Measuring Exoplanetary Radii Using Transit Photometry

Overview

The goal of this study was to measure the radii and constrain the orbital periods of three Hot Jupiter exoplanets, HAT-P-25b, HAT-P-9b, and HAT-P-30b. Through remote observing, raw images of the host stars were acquired using the ARCSAT telescope and FlareCam Imaging Instrument in Sunspot, New Mexico. A data processing pipeline utilising the Python programming language was used to convert the raw data images into calibrated pixels and transit light curve graphs. The normalized transit graphs of HAT-P-25b and HAT-P-30b were fitted with multiple light curve models, which varied based on a given range of radius and time of mid-transit parameters within the Python code. The data associated with HAT-P-9b were not fitted with light curve models due to a non-detection in the data. Chi-square tests were performed on all the light curve models to isolate the chi-square value closest to 1.0, which would signify a strong data to model fitting. Chi-square maps were used to estimate the 1s error bars (68% Confidence Intervals) for all light curve calculations. A shift in mid-transit time (-0.41 ± 0.31 hours from expected value) was detected for HAT-P-25b. This will help scientists more accurately predict the transit times for this planet. The normalized radius (Rp/R?) calculated for HAT-P-30b differed significantly from the literature value by 0.04 ± 0.0020. This discovery can be used to more accurately constrain the radius of this planet. These findings will help scientists obtain more accurate knowledge about these exoplanets and their characteristics.

Competition history

• ISEF 2018 Physics and Astronomy · Entry PHYS029

Resources

• ISEF abstract page ↗

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