dc.contributor.advisor	Warner, Elizabeth
dc.contributor.author	Morris, Brett
dc.contributor.department	Department of Astronomy	en_US
dc.date.accessioned	2012-03-01T14:13:18Z
dc.date.available	2012-03-01T14:13:18Z
dc.date.issued	2012-02-29
dc.description.abstract	Abstract: Preliminary observations and computational methods for analysis are presented for observing celestial objects with time-varying intensity, in particular transiting exoplanets. Transits occur when a planet orbiting a star other than the sun (an exoplanet) passes between the Earth and the host star, slightly dimming the apparent intensity of the star. CCD images of the host star of one such exoplanet, HD 189733b, are recorded during predicted transits at the University of Maryland Observatory (UMO) on a small (152 mm) refracting telescope. Differential photometry algorithms compare the relative brightness of the host star to other nearby, non-variable stars in the field and detect the small change in brightness associated with a planetary transit, on the order of tens of millimagnitudes. The first successful exoplanet observations at UMO are presented and discussed, as well as possible implications for exoplanetary studies conducted by amateur and small observatories.	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/1903/12423
dc.language.iso	en_US	en_US
dc.relation.isAvailableAt	Digital Repository at the University of Maryland
dc.relation.isAvailableAt	University of Maryland (College Park, Md)
dc.subject	Astronomy	en_US
dc.subject	Astrophysics	en_US
dc.title	Observations of Transiting Exoplanets with Differential Photometry	en_US
dc.type	Science research paper	en_US

Observations of Transiting Exoplanets with Differential Photometry

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