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Parenago 1802, a member of the ~1 Myr Orion Nebula Cluster, is a double-lined, detached eclipsing binary in a 4.674 day orbit, with equal-mass components (M²/M¹ = 0.985 ± 0.029). Here we present extensive VIcJHKs light curves (LCs) spanning ~15 yr, as well as a Keck/High Resolution Echelle Spectrometer (HIRES) optical spectrum. The LCs evince a third light source that is variable with a period of 0.73 days, and is also manifested in the high-resolution spectrum, strongly indicating the presence of a third star in the system, probably a rapidly rotating Classical T Tauri star. We incorporate this third light into our radial velocity and LC modeling of the eclipsing pair, measuring accurate masses (M¹ = 0.391 ± 0.032 and M² = 0.385 ± 0.032 Mʘ), radii (R¹ = 1.73 ± 0.02 and R² = 1.62 ± 0.02 Rʘ), and temperature ratio (Teff 1/Teff 2= 1.0924 ± 0.0017). Thus, the radii of the eclipsing stars differ by 6.9% ± 0.8%, the temperatures differ by 9.2% ± 0.2%, and consequently the luminosities differ by 62% ± 3%, despite having masses equal to within 3%. This could be indicative of an age difference of ~3 x 105 yr between the two eclipsing stars, perhaps a vestige of the binary formation history. We find that the eclipsing pair is in an orbit that has not yet fully circularized, e = 0.0166 ± 0.003. In addition, we measure the rotation rate of the eclipsing stars to be 4.629 ± 0.006 days; they rotate slightly faster than their 4.674 day orbit. The non-zero eccentricity and super-synchronous rotation suggest that the eclipsing pair should be tidally interacting, so we calculate the tidal history of the system according to different tidal evolution theories. We find that tidal heating effects can explain the observed luminosity difference of the eclipsing pair, providing an alternative to the previously suggested age difference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transiting exoplanet WASP-18b was discovered in 2008 by the Wide Angle Search for Planets project. The Spitzer Exoplanet Target of Opportunity Program observed secondary eclipses of WASP-18b using Spitzer's Infrared Array Camera in the 3.6 µm and 5.8 µm bands on 2008 December 20, and in the 4.5 µm and 8.0 µm bands on 2008 December 24. We report eclipse depths of 0.30% ± 0.02%, 0.39% ± 0.02%, 0.37% ± 0.03%, 0.41% ± 0.02%, and brightness temperatures of 3100 ± 90, 3310 ± 130, 3080 ± 140, and 3120 ± 110 K in order of increasing wavelength. WASP-18b is one of the hottest planets yet discovered--as hot as an M-class star. The planet's pressure-temperature profile most likely features a thermal inversion. The observations also require WASP-18b to have near-zero albedo and almost no redistribution of energy from the day side to the night side of the planet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report on the results of a time-series photometric survey of M50 (NGC 2323), a open cluster, carried out using the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO) 4-m Blanco telescope and Mosaic-II detector as part of the Monitor project. Rotation periods were derived for 812 candidate cluster members over the mass range . The rotation period distributions show a clear mass-dependent morphology, statistically indistinguishable from those in NGC 2516 and M35 taken from the literature. Due to the availability of data from three observing runs separated by ∼10 and 1 month time-scales, we are able to demonstrate clear evidence for evolution of the photometric amplitudes, and hence spot patterns, over the 10 month gap. We are not able to constrain the time-scales for these effects in detail due to limitations imposed by the large gaps in our sampling, which also prevent the use of the phase information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present the results of a systematic search for transiting planets in a ∼5 Myr open cluster, NGC 2362. We observed ∼1200 candidate cluster members, of which ∼475 are believed to be genuine cluster members, for a total of ∼100 h. We identify 15 light curves with reductions in flux that pass all our detection criteria, and six of the candidates have occultation depths compatible with a planetary companion. The variability in these six light curves would require very large planets to reproduce the observed transit depth. If we assume that none of our candidates are, in fact, planets then we can place upper limits on the fraction of stars with hot Jupiters (HJs) in NGC 2362. We obtain 99 per cent confidence upper limits of 0.22 and 0.70 on the fraction of stars with HJs ( fp) for 1–3 and 3–10 d orbits, respectively, assuming all HJs have a planetary radius of 1.5 RJup. These upper limits represent observational constraints on the number of stars with HJs at an age ≲10 Myr, when the vast majority of stars are thought to have lost their protoplanetary discs. Finally, we extend our results to the entire Monitor project, a survey searching young, open clusters for planetary transits, and find that the survey as currently designed should be capable of placing upper limits on fp near the observed values of fp in the solar neighbourhood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report on the results of an I-band time-series photometric survey of NGC 2547 using the MPG/ESO 2.2-m telescope with Wide Field Imager, achieving better than 1 per cent photometric precision per data point over . Candidate cluster members were selected from a V versus V− I colour–magnitude diagram over (covering masses from down to below the brown dwarf limit), finding 800 candidates, of which we expect ∼330 to be real cluster members, taking into account contamination from the field (which is most severe at the extremes of our mass range). Searching for periodic variations in these gave 176 detections over the mass range . The rotation period distributions were found to show a clear mass-dependent morphology, qualitatively intermediate between the distributions obtained from similar surveys in NGC 2362 and 2516, as would be expected from the age of this cluster. Models of the rotational evolution were investigated, finding that the evolution from NGC 2362 to 2547 was qualitatively reproduced (given the uncertainty in the age of NGC 2547) by solid body and core-envelope decoupled models from our earlier NGC 2516 study without need for significant modification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report on the results of a V- and i-band time-series photometric survey of M34 (NGC 1039) using the Wide Field Camera (WFC) on the Isaac Newton Telescope (INT), achieving better than 1 per cent precision per data point for . Candidate cluster members were selected from a V versus V− I colour–magnitude diagram over , finding 714 candidates, of which we expect ∼400 to be real cluster members (taking into account contamination from the field). The mass function was computed, and found to be consistent with a lognormal distribution in d N/d log M. Searching for periodic variable objects in the candidate members gave 105 detections over the mass range . The distribution of rotation periods for was found to peak at ∼7 d, with a tail of fast rotators down to periods of . For we found a peak at short periods, with a lack of slow rotators (e.g. ), consistent with the work of other authors at very low masses. Our results are interpreted in the context of previous work, finding that we reproduce the same general features in the rotational period distributions. A number of rapid rotators were found with velocities ∼ a factor of 2 lower than in the Pleiades, consistent with models of angular momentum evolution assuming solid body rotation without needing to invoke core–envelope decoupling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]