The main goal of researching exoplanets is to contribute to the building and further strengthening of our abilities to find exoplanets. In this study, we are attempting to find an exoplanet that had previously been discovered during the Trans-Atlantic Exoplanet Survey (TrES). The goal of hunting for exoplanets is to learn more about different types of planets beyond our solar system and to discover a planet that resembles Earth to the extent that life could exist on it. “Transiting” is a method that we will be using in an attempt to find an exoplanet. This method is used to measure the change in magnitude of a star as a planet passes in front of it. As a result of regular decreases in magnitude could show the existence of an exoplanet. To map out stars in the sky, we have a coordinate system much like the geographic coordinate system we use on Earth. Since not all stars are visible from one point, we need to use telescopes around the world to locate the ones we are looking for. TrES-3b is best visible from the Northern Hemisphere during the summer months. Using Itelescope.net, we are enabled to use Deep Field Telescopes in New Mexico, California, and Spain to locate the star that TrES-3b orbits, GSC 03089-00929. The process that we use to take a picture of a star, such as GSC 03089-00929, which is the parent star for the exoplanet TrES-3b, has many important steps. Using Itelescope.net, we find a telescope and take a picture of the correct star field. After doing so, we can relocate the image to the American Association of Variable Star Observer’s VPHOT Program (AAVSO). From there, we determine the magnitude of GSC 03089-00929 in the image by comparing the star to other stars around it. These other stars have known magnitudes, which then allows us to make a very accurate estimation as to the magnitude of GSC 03089-00929. Through several images, we determine where the minimum of the magnitude is and record it on a graph. We will repeat this several times and come to the conclusion, based on our results, that there is an exoplanet orbiting GSC 03089-00929. With this data, we can also determine the size of the exoplanet, the distance to the star from the exoplanet, and the time it takes the exoplanet to orbit the star. The change, and length of change in magnitude, bring us to these conclusions. Attempting to locate new exoplanets is a fairly new area of research, in relation to other sciences. While advances in technology occur, so do advances in the strategies of detecting exoplanets.
The exoplanet that we are attempting to locate, TrES-3b, was first discovered in 2007 during the Trans-Atlantic Exoplanet Survey (Zolotukhin). This TrES-3b was one of the first exoplanets discovered by TrES and immediately showed a unique characteristic. The characteristic is the extremely fast orbit of 31 hours around the star of GSC 03089-00929 (Zolotukhin). This transit was one of the shortest transits ever found at the time. The TrES was made up of many very small telescopes, rather than have very large telescopes, which made discoveries very difficult because smaller telescopes have shorter ranges and they can’t capture as much light to create an image. Today, there are many methods of searching for exoplanets, including radial velocity, transit photometry, and pulsar timings. Radial velocity involves looking at the ‘wobbling’ effect that an exoplanet has on its parent star. A star that is ‘wobbling’ has a chance of having one or more exoplanets because the planet pulls on the starand causes the star to have its own smaller orbit. Transit photometry is the method we are using to detect TrES-3b, which involves measuring the regular decrease in magnitude of the star. Pulsar timings are similar to transit photometry but involve a change in the timing of pulses. All of these methods are useful in detecting new exoplanets and are used to continue to discover more exoplanets (Perryman). There are several stars that are close to impossible with our current technology to learn if they have an exoplanet. Planetary positioning plays a large role in this. If an exoplanet orbits in a way that we cannot see it transit in front of its star, thisremoves the possibility of “Transiting” to discover it. A small exoplanet with this characteristic could also show close to almost no pull on its star, which would render radial velocity detection methods useless. Regardless, as of 2014, there are 977 confirmed exoplanets and 4234 planetary candidates discovered just by the Kepler Telescope (Kepler Telescope). Exoplanet research started with the discovery of few stars that also contained planets, but now, we realize that it is uncommon for a star to not have an exoplanet, which is a large accomplishment of exoplanet research.
The exoplanet that we are attempting to locate, TrES-3b, was first discovered in 2007 during the Trans-Atlantic Exoplanet Survey (Zolotukhin). This TrES-3b was one of the first exoplanets discovered by TrES and immediately showed a unique characteristic. The characteristic is the extremely fast orbit of 31 hours around the star of GSC 03089-00929 (Zolotukhin). This transit was one of the shortest transits ever found at the time. The TrES was made up of many very small telescopes, rather than have very large telescopes, which made discoveries very difficult because smaller telescopes have shorter ranges and they can’t capture as much light to create an image. Today, there are many methods of searching for exoplanets, including radial velocity, transit photometry, and pulsar timings. Radial velocity involves looking at the ‘wobbling’ effect that an exoplanet has on its parent star. A star that is ‘wobbling’ has a chance of having one or more exoplanets because the planet pulls on the starand causes the star to have its own smaller orbit. Transit photometry is the method we are using to detect TrES-3b, which involves measuring the regular decrease in magnitude of the star. Pulsar timings are similar to transit photometry but involve a change in the timing of pulses. All of these methods are useful in detecting new exoplanets and are used to continue to discover more exoplanets (Perryman). There are several stars that are close to impossible with our current technology to learn if they have an exoplanet. Planetary positioning plays a large role in this. If an exoplanet orbits in a way that we cannot see it transit in front of its star, thisremoves the possibility of “Transiting” to discover it. A small exoplanet with this characteristic could also show close to almost no pull on its star, which would render radial velocity detection methods useless. Regardless, as of 2014, there are 977 confirmed exoplanets and 4234 planetary candidates discovered just by the Kepler Telescope (Kepler Telescope). Exoplanet research started with the discovery of few stars that also contained planets, but now, we realize that it is uncommon for a star to not have an exoplanet, which is a large accomplishment of exoplanet research.