How to Participate
How to Reduce Your Exoplanet Observations
Once you collect your lightcurve data, the next step would be to utilize a data reduction tool to convert your image files into a transit lightcurve. Exoplanet Watch's free and official data reduction pipeline is the EXOplanet Transit Interpretation Code (EXOTIC). Alternatively, you can use any other reduction code, such as AIJ or HOPS, instead!
EXOTIC, the official data reduction pipeline of Exoplanet Watch, is a free Python3 package for reducing raw FITS images of transiting exoplanets into lightcurves. It can calibrate your data (i.e., with flats, darks, and biases) and then choose the ideal combination of comparision star, aperture, and sky annulus to extract a transit lightcurve. It then fits your observed transit with a model lightcurve to calculate the transit depth (which measures the size of the planet relative to its host star) and mid-transit time (which helps us more accurately calculate future transits).
- EXOTIC can be downloaded for free and works on PCs, Macs, and Linux computers! It can also be run locally on your own computer or in the Gdrive Collab cloud.
- If you’re a new user, here’s a guide to navigating GitHub.
- How EXOTIC Works writeup
- How EXOTIC Works video
- Also includes video walkthrough on using EXOTIC on the Google Collab Cloud
- How to Install EXOTIC
- Gdrive Collab cloud
- Locally on your own computer
- How run Run EXOTIC
- Make sure to download our sample transiting exoplanet dataset to confirm that EXOTIC is running correctly on your computer or in the cloud.
