This thesis provides a multi-pronged approach towards paving the way for future space and ground based exoplanet characterisation e↵orts as well as providing new analysis of the atmosphere of the exoplanet HD 179949 b. This is done, firstly, by outlining engineering trade studies conducted for the attitude and orbit control system (AOCS) and sun shield for the Exoplanet Characterisation Observatory (EChO) spacecraft (a proposed European Space Agency exoplanet space mission). These trade studies were conducted in collaboration with EADS Astrium. A cold gas system with the possibility of a hybrid system which would include the use of reaction wheels is recommend for the design of the AOCS. For the sun shield, a V-groove cone shield is concluded to provide the best thermal coverage while also providing stay light protection as well as being more mechanically symmetric than other options. Simulations are then conducted to determine the number of transiting planets future surveys should expect to find around stars within 50 parsecs of the sun. This is done by taking the known stars within 50 parsecs and adding a simulated planet population based on current models and observations to each star. Assumptions are made regarding observability of a planetary transit and a Monte Carlo simulation run to gain statistics on the number and type of planetary systems that can be expected to be found. The results of the simulation show a mean expected number of 27 detectable transiting planets within 50 parsecs. Next, using the Position and Proper Motion Extended-L (PPMXL) catalogue, optical and near-infrared colour cuts were used together with a reduced proper motion cut to find bright M dwarfs for future exoplanet transit studies. PPMXL’s low proper motion uncertainties allow this work to probe down to smaller proper motions than previous similar studies. Unique objects found with this method were combined with that of previous work to produce 8479 K < 9 M dwarfs. Low-resolution spectroscopy was obtained of a sample of the objects found using this selection method to gain statistics on their spectral type and physical properties. Results show a spectral-type range of K7-M4V. This catalogue is the most complete collection of K < 9 M dwarfs currently available and is made available here. High resolution spectroscopy and model spectra of planetary atmospheres is then used along with a spectral deconvolution technique to attempt to detect the Doppler shifted signal of the non-transiting planet HD 179949 b. The signal was not detected but new upper limits were set ruling out the presence of TiO down to a log10 ✏0 = -4.09 with 99.9 per cent confidence. Simulations conducted by this work imply a loss of sensitivity occurring possibly due to varying telluric interference or instrumental systematics.

This thesis investigates how increased global mean temperatures on Earth, induced by the increase in the luminosity of the Sun as it ages, change the types of habitable environments on the planet at local scales over the next 3 Gyr. Rising temperatures enhance silicate weathering rates, reducing atmospheric CO₂ levels to below the threshold for photosynthesis, while simultaneously pushing environments past the temperature tolerances of plant and animal species. This leads to the end of all plant life and animal life (due to reduced food, O₂ and H₂O availability, as well as higher temperatures) within the next 1 Gyr. The reduction in the extent of the remaining microbial biosphere due to increasing temperatures and rapid ocean evaporation is then modelled, incorporating orbital parameter changes until all known types of life become extinct; a maximum of 2.8 Gyr from the present. The biosignatures associated with these changes are determined and the analysis extended to Earth-like extrasolar planets nearing the end of their habitable lifetimes. In particular, the stages in the main sequence evolutions of Sun-like stars within 10 pc are evaluated and used to extrapolate the stage that an Earth-analogue planet would be at in its habitable evolution, to determine the best candidate systems for a far-future Earth-analogue biosphere, highlighting the Beta Canum Venaticorum system as a good target. One of the most promising biosignatures for a microbial biosphere on the far-future Earth (and similar planets) may be CH₄, which could reach levels in the atmosphere that make it more readily detectable than it is for a present-day Earth-like atmosphere. Determining these biosignatures will help expand the search for life to the wider range of environments that will be found as the habitable exoplanet inventory grows and planets are found at different stages in their habitable evolution.

The transit method is considered to be one of the most promising for discovering extrasolar planets. However, the method requires photometric precision of better than ∼ 1%. If we are able to achieve this kind of accuracy, then we are set to discover extrasolar planets. The uniqueness of my experiment will lead to the discovery of transiting planets around the brightest and most important stars quicker than the competitors in the field. The importance of the transit method stems from being able to supply many more planetary parameters than other methods, which plays a crucial role in testing planet formation theories. This thesis is divided into eight chapters. The first chapter provides a general background about transits and their theory. We discuss other methods of extrasolar planet detection, recent developments, future space missions, and what we have learned so far about properties of hot Jupiters. The second chapter details the theory of signals and noise on CCDs followed by the design of the PASS0 experiment. The third chapter reports on the difference imaging data pipeline that we developed and applied to a set of PASS0 data to search for transiting planets. The fourth chapter shows how we apply the PASS0 pipeline to SuperWASP data and improve on the accuracy obtained with their aperture photometry pipeline. The fifth chapter reports on the search for variable stars from the PASS0 and SuperWASP data sets that we consider in this thesis. In the sixth chapter we perform a transit search on the PASS0 and SuperWASP data sets and report the results. In the seventh chapter we use the PASS0 pipeline to process a full season of observing data from 2007 for two recent planet discoveries, WASP-7b and WASP-8b, that have not yet been announced. We analyse their lightcurves and predict their radii. Finally we conclude in the eighth chapter.

NASA has funded a project called the Hunt for Observable Signatures of Terrestrial Systems (HOSTS) to survey nearby solar type stars to determine the amount of warm zodiacal dust in their habitable zones. The goal is not only to determine the luminosity distribution function but also to know which individual stars have the least amount of zodiacal dust. It is important to have this information for future missions that directly image exoplanets as this dust is the main source of astrophysical noise for them. The HOSTS project utilizes the Large Binocular Telescope Interferometer (LBTI), which consists of two 8.4-m apertures separated by a 14.4-m baseline on Mt. Graham, Arizona. The LBTI operates in a nulling mode in the mid-infrared spectral window (8-13 mu m), in which light from the two telescopes is coherently combined with a 180 degree phase shift between them, producing a dark fringe at the location of the target star. In doing so the starlight is greatly reduced, increasing the contrast, analogous to a coronagraph operating at shorter wavelengths. The LBTI is a unique instrument, having only three warm reflections before the starlight reaches cold mirrors, giving it the best photometric sensitivity of any interferometer operating in the mid-infrared. It also has a superb Adaptive Optics (AO) system giving it Strehl ratios greater than 98% at 10 mu m. In 2014 into early 2015 LBTI was undergoing commissioning. The HOSTS project team passed its Operational Readiness Review (ORR) in April 2015. The team recently published papers on the target sample, modeling of the nulled disk images, and initial results such as the detection of warm dust around eta Corvi. Recently a paper was published on the data pipeline and on-sky performance. An additional paper is in preparation on beta Leo. We will discuss the scientific and programmatic context for the LBTI project, and we will report recent progress, new results, and plans for the science verification phase that started in February 2016, and for the survey.

Astronomical data sets are growing ever larger, and the area of high contrast imaging of exoplanets is no exception. With the advent of fast, low-noise detectors operating at 10 to 1000 Hz, huge numbers of images can be taken during a single hours-long observation. High frame rates offer several advantages, such as improved registration, frame selection, and improved speckle calibration. However, advanced image processing algorithms are computationally challenging to apply. Here we describe a parallelized, cloud-based data reduction system developed for the Magellan Adaptive Optics VisAO camera, which is capable of rapidly exploring tens of thousands of parameter sets affecting the Karhunen-Loeve image processing (KLIP) algorithm to produce high-quality direct images of exoplanets. We demonstrate these capabilities with a visible-wavelength high contrast data set of a hydrogen-accreting brown dwarf companion.

Dans cette thèse a été développé un modèle numérique simulant la lumière réfléchie et l'émission thermique d'exoplanètes telluriques ne possédant pas d'atmosphère, au cours de leur orbite. Ce modèle est constituée de plusieurs éléments. Le code calcule tout d'abord le flux stellaire incident en tout point de la planète et en fonction du temps en prenant en compte le mouvement orbital et la rotation de la planète. Si nécessaire, le modèle peut calculer la dissipation associée aux forces de marées et le flux de chaleur interne associé. Ces flux radiatif et interne servent de conditions aux limites à un modèle qui traite la diffusion de la chaleur dans la subsurface et calcule la température de surface. Enfin, le code calcule le flux, et sa variation avec la phase orbitale, reçu par un observateur distant dans une ou plusieurs bandes spectrales. Ce flux peut inclure les sources de bruits associés à la méthode d'observation de façon à produire une observable réaliste.Une première étude a été consacrée aux planètes en orbite circulaire et en rotation synchrone, c'est à dire recevant un flux d'illumination constant avec le temps. Cette étude a montré qu'il était possible de contraindre, à partir d'observations bruitées simulées effectuées avec les télescopes de la prochaine génération (JWST, EChO) leur albédo de Bond, leur rayon, et l'inclinaison de l'orbite par rapport à l'observateur. Associée à des mesures de vitesse radiale, cette technique pourra permettre de déterminer masse et rayon d'exoplanètes ne transitant pas.Une seconde étude traite de l'influence de la rotation et de la force maréale pour des planètes recevant un flux d'illumination non constant (excentriques et/ou en rotation). Il est montré qu'il est possible de détecter par photométrie orbitale la signature de ces deux effets dans la courbe de lumière et ainsi de mieux contraindre les modèles de marées existants. De multiples possibilités d'applications de ce modèle numérique sont en cours, et se prolongent au-delà de cette thèse. / We have developed a numerical model that computes the reflected light and thermal emission of an airless rocky exoplanets during its orbit. This code first computes the stellar incident flux over the planetary surface as a function of time for any Keplerian orbit and rotation. The code can compute the tidal dissipation and the associated internal heat flux. Those illumination and internal flux are the boundary conditions for a heat diffusion model, which calculates time-dependent surface and subsurface temperatures. Eventually, the model computes the flux received by a distant observer, in one or several spectral bands. A realistic observation can be simulated adding the various sources of noise noise associated with the observation method.A first study was dedicated to synchronous planets on a circular orbit that receive a constant illumination flux. This study showed that it is possible to constrain their Bond albedo, radius and inclination from observations done with the JWST or EChO. Associated with radial velocity measurements, mass and radius of nontransiting planets can be inferred. In another work on planets receiving a non constant illumination flux (eccentric orbits or non synchronous planets) we study the signature of rotation period the tidal dissipation in the orbital photometry. We show that rotation period can be inferred providing a novel method to test tidal models. Many possibles applications of this model are already in progress and continue to be developed beyond this thesis.

Project PANOPTES (http://www.projectranoptes.org) is aimed at establishing a collaboration between professional astronomers, citizen scientists and schools to discover a large number of exoplanets with the transit technique. We have developed digital camera based imaging units to cover large parts of the sky and look for exoplanet transits. Each unit costs approximately $5000 USD and runs automatically every night. By using low-cost, commercial digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) cameras, we have developed a uniquely cost-efficient system for wide field astronomical imaging, offering approximately two orders of magnitude better etendue per unit of cost than professional wide-field surveys. Both science and outreach, our vision is to have thousands of these units built by schools and citizen scientists gathering data, making this project the most productive exoplanet discovery machine in the world.

In this project two machine learning methods, Support Vector Machine, SVM, and Convolutional Neural Network, CNN, are studied to determine which method performs best on a labeled data set containing time series of light intensity from extrasolar stars. The main difficulty is that in the data set there are a lot more non exoplanet stars than there are stars with orbiting exoplanets. This is causing a so called imbalanced data set which in this case is improved by i.e. mirroring the curves of stars with an orbiting exoplanet and adding them to the set. Trying to improve the results further, some preprocessing is done before implementing the methods on the data set. For the SVM, feature extraction and fourier transform of the time-series are important measures but further preprocessing alternatives are investigated. For the CNN-method the time-series are both detrended and smoothed, giving two inputs for the same light curve. All code is implemented in python. Of all the validation parameters recall is considered the main priority since it is more important to find all exoplanets than finding all non exoplanets. CNN turned out to be the best performing method for the chosen configurations with 1.000 in recall which exceeds SVM’s recall 0.800. Considering the second validation parameter precision CNN is also the best performing method with a precision of 0.769 over SVM's 0.571.

Until the last decade or so, our entire knowledge of planets around Sun-like stars consisted of those in our own Solar System. This is no longer the case. Over 200 planets have been discovered through radial velocity surveys and photometric studies, both of which depend on observing the planet's effects on its host star. Much of our knowledge of the planets orbiting these stars is uncertain, based on assumptions about the stars' masses and the planets' orbital inclinations. This dissertation is comprised of two main sections. The first involves measuring the angular diameters for a sample of exoplanet host stars using Georgia State University's CHARA Array in order to learn more about the nature of these stars. These direct angular measurements are not dependent on the exoplanet systems' inclinations or the masses of the stars. Improved angular diameters lead to linear diameters when combined with HIPPARCOS parallax measurements, which in turn tell us of the stars' ages and masses. Of the 82 exoplanet systems observable with the CHARA Array, 31 host stars were observed and stellar angular diameters were measured for 26 systems. In the special case of an exoplanet system with a transiting planet, this direct measurement of the star's angular diameter leads to a direct measurement of the planet's diameter, when the planet-to-star-radii ratio is known from photometric studies. This was done for HD 189733. The star's angular diameter is 0.377 +/- 0.024 mas, which produces a stellar linear radius of 0.779 +/- 0.052 R_Sun and a planetary diameter of 1.19 +/- 0.08 R_Jupiter. The second part of this project involved the inspection of the exoplanet systems for stellar companions masquerading as planets. From radial velocity studies alone, it is impossible to distinguish between a planet in a high-inclination orbit and a low-mass stellar companion in a low-inclination orbit. Using the CHARA Array, it was possible to rule out certain secondary spectral types for each exoplanet system observed by studying the errors in the diameter fit and searching for separated fringe packets. While no definitive stellar companions were found, two expolanet systems, upsilon Andromedae and rho Coronae Borealis, exhibited behavior that were not consistent with the host star being a simple limb-darkened disk.

During the last decade, the transit method has evolved to one of the most promising techniques in the search for extrasolar planets and the quest to find other earth-like worlds. In theory, the transit method is straight forward being based on the detection of an apparent dimming of the host star’s light due to an orbiting planet traversing in front of the observer. However, in practice, the detection of such light curve dips and their confident ascription to a planetary transit is heavily burdened by the presence of different sources of noise, the most prominent of which is probably the so called intrinsic stellar variability. Filtering out potential transit signals from background noise requires a well adjusted high-pass filter. In order to optimize such a filter, i.e. to achieve best separation between signal and noise, one typically requires access to benchmark datasets that exhibit the same light curve with and without obstructing noise. Several methods for simulating stellar variability have been proposed for the construction of such benchmark datasets. However, while such methods have been widely used in testing transit method detection algorithms in the past, it is not very well known how such simulations compare to real recorded light curves - a fact that might be contributed to the lack of large databases of stellar light curves for comparisons at that time. With the increasing amount of light curve data now available due to missions such as Kepler, I have here undertaken such a comparison of synthetic and real light curves for one particular method that simulates stellar variability based on scaled power spectra of the Sun’s flux variations. Conducting the respective comparison also in terms of estimated power spectra of real and simulated light curves, I have revealed that the two datasets exhibit substantial differences in average power, with the synthetic power spectra having generally a lower power and also lacking certain distinct power peaks present in the real light curves. The results of this study suggest that scaled power spectra of solar variability alone might be insufficient for light curve simulations and that more work will be required to understand the origin and relevance of the observed power peaks in order to improve on such light curve models.