On the Detection of Non-Transiting Exoplanets with Dusty Tails

Abstract

We present a way of searching for non-transiting exoplanets with dusty tails. In the transiting case, the extinction by dust during the transit removes more light from the beam than is scattered into it. Thus, the forward scattering component of the light is best seen either just prior to ingress, or just after egress, but with reduced amplitude over the larger peak that is obscured by the transit. This picture suggests that it should be equally productive to search for positive-going peaks in the flux from non-transiting exoplanets with dusty tails. We discuss what amplitudes are expected for different orbital inclination angles. The signature of such objects should be distinct from normal transits, starspots, and most - but not all - types of stellar pulsations.

accepted for publication by Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 9 pages, 9 figures