Hunting Exoplanets: Transit, Radial Velocity, and Direct Imaging Methods

What this workshop is about: How do astronomers detect planets orbiting stars light-years away? In this workshop, we’ll understand the science behind exoplanet detection through a fully hands-on session using real astronomical data - some of which I collected through the NASA DIY telescope project! This workshop will provide a hands-on introduction to the primary methods astronomers use to detect exoplanets like the Transit Method, Radial Velocity Method, and Direct Imaging methods

What we are going to do, step by step:

1. Introduction & Transit Method Basics:

   • Define exoplanets, briefly introduce the workshop's three detection methods (Transit, Radial Velocity, Direct Imaging), and explain what a stellar "light curve" is. Detail the Transit Method: how a planet crossing a star causes a measurable dip in brightness, defining key parameters like period, depth, and duration.

2. Hands-on Transit Detection with Python:

   • Summary: Load pre-provided light curve data (from  a DIY telescope project), then use Python tools to search for and reveal the repeating transit signature of an exoplanet.

   • Load the provided light curve data into lightkurve. Use the Box-Least Squares (BLS) periodogram to find the orbital period. "Fold" the light curve at this period to clearly show the transit dip.

3. Radial Velocity Method with Python Demonstration:

   • Learn how the "wobble" of a star caused by an orbiting planet is detected using the Doppler effect, and then visualize real radial velocity data to see this phenomenon.

   • Explain the principle of stellar wobble and Doppler shifts. Describe a radial velocity curve. Load and plot a pre-selected, real radial velocity dataset in Python and visually observing the periodic oscillation.

4. Direct Imaging Method & Visual Demo:

   • Explain the concept of direct imaging and its challenges (e.g., stellar glare). Display a real image of a directly-imaged exoplanet system pointing out the star and the much fainter planetary companions.

We shall talk about the NASA MicroObservatory Telescope Network , ( NASA lets us schedule time with telescopes how fun is that! True spirit of FOSS indeed) how to use their DIY toolkit and book telescope data , how to use their FOSS tools to visualize and clean data .

Talk about the importance of Citizen Science in astrophysics , and how FOSS and Citizen Science has led to the discover of more than 5000 exoplanets .

Takeaways

• Understanding of key astronomical techniques used to find exoplanets and an opportunity to work with real astronomical data.

• Confidence to work with real scientific datasets.

• Exposure to the NASA-exoplanet project ecosystem and community-led citizen science platforms.

• A better appreciation of how open-source tools enable discoveries.