High-precision photometry by telescope defocusing - V. WASP-15 and WASP-16

• Published in: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Vol. 434; no. 2; pp. 1300 - 1308
• Main Authors: Southworth, John, Mancini, L., Browne, P., Burgdorf, M., Calchi Novati, S., Dominik, M., Gerner, T., Hinse, T. C., Jørgensen, U. G., Kains, N., Ricci, D., Schäfer, S., Schönebeck, F., Tregloan-Reed, J., Alsubai, K. A., Bozza, V., Chen, G., Dodds, P., Dreizler, S., Fang, X.-S., Finet, F., Gu, S.-H., Hardis, S., Harpsøe, K., Henning, Th, Hundertmark, M., Jessen-Hansen, J., Kerins, E., Kjeldsen, H., Liebig, C., Lund, M. N., Lundkvist, M., Mathiasen, M., Nikolov, N., Penny, M. T., Proft, S., Rahvar, S., Sahu, K., Scarpetta, G., Skottfelt, J., Snodgrass, C., Surdej, J., Wertz, O.
• Format: Journal Article Web Resource
• Language: English
• Published: London Oxford University Press 01-09-2013
• Subjects: Astronomy; Aérospatiale, astronomie & astrophysique; Orbits; Physical, chemical, mathematical & earth Sciences; Physique, chimie, mathématiques & sciences de la terre; planetary systems; Space science, astronomy & astrophysics; Star & galaxy formation; stars: fundamental parameters; stars: individual: WASP-15; stars: individual: WASP-16; stars: fundamental parameters; planetary systems; stars: individual: WASP-16; stars: individual: WASP-15
• ISSN: 0035-8711; 1365-2966; 1365-2966
• DOI: 10.1093/mnras/stt1089

We present new photometric observations of WASP-15 and WASP-16, two transiting extrasolar planetary systems with measured orbital obliquities but without photometric follow-up since their discovery papers. Our new data for WASP-15 comprise observations of one transit simultaneously in four optical passbands using GROND on the MPG/European Southern Observatory (ESO) 2.2 m telescope, plus coverage of half a transit from DFOSC on the Danish 1.54 m telescope, both at ESO La Silla. For WASP-16 we present observations of four complete transits, all from the Danish telescope. We use these new data to refine the measured physical properties and orbital ephemerides of the two systems. Whilst our results are close to the originally determined values for WASP-15, we find that the star and planet in the WASP-16 system are both larger and less massive than previously thought.