Transiting Exoplanet Light Curve

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the creation and analysis of a light curve for the transiting exoplanet TRES-3B. Participants share experiences related to photometry, data collection challenges, and the implications of their findings in the context of exoplanet research.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Debate/contested
  • Mathematical reasoning

Main Points Raised

  • One participant shares their first light curve of TRES-3B, expressing satisfaction with the results and a desire for better equipment.
  • Another participant notes a break in data due to equipment issues and asks about the airmass curve and time axis units.
  • A clarification is provided regarding the airmass curve, indicating it measures the amount of atmosphere the light passes through, with zenith being 1.0.
  • There is a mention of a correction made to the Julian date on the light curve.
  • Participants congratulate the original poster on their achievement and discuss the broader motivations behind the search for exoplanets, with differing personal motivations expressed.
  • Speculation arises about the potential for detecting additional features in the light curve, such as moons or rings, and inquiries about mitigating noise in stellar light flux measurements.
  • References are made to previous studies on stellar variability in relation to the Kepler mission, highlighting ongoing challenges in the field.
  • Concerns are raised about the impact of using filters on light collection and signal-to-noise ratio when measuring stellar variations.
  • Another participant emphasizes the interest in detecting more exoplanets and earth-like planets as a primary motivation for the research.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express a range of views on motivations for exoplanet research, with some focusing on the search for earth-like planets while others do not share that motivation. The discussion includes both agreement on the challenges of noise in measurements and differing opinions on how to address those challenges.

Contextual Notes

Participants mention limitations related to equipment performance and data accuracy, such as the impact of atmospheric conditions and the need for longer integration times to improve measurement precision.

Drakkith
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Well, I just made my first light curve of a transiting exoplanet, TRES-3B, the graph is here.
It's my first time ever doing any photometry, but seeing as how the light curve matches the expected transit pretty much spot on it looks like I was successful.

It's got me wanting to get more or bigger telescopes to do better curves lol.
 
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Secondary mirror fogged up halfway through transit, thus the break in data to apply hair dryer.

:)

Is the airmass curve measuring the "thickness" of our atmosphere, or something else? Also, what are the units on the time axis?
 
clamtrox said:
:)

Is the airmass curve measuring the "thickness" of our atmosphere, or something else? Also, what are the units on the time axis?

The airmass curve is how much air the target is imaged through at the time. Zenith is 1.0 and it increases as you get lower towards the horizon. The units on the time axis are the julian date.
 
Drakkith said:
Well, I just made my first light curve of a transiting exoplanet, TRES-3B, the graph is here.
It's my first time ever doing any photometry, but seeing as how the light curve matches the expected transit pretty much spot on it looks like I was successful.

It's got me wanting to get more or bigger telescopes to do better curves lol.

Congratulations on doing real astronomy and sharing it with us here. Hoping you can get a bigger "light bucket" and connect the most sensitive detectors to continue making this kind of important measurement.
By the way, is this recently more popular search for exoplanets in any way motivated by the hope "we are not alone"?
 
Bobbywhy said:
Congratulations on doing real astronomy and sharing it with us here. Hoping you can get a bigger "light bucket" and connect the most sensitive detectors to continue making this kind of important measurement.

Thanks!

By the way, is this recently more popular search for exoplanets in any way motivated by the hope "we are not alone"?

No idea. I don't think my motivation is due to that hope. But I can't speak for anyone else.
 
Maybe Drakkith gets lucky and plots a stepped light curve indicating a large moon, or rings, or a binary planet (or whatever it was they said would do that, LOL)

BTW, when they mentioned the stellar light fluxes they are measuring are unexpectedly noisier than expected, besides longer integration times, is there anything else that would mitigate the problem?

Like big light buckets, or separate light buckets recording the same transits, or maybe several scopes in a specific geometric configuration , or maybe blue or red filters to emphasize the portions of the spectra that are more stable ??
 
tasp77 said:
Maybe Drakkith gets lucky and plots a stepped light curve indicating a large moon, or rings, or a binary planet (or whatever it was they said would do that, LOL)

BTW, when they mentioned the stellar light fluxes they are measuring are unexpectedly noisier than expected, besides longer integration times, is there anything else that would mitigate the problem?

Like big light buckets, or separate light buckets recording the same transits, or maybe several scopes in a specific geometric configuration , or maybe blue or red filters to emphasize the portions of the spectra that are more stable ??

Who is "they"?
 
Gilliland, Ronald L.; et al. (2011). "Kepler Mission Stellar and Instrument Noise Properties"

UMSF has had several postings on the unexpected variability of the stars in the Kepler mission survey. It's a fascinating finding. Serendipity strikes again.

The effect was also noted in the Subaru Telescopes images for the Ice Hunters project, which I participated in.
 
  • #10
Not sure what can be done about the stellar variation. If it's different in different colors then yes I suppose you could use filters, but that would drastically cut down on your light and decrease your signal to noise ratio, leading to worse precision.
 
  • #11
Bobbywhy said:
By the way, is this recently more popular search for exoplanets in any way motivated by the hope "we are not alone"?
I think the main motivation is the possibility to detect more and more of them.
The search for earth-like planets is a really interesting thing, too, of course.
 

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