To prepare for this assignment, watch the following two videos: 1. Overview of methods to search for extrasolar planets: 5 Ways to Find a Planet 2. Tutorial on reading a transit light curve. Transit Light Curve Tutorial To submit your assignment via Dropbox, click on this link and choose the “Add a file” button. Assignment 3: Searching for ExtraSolar Planets For each of the following examples of graphs from extrasolar planets, answer all of the following questions. Example A. Below is a transit light curves from an extrasolar planets. Answer the questions below the graph. 1. Explain what is causing the dips in brightness seen in the graph (about 100 words). – 1 pt 2. What is the period of this planet’s rotation around its central star? Explain how you got this answer (about 100 words) – 1 pt 3. Explain what additional information you would need and how you would calculate: the distance between the extrasolar planet and its central star? (about 50 words) – 1 pts the mass of the extrasolar planet? (about 100 words) – 1 pt Example B. Below are transit light curves from two different extrasolar planets. Answer the questions below the graph. These data are from two extrasolar planets that are each orbitting a star with a similar in mass to our sun. The extrasolar planets are named after their stars, so they are WASP 28b and TrES2b. 4. What is the approximate period the orbit of K2: WASP 28 around its central star? (10 words) – 0.5 pt 5. What is the approximate period the orbit of Kepler: TrES 2 around its central star? (10 words) -0.5 pt 6. Which of these extrasolar planets (K2:WASP 28 or Kepler:TrES 2) is slightly closer to its central star?How do you know? (50 words) – 1 pt 7. How does the distance between these planets and their stars compare to the distance between Earth and our Sun? (50 words) – 1 pt Example C. Below is transit light curves from transit light curve from TRAPPIST-1. – 1 pt 8. Why is this transit curve different than the extrasolar planets above? Explain the shape of the graph and what is causing it. (100 words) – 2 pts
