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Extrasolar Planets

This document discusses three main techniques for discovering extrasolar planets: direct imaging, observing the wobble or Doppler shift of stars caused by orbiting planets, and observing planetary transits that dim stars as planets pass in front. It explains that direct imaging is very difficult due to the faintness of planets compared to their host stars. The Doppler technique detects planets by measuring the radial velocity of stars toward and away from Earth. Planetary transits reveal a planet's radius and orbital period by the amount a star dims during a crossing. The Kepler mission has discovered thousands of new planets using the transit method.

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128 views53 pages

Extrasolar Planets

This document discusses three main techniques for discovering extrasolar planets: direct imaging, observing the wobble or Doppler shift of stars caused by orbiting planets, and observing planetary transits that dim stars as planets pass in front. It explains that direct imaging is very difficult due to the faintness of planets compared to their host stars. The Doppler technique detects planets by measuring the radial velocity of stars toward and away from Earth. Planetary transits reveal a planet's radius and orbital period by the amount a star dims during a crossing. The Kepler mission has discovered thousands of new planets using the transit method.

Uploaded by

Flavyus06
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Extrasolar Planets

extrasolar = outside of (external


to) our solar system
How can we discover planets?
How can we discover planets?
1.  Try to image them

2. Observe the motion of the star as it gets pulled by the


planet

3. Look at stars and wait for planets to go in front of them,


making the stars temporarily dimmer
Techniques for finding extrasolar planets

1. Imaging
Here are some extrasolar planets
These are all fake. Why is it hard to image
planets?
Can you think of a way around the problem?
Can you think of a way around the problem?

Telescope image of
Saturn, rings and
moons with a SOHO spacecraft
coronagraph image of the sun
with a coronagraph

?
What kinds of planets would be
easiest to image?
What could you learn about
a planet if you had an image of
it?
Fomalhaut
HR 8799
Beta Pictorisa

Combination of two near-infrared images


obtained with the Very Large Telescope
It is difficult to directly image
planets. Only a few planets
have been detected with this
method.
Techniques for finding extrasolar planets

2. Stellar Wobble
Is the sun influenced by the
gravitational force of the
planets?

Does Jupiter orbit around the


center of the sun?
Stars and planets orbit around
their center of mass
Stars and planets orbit around
their center of mass
Suppose Jupiter and the Sun could be placed
on a see-saw. Which point is closest to the
center of balance?

Size of sun, Jupiter roughly to scale.

Sizes and distances not to scale with


each other.

A B C D
Note that the star is much brighter than
the planet, so we observe the motion of
the star produced by the planet. This is
called an “indirect detection technique”.
Now, how do we observe
this wobble?
How do we observe stellar
wobble?
First, let’s talk about the Doppler Shift. Think about what
happens to the sound when an ambulance passes by.
How do we observe stellar
wobble?
The same thing happens to light.

Looks Looks
red blue
How do we observe stellar
wobble?

(animation
radialvelocitydemo.html)
How do we observe stellar
wobble?

(Here’s what the data actually look like)


What kind of planets would be
easiest to observe with the stellar
wobble
technique?
What could you learn about
a planet if you found it with the
stellar wobble technique?
We don’t know the inclination of the
planet’s orbit
Which of these two orientations
would produce the largest Doppler
shift?

A B
We don’t know the inclination of the
planet’s orbit
Suppose we observe some Doppler shift, v,
but we do not know the orientation of the
orbit. Which orbital orientation would imply a
larger mass planet?

A B
The Doppler technique only
provides the minimum mass of
the planet if the orientation is
not known (which is most of the
time).
The first planets were detected
with this method, and to date,
hundreds of planets have been
detected with this method.

Before 2009, nearly all planets


were detected with this method.
Techniques for finding extrasolar planets

3. Planetary Transit
Planetary Transit
Transit of sun by Venus

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap120611.html
Transit of sun by Venus

Telescopic H-alpha
image from Chris
Hetlage
Transit of sun by Venus

Image of Venus
transit from Taj
Mahal by Kevin
Frayer
Transit of sun by Mercury

Images of Mercury
transit from SOHO
satellite
Transits are easier to detect if
the planet is

(A) large
(B) small
What would you learn about a
planet if you found it with the
planetary transit technique?

(A) Its radius


(B) Its mass
(C) Its orbital period
(D) Both its radius and its orbital period
A special geometry is needed for a transit
Transits are rare
Transits get

(A) more
(B) less

likely as the planet’s orbit gets


larger.
The Kepler Mission
The Kepler mission has now
discovered thousands of
planets!
The three extrasolar planet
detection techniques are:
The three extrasolar planet
detection techniques are:
1.  Direct imaging

2.  The “wobble” or “Doppler shift” technique

3.  The transit method


What are extrasolar planets
like?

Are they similar to the planets


in the solar system?
http://www.astronomy.ohio-state.edu/~microfun/ob06109/

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