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Abstract:

We present a method for computing upper and lower limits to the expected duration of planetary transits given a range for the parameters of the host star, while explicitly accounting for non-zero impact parameter and eccentricity, and placing a basic constraint on the orbital stability through a minimum planet–star separation at periastron. We find that, especially at longer periods, the transit can be considerably shorter or longer than previous searches have assumed. No transits are known with such short or long transit durations, but it is unclear whether this is a real feature of the planet population or a combination of transit probability, observational bias, and detection bias.