 Exoplanets
There are currently some 400 known exoplanets but less than 50% of these are available for observation from the UK.
In collaboration with the University of Portsmouth we are helping final year students find and measure the magnitude of stars as they are partially eclipsed by their planets. Generally the difference in magnitude between the un-eclipsed and eclipsed condition is a small fraction of a percent of the stars brightness and measuring the difference is extremely difficult.
After recording very many eclipses it is possible to determine the period of rotation of the planet about its star and indeed identify if its period is reducing - as it appears to be in several cases as the planet is orbiting very close to its parent star.
The students gain experience of using the telescopes and CCD cameras and teasing out the results obtained over several weeks of observing.
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