Beginners' Playlist

Get started with Exoplanet Watch using this handy playlist walking you through the basics of participating. Also see the How to Get Started tab. Topics include a step-by-step EXOTIC tutorial, submitting and viewing your results, where to point your telescope, exoplanet outreach, and more.

Upcoming Meetings

Find the connection info to join live on Slack or in our Newsletter.

November 8, 2024 (Friday), 8am Pacific, 11am Eastern, 16 UTC (note Daylight Savings!) - Beyond the Basics - Customizing the Colab

Ever wished you could just tweak EXOTIC Standard or Advanced to make your Exoplanet Watching just a little easier/faster/more convenient? You CAN! No coding experience? No problem! Join your fellow Watchers to both learn and share tips and tricks on how to customize your experience analyzing other worlds.

November 22, 2024 (Friday), 11am Pacific, 2pm Eastern, 19 UTC (note Daylight Savings!) - Robotic Telescopes - Gamma-ray Optical Robotic Telescope (GORT)

Astronomy from Home (AfH) is part of NASA’s Neurodiversity Network, supported by NASA at Sonoma State University. AfH has its own 14-inch Schmidt-Cassegrain robotic telescope, nicknamed Gamma-ray Optical Robotic Telescope (GORT). In use since 2004, GORT can be remotely operated and has Johnson-Cousins BVRI series filters that provide images in different visible wavelength bands. Join the team to hear about the program and how you can request your own exoplanet and other observations.

Past recordings (playlist and descriptions):

October 25, 2024 (Friday) - Beyond the Basics - Exoplanet Watch in High School

Beyond just giving a one-off outreach talk or workshop, join Kalée Tock from the Stanford Online High School to hear how she and her students are sustainably leveraging Exoplanet Watch to achieve several interdisciplinary learning goals throughout a school semester. Learn about the results from her students’ and teaching assistants’ research and get inspired to make an impact in your local community.

October 11, 2024 (Friday) - Beyond the Basics - Candidate and Other Observing Tools

Beyond just getting equipment and where to point your telescope, hear from your fellow Watchers about advanced tools and tips to help you on the next step of your astronomical journey. Jeff Nee shares updates and advanced tips for observers, Fred Noguer gives a walk-through of his candidate tools to help Watchers confirm potential exoplanets, Dan Nafe shares his leveled up gear, and more.

September 26, 2024 (Thursday) - Robotic Telescopes - Las Cumbres Observatory

No telescope? No problem. Continuing our series about robotic telescopes, join Edward Gomez to hear about this unique, global distribution of telescopes that Exoplanet Watchers and scientists around the world can use to study the universe.

September 13, 2024 (Friday) - Back to Basics v2 - Hands-on EXOTIC

September introduces brand new versions of EXOTIC and the Google Colab, so for both new Watchers and old, we'll walk everyone through this hands-on workshop, step by step. If you've ever had issues before, we hope you'll like our new changes!

August 30, 2024 (Friday) - Robotic Telescopes - Corralling at the Photon Ranch

No telescope? No problem! Exoplanet Watchers know that you don't need any special equipment or hardware to explore other worlds. In addition to our data checkout system, there are several remote telescope networks available for you to use. Join Darcy Wenn to hear how you can observe the universe using one of the newest options: Photon Ranch.

August 16, 2024 (Friday) - Research Roundup - Meet your “Star Guide”

Star Guide is an initiative empowering citizen scientists to delve into the captivating realm of exoplanet observations. Our mission is to make the use of available tools easier, guide newcomers on their search for knowledge sources, and thus reduce barriers of entry for new observers. Currently, our dedicated team is working with NASA's Exoplanet Watch to perform a UX-oriented website audit and create a Quick-Start Observation Guide for beginners. Additionally, we're analysing data from our survey that was shared with various exoplanets enthusiast groups, including Exoplanet Watch. Also, our project lead's Code/Astro team is currently developing Stellar Matchmaker - a python package for matching target exoplanet hosts with optimal reference stars. Join Anna Preis and Dr. Oisin Creaner of Dublin City University, Ireland, to hear about the work and ask your questions!

July 24, 2024 (Wednesday) - Research Roundup - A Tale of Two WASPs

Join Avinash S. Nediyedath to hear about how Exoplanet Watch helped reduce the uncertainty of the exoplanet WASP-12 b, as well as hear about his current research involving citizen science, TESS data, and WASP-18. To read more about the papers, see the Exoplanet Watch Publications page.

July 10, 2024 (Wednesday) - Research Roundup - NASA Astrophysics Pioneers Program: Pandora

Pandora is a SmallSat that will study 20 stars and their 39 exoplanets in visible and infrared light. Targeting a 2025 launch, it is aimed at disentangling the signals from stars and planetary atmospheres. Join Rae Holcomb, a member of the Data Pipeline Team, who is working on robust, open-source software to produce data products for all exoplanet researchers, and learn about the upcoming future of exoplanet exploration.

June 27, 2024 (Thursday) - Research Roundup - WASP-104 b Research in the Astronomy Classroom

Aside from observing exoplanets, Exoplanet Watch is also an education and outreach program designed to engage learners of all backgrounds to learn more about other worlds. Join Heather Hewitt to hear about how Arizona State University students utilized Exoplanet Watch as part of the first fully online Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE) for astronomy majors. Hear about the findings from the CURE program, and see the potential impact of online research courses on a variety of student outcomes. To read more about the papers, see the Exoplanet Watch Publications page.

June 12, 2024 - Research Roundup - Connecting Exoplanets and Geoscience with Aeronomy

Aeronomy, the study of upper planetary atmospheres, is a long-studied field of geoscience. From a practical perspective, understanding the terrestrial thermosphere is crucial to predicting the lifetimes of low-Earth orbit satellites and to developing global communication networks. Scientifically, aeronomy has unveiled the history of Earth's atmosphere and of liquid water on Mars. Now, the opportunity exists to bring aeronomy to the exoplanets. In this talk, Garret Levine from Yale University will discuss ongoing research to understand the upper atmospheres of exoplanets and how these observational campaigns can be supported by Exoplanet Watchers.

May 29, 2024 - The Future of Exoplanet Watch - Part II

Watchers are all over the world! To allow for maximum participation, we’re holding this one on May 29th, 11pm Pacific Time, May 30th 2am Eastern, 06 UTC, to accommodate more diverse time zones. We want to hear from you! Especially if you’ve never been able to join a meeting live before, this one’s for you! Ideas and feedback are always welcome in Slack, specifically #meeting-minutes for this topic.

May 15, 2024 - The Future of Exoplanet Watch - Part I

We’ve come a long way in a very short time. Starting with just a handful of members in 2021, we now have over 2,600 Watchers who have completed more than 6,300 reductions on over 400 exoplanet targets resulting in 27 scientific papers, and we’re just getting started! Whether you’re brand new or you’ve been with us since the beginning, join us to share how you want YOUR community to evolve and grow. What are your priorities? What are your pain points? What can Watchers do for each other and how can we all help grow and strengthen our connections? This will be a two part session to allow for maximum participation. Those who still can’t join live are always welcome to share thoughts and start conversations in the #meeting-minutes Slack channel.

Apr 17, 2024 - Back to Basics - Exoplanet Observing Tips and Tricks

Hear from experts on how to set up and optimize your exoplanet observations. Discuss with fellow Watchers about their best practices and ask your own questions about your own setup.

Apr 3, 2024 - Back to Basics - Exoplanet Watch Outreach 101

Whether you’re a brand-new Watcher or a professional astronomer, we can all be ambassadors and advocates for the exploration of other worlds. Hear from, and ask your questions of, NASA experts in the art and science of exoplanet outreach. Get easy-to-use resources and connect with your fellow Watchers to spread the good word about exoplanet science!

Mar 20, 2024 - Eclipses as Exoplanet Outreach Opportunities

On April 8, 2024, a total solar eclipse will sweep across North America. Jump on the hype train and use it as a hook to engage your family, friends, and local community in Exoplanet Watch, as well as Science in general! Share your plans, ideas, and resources. Ask your questions of NASA education and outreach experts about how to capitalize on this historic event!

Mar 6, 2024 - Robotic Telescopes - MicroObservatory

No Telescope? Use a robotic telescope to observe exoplanets! The MicroObservatory Robotic Telescope Network has free resources for anyone interested in doing astronomy, including contributing data to Exoplanet Watch. Hear from the team about this amazing system!

Feb 21, 2024 - Back to Basics - Where to point my telescope?

You have access to hardware, but you just want to know when and where to point your telescope to gather photons from other worlds! Join us to hear about tools you can use to plan your next exoplanet exploration!

Feb 7, 2024 - Back to Basics - Viewing Your Results

So you've done the hard work, and submitted your data? Come learn how to view your results to show family, friends, and other potential Watchers how you are contributing to scientific knowledge of worlds beyond the Solar System!

Jan 24, 2024 - Back to Basics - Submitting to AAVSO

Come learn how to take YOUR exoplanet light curves and submit them into a public database under your unique observer code to benefit the whole scientific community and get credit for your work.

Dec 13, 2023 - Back to Basics - How to Get Started in Exoplanet Watch and How to Use EXOTIC to Analyze Your Data

Rob Zellem gave a presentation on how to get started in participating in Exoplanet Watch, including signing up for our Slack channel, requesting data from our Data Checkout System, and then using EXOTIC to analyze your data.

Nov 15, 2023 - EXOTIC and Variable Stars

Kyle Pearson discussed how EXOTIC indicates and handles variable stars when analyzing potential comparison stars and answering your questions about EXOTIC, as well as answering any questions you have about participating in Exoplanet Watch.

Nov 1, 2023 - the Lightsound Project

Guest speaker Allyson Bieryla (CfA-Harvard) presented the Lightsound Project, a solar eclipse sonification tool.