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Transit Photometry- Detecting and Comparing Exoplanetary Characteristics

CSEF · 2026 Physics & Astronomy (Senior Division)

Logan Pinto

Overview

This study aimed to characterize known exoplanets by performing aperture and differential photometry to generate modeled transit light curves. It was originally hypothesized that there would be stark contrasts between the characteristics of Jupiter-sized gas giants and smaller Earth-sized terrestrial planets. Only one target, a short period Hot Jupiter, WASP-43 b, was successfully recorded. Since a comparison could not able to be completed using personal data, study pivoted to modeling a constrained light curve with WASP-43 b data to see if amateur equiprment could detect exoplanets. Observations were analyzed using EXOFASTv1, beacuse noise was higher than expected, a professional prior for RP/R* was used to constrain inclination and transit depth. The model assumes a circular orbit, assuming short period planets are not eccentric and modeled using Markov Chain Monte Carlo to determine the best-fit parameters. Results supported the secondary question: detection and a constrained model could be constructed using amateur equipment.

Competition history

  • CSEF 2026 Physics & Astronomy (Senior Division) · Entry S-17-06

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