Variations on an Exoplanet theme (revised date) – Online Meeting
Saturday 30th Sep 2023
EXPLORE – EXoPLanet Orbit Research
The BAA’s Exoplanet Division will be holding a webinar on the topic of “Variations on an Exoplanet theme”.
The presenters will describe the various types of variations e.g. timing, depth, colour plus their causes and methods of analysis.
The webinar will be held on Zoom and there is no need to book in advance.
You can watch the recordings of the talks on the BAA YouTube channel by clicking the link next to each talk.
Provisional agenda
09:30 Meeting opens
10:00 – 10:30 Introduction and Overview – Roger Dymock (Assistant Director BAA Exoplanet Division) Watch Recording
A summary of the many types of, and reasons for, transit variations plus some of the observatories participating in exoplanet observation.
10:30 – 10:45 Introduction – Rodney Buckland (Open University) Watch Recording
10:45 – 11:15 Exoplanet Transit Timing Variations: a key to unlocking the secrets of stellar systems – Heidi Hodkinson Watch Recording
In researching the evolution of analytic and numerical TTV analysis methods, Heidi considers whether pro-am collaboration could contribute to the process of TTV analysis.
11:15 – 11:30 Break
11:30 – 12:15 Stellar variability – Professor Don Pollacco Watch Recording
All stars show signs of activity and these can seriously affect transit and radial velocity measurements. For under sampled transit light curves this can have a negative effect on timing precision and any modelling. For the characterization of small planets (both bulk and atmospheric measurements) activity will be the limiting factor. Here, we’ll look at the causes and effects of activity and ongoing mitigation techniques.
12:15 – 12:45 Computational Modelling of Transit Timing Variations – Jack Lloyd-Walters Watch Recording
Applications of Python in the Simulation of Transit Timing Variation, Analytical Approximations of TTV Models, and Model Fitting of Exoplanetary Systems by Parameter Optimisation.
12:45 – 14:00 Lunch Break
14:00 – 14:30 Analysis of periodic variations in exoplanet observations and an example in KELT-9b – Stephen Mills Watch Recording
The Generalised Lomb-Scargle periodogram is a powerful tool for spotting periodic variations in data. Stephen has applied this tool to Exoclock Data Release 3 and discusses the tool and the periodic variations found, in particular those found in KELT-9b.
14:30 – 15:00 Determining the potential habitability of transiting exoplanets – Emily Peters Watch Recording
In researching theories about the radius and width of habitable zones around stars, Emily has considered the habitability of three ‘hot Jupiters’ using 1D climate models and evaluated the impact of orbital parameters on exoplanet habitability.
15:00 – 15:30 What next? – Rodney Buckland, Roger Dymock Watch Recording
15:30 Meeting closes
