College Honors Program

Date of Creation

5-1-2020

Document Type

Thesis

Department

Physics

First Advisor

Tom Narita

Abstract

In this paper we analyze exoplanet transit data. First, we discuss an analytical method of assessing the data similar to the one derived in Agol & Mandel, 20021. The time series photometric data for transits used in this paper was downloaded from the NASA Exoplanet Archive. Similar data was also extracted from the Exoplanet Transit Database for analysis. We use a formula for relative flux from Agol & Mandel, 20021 to study the specific transit systems of WASP 1b, WASP 12b, Kepler 1, Qatar 1b and TRES-1b. The formula for relative flux is fit to a set of photometric data for each system using the SciPy optimization package in Python.

We first analyze the development of the geometries, and the physical significance of the output parameters from the optimization. We then apply the analytic method to transit systems under the initial simplification that the star is a uniform source of light. After that, we move to a discussion of linear and nonlinear limb darkening and its effect on the light curve fit and the output parameters. To analyze both sets of parameters from the uniform source and limb darkening approximations, we compare the output parameters for each, and we analyze the fit of the curve to the photometric data in each case. These parameters are then compared to published values. We also discuss the inclination angle of the orbital plane, and how it effects the transit data. We conclude with an analysis of the accuracy of each method.

Comments

Included in 2020 Virtual Academic Conference.

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