Observational astronomy/Extrasolar planet

< Observational astronomy
Size comparison of the exoplanet GJ 1214 b with Earth (left) and Neptune (right).

This learning project will study extrasolar planets. It is very difficult to directly detect planets orbiting distant stars. There are, however, a number of indirect methods. The first activity here will focus on the radial velocity method. Later, another activity will be created that uses the transit method.

Activity

In this activity you will use a computer program called the Systemic Console to examine radial velocity data for stars known to have one or more planets. The goal is to figure out the planetary configuration that best fits the observational data and look for additional planets. The Systemic website contains detailed instructions on how to participate. Here is an overview of the steps involved:

Period and mass for exoplanets discovered through October of 2013.


Uploading your results is an end in itself and will help the Systemic project progress. Here at Wikiversity we will concentrate on trying to find the best fit for a small number of the stars in the database. Later, we will be studying exoplanets that are known to transit. So, we'll begin by looking at a few of these systems. If you are going to continue, please sign your name under Active Participants at the talk page.

See also

References

External links

This article is issued from Wikiversity - version of the Monday, December 28, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.