Looking For Timing Variations in the Transits of 16 Exoplanets

Abstract

We update the ephemerides of 16 transiting exoplanets using our ground-based observations, new TESS data, and previously published observations including those of amateur astronomers. All these light curves were modeled by making use of a set of quantitative criteria with the EXOFAST code to obtain mid-transit times. We searched for statistically significant secular and/or periodic trends in the mid-transit times. We found that the timing data are well modeled by a linear ephemeris for all systems except for XO-2 b, for which we detect an orbital decay with the rate of -12.95 $\pm$ 1.85 ms/yr that can be confirmed with future observations. We also detect a hint of potential periodic variations in the TTV data of HAT-P-13 b which also requires confirmation with further precise observations.