A Search for Exoplanets in Open Star Clusters Using a Novel Photometric Algorithm for the "Crippled" Kepler Mission
CSEF · 2015 Physics & Astronomy First Award
Overview
Objectives/Goals To date, over 5000 exoplanet candidates have been discovered orbiting around isolated stars. All of these stars once existed in open star clusters, yet the existence of exoplanets in open clusters has not been studied. In this project, we search for exoplanets in two open clusters, Messier 35 and Koposov 62. We hypothesized that we would not find exoplanets in clusters because gravitational interactions between stars would eject forming exoplanets. Methods/Materials The Kepler Space Telescope was instrumental in the search for exoplanets, but it failed in 2013. The salvage mission, dubbed K2, allowed limited observations to continue. We used images of the clusters, as well as a control group of isolated stars taken by the K2 mission every 30 minutes for 85 days. We wrote a novel, K2-optimized photometric pipeline in Python to search for exoplanets using the transit method. Results We discovered 4 exoplanets in a sample of 620 clustered stars. In an equal sample of isolated stars, no exoplanets were found. Three of the exoplanets found were hot-Jupiters, and one was a super-Earth. All four exoplanets orbit within 0.1 AU from their host star. Conclusions/Discussion We conclude that exoplanets do exist in open clusters. Furthermore, their prevalence may even be higher in open clusters than in other stars. A possible explanation for our results is the gravitational recapture of ejected exoplanets in open clusters. We are looking to analyze 4 more clusters as K2 images them. Because all stars form clustered, our findings may further the understanding of planetary formation in all stars.
Summary statement
In our project, we wrote a novel photometric pipeline for the "crippled" Kepler Mission and used it to search for exoplanets in open star clusters.
Help received
Parents and physics teacher helped and refined the project board and presentation
Awards (1)
Competition history
- CSEF 2015
Resources
Related projects
ISEF · 2015
A Search for Exoplanets in the Open Star Clusters Messier 35 and Koposov 62 Using A Novel Large-Scale Photometric Algorithm for the "Crippled" Kepler Mission
CSEF · 2017
Searching for Exoplanets: A Novel K2-based Study of the Effects of Open Cluster Characteristics on Exoplanet Abundance
ISEF · 2019
A Search for Exoplanets in High Metallicity Open Clusters Using a Large Scale Photometric Algorithm
JSHS · 2020
A Search for Exoplanets in High Solar Metallicity Open Clusters Using a Large-Scale Photometric Algorithm
CSEF · 2016
A Search and Exploration of Multi-Exoplanet Systems Using Novel Photometric and TTV Algorithms for the K2 Mission
ISEF · 2016
A Search and Exploration of Multi-Exoplanet Systems Using Novel Photometric and TTV Algorithms for the K2 Mission
ISEF · 2021
A Mathematically Driven Physical Analysis into Exoplanet Detection Confirmation Surveys Using Bayesian Inferential Statistics, Machine Learning/Linear Algebra Sklearn and TensorFlow Techniques, the BATMAN Python Programming Library, 3D Printing Techniques, and a Custom-made Python Processing Pipeline for Image Analysis and Lightcurve Detection
ISEF · 2021
Spatial Distribution of Known Exoplanets and Potentially Habitable Exoplanets within 100- Light Years from Earth
Closest projects by meaning, across every fair and year in the corpus.
Browse more like this
Source: California Science & Engineering Fair public projects