataset comprises the files contained on a CD-ROM which was attached to the thesis when it was submitted in 2015. It was uploaded to ORDO in 2025 for preservation purposes. For more information, please refer to the thesis “Observations of transiting exoplanets” via ORO. AbstractThe field of exoplanetology has evolved significantly from its beginnings in the 1990s, gradually shifting emphasis from the detection of new exoplanets to characterisation of those already discovered. Simultaneously, considerable progress has been made in the area of automatisation of both instruments and data reduction techniques, leading to an ever-growing influx of new data, discoveries and facts about the planets outside of the Solar System. Observations of transiting exoplanets can be divided into two major themes: surveys, designed to find new planetary candidates; and follow-up observations, which offer a chance to learn more about the characteristics of the previously identified candidates and confirm their planetary nature.In this thesis, I introduce both aspects in the context of the current exoplanetary research, and go on to describe in considerable detail the objects of two observational follow-up projects, planets WASP-12 b and KIC 12557548 b, together with a selection of new techniques I develop to assist in data reduction and analysis of large photometric datasets. In the WASP-12 b study, I use ULTRACAM on the William Herschel Telescope to search in the visible light for the presence of the early ingress signature, observed previously with the Hubble Space Telescope in the near-ultraviolet. I also investigate claims of a transit timing variation in this system. I use the same instruments to carry out KIC 12557548 b observations, with the aim to measure the colour dependence of the extinction and scattering due to the dust in the tail of the putative planet and provide direct evidence in favour of this object being a disrupting low-mass rocky planet, feeding a transiting dust cloud. I also present a new algorithm used to correct for scattered light in astronomical images, ULTRACorrect, and introduce a bespoke photometry pipeline, ULTR APhoto, together with a selection of other methods useful in observations planning and data analysis.

本数据集包含2015年提交学位论文时随附的光盘内全部文件，于2025年上传至ORDO以进行永久保存。如需获取更多信息，请通过ORO查阅学位论文《凌星系外行星观测》。

摘要
系外行星学领域自20世纪90年代诞生以来取得了长足发展，研究重点逐渐从新系外行星的发现转向对已发现行星的特性表征。与此同时，仪器自动化与数据归约技术领域均取得了显著进展，使得太阳系外行星的相关数据、新发现与研究成果持续涌入。凌星系外行星观测可分为两大核心方向：一是用于搜寻新行星候选体的巡天观测，二是用于深入研究已确认候选体特性并验证其行星属性的后续观测。

本论文结合当前系外行星研究前沿，对上述两大方向进行了介绍，并详细阐述了两项观测后续研究项目的目标：对WASP-12 b与KIC 12557548 b两颗行星的研究，同时介绍了本人开发的一系列用于辅助大测光数据集数据归约与分析的新技术。在WASP-12 b的研究中，本人使用威廉·赫歇尔望远镜（William Herschel Telescope）上的ULTRACAM设备在可见光波段搜寻此前在近紫外波段由哈勃空间望远镜（Hubble Space Telescope）观测到的早期凌始信号，并对该系统中存在凌星时间变化的相关说法展开了验证。本人使用同款设备开展KIC 12557548 b的观测研究，旨在测量该候选行星尾迹中尘埃的消光与散射随波长的颜色依赖关系，并为该天体是正在瓦解的低质量岩质行星（其形成的过境尘埃云持续存在）提供直接观测证据。此外，本人还提出了一种用于校正天文图像散射光的新算法ULTRACorrect，并介绍了一套定制化测光处理流水线ULTRA Photo（原文记为ULTR APhoto），以及一系列用于观测规划与数据分析的实用方法。