What to Observe
Embedded below is the Swarthmore Transit Finder, a helpful tool for planning your own observations of any transiting exoplanet.
- You can prioritize the Exoplanet Watch targets by selecting the “Exoplanet Watch targets” radio button at the top of the form.
- Select an observatory near your location or choose “manual coordinate entry” at the end of the list.
- Under “Date window” select the “base date” that you would like to begin scheduling and fill in the appropriate number of days before and/or after this base date. In addition, you can optionally include constraints on the target’s elevation during the transit if your horizon has limited visibility.
- Once you hit the “Submit” button, the service might take a few seconds to minutes to load, depending on the number of days you have requested.
- On the page that does open, you can sort the planets according to their “Exoplanet Watch rank” where a low number (e.g., 1) is higher priority than a larger number (e.g., 1000). You can also filter your targets based upon the host star’s V-magnitude (“V_max”) and the expected transit depth (“Depth_min” in units of parts per thousand ppt)
Please note that it can take a few moments to query the Swarthmore Transit Finder service, particularly if you are looking up targets over multiple days. Please be patient or restrict your search to less days or less targets.