Observing the PTPS Sample of Evolved Exoplanet Host Candidates Using the NPOI

Abstract

We plan to measure the angular diameters of a sample of Penn State-Torun Planet Search (PTPS) giant exoplanet host star candidates using the Navy Precision Optical Interferometer. The radii of evolved giant stars obtained using spectroscopy are usually ill-defined because of the method's indirect nature and evolutionary model dependency. The star's radius is a critical parameter used to calculate luminosity and mass, which are often not well known for giant stars. Therefore, this problem also affects the orbital period, mass, and surface temperature of the planet. Our interferometric observations will significantly decrease the errors for these parameters. We present preliminary results from NPOI observations of six stars in the PTPS sample.