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Exoplanet Detection JS: Transit Method Documents

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Main Document

Exoplanet Detection JS: Transit Method 

written by Mario Belloni

This is the zip file with the running model.

Released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 license.

Published October 6, 2019
Last Modified October 10, 2019

This file is included in the full-text index.
This file has previous versions.

Source Code Documents

Exoplanet Detection JS: Transit Method 

The Exoplanet Detection JS: Transit Method model simulates the detection of exoplanets by using the transit method of detecting exoplanets. In this method, the light curve from a star, and how it changes over time due to exoplanet transits, is observed and then analyzed. In this simulation the exoplanet orbits the star (sun-sized) in circular motion via Kepler's third law.  When the exoplanet passes in front of the star (transits), it blocks part of the starlight. This decrease in starlight is shown on the graph.  If the exoplanet is close enough to the central star, and has sufficient reflectivity, or albedo, it can reflect enough of the starlight to be seen on the light curve. In the simulation the star-exoplanet system is shown as seen from Earth (edge on view) but magnified greatly, and with the star and planet sizes not shown to the scale of the orbit. The radius of the central star (relative to the radius of Sun),semi-major axis of the exoplanet (in AU), radius of the exoplanet (relative to the radius of Jupiter), the exoplanet's albedo (reflectivity), and the inclination of the system relative to Earth can be changed.

The simulation will run on any platform with a recent JavaScript-enabled browser.

Released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 license.

Published October 5, 2019
Last Modified October 10, 2019

This file is included in the full-text index.
This file has previous versions.