Discovering Exoplanets
Discovering Exoplanets
In this activity you will build a model of an exoplanet orbiting a star to investigate how physicists use a transit to detect exoplanets.
What you’ll need:
- Lamp
- Ruler
- Polystyrene balls
- Webcam and Light-Grapher software
What you need to do:
- Using the lamp as your star, decide how to model the transit of a planet as it orbits around the star.
- Measure the brightness of your star using Light-Grapher software on the computer.
- Use the Light-Grapher software to capture the light-curve of your star as your planet orbits.
- Use the Excel spreadsheet to calculate the radius of the exoplanet(s).
- Vary the size and speed of the exoplanet and calculate some more radii.