0
$\begingroup$

I am a high school student who is proposing research on exoplanets for my junior research project, I have several questions:

  1. I have seen studies where researchers survey star systems and then find potential exoplanets to perform research on. Since I am a high school student and my ability is limited, I wanted to know if it is possible for me to select one or a few star systems to focus on and find data points such as radius and orbital period from their light curves after looking at lots of light curves and selecting?
  2. I will be using data published in MAST, has that data already been analyzed or is there still light curves to analyze for me to find new exoplanet candidates?
  3. I know that the transit method is great for finding the radius or orbital period but not for distinguishing an exoplanet from an eclipsing binary, finding mass, or confirming an exoplanet. Therefore, I also need to do the radial velocity method to find other data points. Do you know of any databases that have done this for many stars and have published it online? If the data is not accessible online, do you think I can get help from a close observatory that has a spectrograph? Lastly, am I able to ask astronomers in those observatories to perform it for me or do I have to go in person? I am also curious about if I can statistically confirm a planet without needing its mass or if any research study can find an object of interest without confirming it or finding its mass?
  4. Do you know of useful software that can help me in my research for things like graphing, and what suggestions do you have overall since as you know, I am new to this field.

Thanks, I am really fascinated by astronomy, I would appreciate thoughtful responses

Improve this question
$\endgroup$
3
  • $\begingroup$ Also, do I need a strong knowledge of coding for certain aspects of data analysis or can this type of research be done without it? $\endgroup$
    – Sasan Sedighi-Mournani
    Commented Dec 31, 2020 at 17:58
  • $\begingroup$ Consider to link to acronyms. $\endgroup$
    – Qmechanic ♦
    Commented Dec 31, 2020 at 21:01
  • $\begingroup$ in regardsto your number 4, what computer are you using? $\endgroup$
    – Natsfan
    Commented Jan 17, 2021 at 2:19

0

Reset to default

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.