We all are familiar with the success that the Kepler space telescope has had in detecting extrasolar planets ("exoplanets"). Kepler does this by measuring the dip in light of the planet's host star as the planet orbits in front of it. Important information can be gleaned from the resulting light curve: (1) the beginning of the dip in light is indicative of the beginning of the planet's transit across its host star; (2) the end of the dip is indicative of the end of the transit; (3) the total duration of the transit, along with known information about the period (i.e., number of days it takes for the planet to orbit its host star) is indicative of the radius of the planet's orbit; and (4) the size of the dip is reflective of the radius of the planet relative to the radius of its host star.

But can amateur astronomers detect such transits? The answer is a resounding "yes!" In fact, amateur astronomers have been successfully detecting exoplanet transits for over a decade. More recently, exoplanet observations by amateur astronomers are providing valuable ephemeris data to exoplanet science studies by professional astronomers that use space-based observing telescopes.

A Practical Guide to Exoplanet Observing

I have prepared "A Practical Guide to Exoplanet Observing" both for those who have never done exoplanet observing, as well as for the more advanced exoplanet observer. Not only does it describe "best practices" for exoplanet observing, but it also is a step-by-step guide for using AstroImageJ, a freeware program, for conducting all aspects of exoplanet observing - from image calibration to model fitting. The latest version of the Guide can be found here. A French version of Revision 3.1 can be found here. Many thanks to Jean-Bruno Desrosiers, Serge Bergeron, and Manon Bouchard for the French tanslation. Also, a Spanish version of Revision 4.2 can be found here. Many thanks to Pere Guerra, et al., for the Spanish tanslation.

The latest Exoplanet Worksheet Template referenced in the Guide (and for which Appendix A of the Guide is an example) can be found here. Shaded fields are computed fields from previous entries on the worksheet.

The following are the .zip files of the calibration, science imagesand AstroImageJ plotconfig files that were used in the AstroImageJ example in the Guide, as well as in the AAVSO Exoplanet Observing Course:

WASP-12_Plotconfig.zip

Finally, a zip file containing another general-purpose plot configuration file that can be used as a starter for AstroImageJ can be found here.

I welcome all comments on the Guide, which can be sent to me directly at the email address below.

AstroImageJ Macro for Creating an AAVSO Exoplanet Report

In support of the AAVSO Exoplanet Database, an AstroImageJ (AIJ) macro has been developed. Documentation on how to obtain and use this macro can be obtained by clicking here.

Presentations and Publications

The following are my presentations and other publications:

Presentation at the Howard Astronomical League (HAL) September, 2015 meeting: click here.
Presentation at the AAVSO Fall 2015 Meeting: click here.
Presentation at NEAIC 2016: click here.
Presentation at the Pro/Am Session at NEAF 2016: click here.
A copy of my AstroImaging Channel presentation on May 22, 2016 can be found here, and a YouTube video of it can be seen by clicking here.
A copy of my workshop presentation Exoplanet Analysis and Modeling using AstroImageJ can be found here.
Presentation at the Society for Astronomical Sciences (SAS) June, 2016 meeting: click here.
Presentation at NASA's Exoplanet Club Seminar on September 27, 2016: click here.
Presentations at AstroAssembly 2016 on September 30-October 1, 2016: workshop on exoplanet observing techniques and dinner speech.
Presentation material for the BRIEF Workshop, "Exoplanet Observing with Small Telescopes," on October 29-30, 2016: click here.
Presentation at the AAVSO Fall 2016 Meeting: click here.
Presentation entitled "Detecting Exoplanets via Microlensing" to the December 16, 2016 meeting of the AAI (Amateur Astronomers, Inc.) Club of New Jersey: a copy can be found here and a YouTube video recording can be found here.
Presentations at NEAIC 2017: "Fundamentals of Exoplanet Observing" can be found here and "Exoplanet Observing using AstroImageJ" can be found here.
Presentations at NEAF 2017: "Fundamentals of Exoplanet Observing" can be found here and "Exoplanet Detection via Microlensing" can be found here.
Presentation at SAS 2017: "Exoplanet Observing: From Art to Science" can be found here.
Presentation at the Know Thy Star, Know Thy Planet Conference: "Achieving High Precision Transit Observations with Sub-meter Telescopes" can be found here.
Presentation at the Howard Astronomical League (HAL) October, 2017 meeintg: "High Precision Exoplanet Observations with Amateur Telescopes" can be found here.
Keynote speech at the 2017 AAVSO Fall meeting can be found here.
Colloquim presentation at the University of North Texas on November 7, 2017 can be found here.
Presentation at NEAIC 2018: "Amateur Astronomer Participation in the TESS Exoplanet Mission" can be found here.
Presentation at NEAF 2018: "The TESS Exoplanet Mission and Amateur Astronomer Participation" can be found here.
Presentation at SAS 2018: "Exoplanet False Positive Detection with Sub-meter Telescopes" can be found here.
Presentation to The Local Group: "Amateur Astronomer Participation in the TESS Exoplanet Mission" can be found here.

Clear skies and happy exoplanet observing!

Dennis M. Conti

dennis@astrodennis.com