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Description
The launch of the exoplanet space missions obtaining exquisite photometry from space has resulted in the discovery of thousands of planetary systems with very different physical properties and architectures. Among them, the exoplanet CoRoT-29b was identified in the light curves the mission obtained in summer 2011, and presented an asymmetric transit light curve, which was tentatively explained via the effects of gravity darkening. Here we use the OSIRIS spectrograph at the 10-m GTC telescope to measure with high precision the transit light curve of CoRoT-29b to characterize the reported asymmetry in its transit shape. To this end, using the OSIRIS spectrograph at the 10-m GTC telescope, we perform spectro-photometric differential observations, which allow us to both calculate a high-accuracy photometric light curve, and a study of the color-dependence of the transit. After careful data analysis, we find that there is no asymmetry in the transit of CoRoT-29b, in either of the two observed transits, separated by one calendar year. Due to the relative faintness of the star, we do not reach the precision necessary to perform transmission spectroscopy of its atmosphere, but we see no signs of color-dependency of the transit depth or duration. We conclude that the previously reported asymmetry is a time-dependent phenomenon which did not occur in more recent epochs, or possible instrumental effects in the discovery data need to be reconsidered.
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