May 15 – 17, 2026
College of Hakka Studies at NYCU, Zhubei, Hsinchu County 國立陽明交通大學客家學院(竹北六家校區)
Asia/Taipei timezone

A Photodynamical Pipeline for Exomoon Detection Using Transit Timing Variations

May 16, 2026, 4:45 PM
15m
HK105

HK105

Speaker

Prangsutip Cherdwongsung (National Tsing Hua University)

Description

The detection of exomoons, natural satellites orbiting exoplanets, remains one of the most challenging and intriguing problems in modern astronomy. In this work, we develop a photodynamical pipeline to search for exomoon signatures using transit timing variations (TTV). By analyzing periodic shifts in transit mid-times, we aim to identify the dynamical effects induced by a potential orbiting moon.

We apply this approach to the HAT-P-1 b system using 16 high-quality transits from multiple TESS sectors. The observed light curves are used to construct a physically consistent star-planet-moon model, and synthetic transit signals are generated under realistic observational conditions. Particular attention is given to improving timing precision through optimized sampling and noise treatment. The resulting TTV signals are compared with theoretical models, allowing us to explore whether an exomoon-like configuration can reproduce the observed variations. This study demonstrates how combining high-precision photometry with dynamical modeling can provide indirect but powerful constraints on exomoon candidates, contributing to our understanding of the diversity and formation of planetary systems beyond our Solar System.

Participate the oral/poster presentation award competition Yes

Author

Prangsutip Cherdwongsung (National Tsing Hua University)

Co-authors

Ing-Guey Jiang (National Tsing Hua University) Li-Chin Yeh (National Tsing Hua University)

Presentation materials

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