The ExoClock Project
A project to monitor the ephemerides of transiting exoplanets by the ARIEL Ephemerides Working Group.
CMHASD Coordinators: Martin Crow, Simon Dawes and Keith Rickard.
Due to chance alignments it is possible that planets orbiting other stars will move in front of their star with respect to our point of view, this is called an exo-planet transit, and if you know when to look these can be observed using amateur equipment by measuring the change in brightness of the star. These observations are scientifically important and members of the society collaborate with exoclock to produce improved timings of these events.
Members of the Society observe exo-planet transits either with their own equipment or with the Peter Hindle Telescope (16″ LX200) in the Dick Chambers Observatory.
Training Material
Part 1: Selecting an object
In this video we explore exoclock.space and how we can use it to select the most appropriate object to observe.
Part 2: Introduction to NINA
In this video we introduce NINA the software we will use to set-up our observation.
Part 3: Using NINA & AIJ
In this video you will see how we use NINA to observe exo-planet transits and how we use Astro Image J to check we have the right exposure.
Results
Below are the latest results from our members.
Scientific Papers Members have contributed to….
ExoClock project: an open platform for monitoring the ephemerides of Ariel targets with contributions from the public
ExoClock Project. II. A Large-scale Integrated Study with 180 Updated Exoplanet Ephemerides
ExoClock Project III: 450 new exoplanet ephemerides from ground and space observations.
ExoClock Exoplanet Transit Montage by Simon Dawes for 2022
This is a montage of the exo-planet transits that CMHASD member and trustee Simon Dawes observed in 2022 for the ExoClock project. A total of 60 for 2022. Well done...
Congratulations to Martin Crow & Simon Dawes
A huge congratulations to CMHASD trustees Martin Crow and Simon Dawes for jointly winning the BAA Sir Patrick Moore Prize for Pro-Am work on Exoplanet observations with the ExoClock project along with a Mr Adrian Jones. Below is a photo of Martin and Simon being presented with their certificates by the President of the BAA David Arditti on Saturday 10th December 2022 at the BAA Christmas...
BAA ExoPlanet & ExoClock training videos of which 2 are by CMHASD members.
The videos from the British Astronomical Association (BAA) Exoplanet Division Online Workshop held on Saturday 12th November are now available to watch on the BAA YouTube Channel. The below talk titles are links to watch the videos. Two videos are by CMHASD members Rodney Buckland and Martin Crow. Introduction by Roger Dymock Exoplanet Division update EXPLORE introduction Ariel and...
Exoplanets WASP-114b and Qatar-5b observations by Simon Dawes
Two more sets of exoplanet observations for the ExoClock project by member Simon Dawes of WASP-114b and Qatar-5b. These are the 56th and 57th set of observations Simon has completed for the project. WASP-114b is a Hot Jupiter in a 1.5-day orbit around a G0 star. Qatar-5b is a Hot Jupiter orbiting the star Qatar-5 located in Andromeda constellation. It orbits its star every...
The latest ExoClock observations by Simon Dawes
Three more sets of observations of exoplanet transits for the ExoClock project by Simon Dawes. WASP-52b, Qatar-1b and HAT-P-6b. WASP-52 b is a gas giant exoplanet that orbits a K-type star. Its mass is 0.46 Jupiters. Exoplanet WASP-52b orbits at a distance of 4.07 million km from its host star WASP-52, taking 1.75 days to go round its orbit. Its discovery in the constellation Pegasus was...
Congratulations to members Martin Crow & Simon Dawes
On Friday 30th September 2022 at the ExoClock 2 day meeting held at University College London, CMHASD trustees Martin Crow & Simon Dawes were awarded certificates for their impressive contribution to the ExoClock Project. ExoClock is a project to monitor the ephemerides of transiting exoplanets by the ARIEL Ephemerides Working Group. ARIEL is a space telescope (Atmospheric...
Exo Planet HAT-P-29b observations by Simon Dawes – Sept 2022
One more for the ExoClock Project by Simon Dawes of HAT-P-29b also known as Surt. Surt is the ruler of Muspelheim and the fire giants there in Norse mythology. At Ragnarok, the end of the world, he will lead the attack on our world and destroy it in flames. See https://www.iau.org/public/themes/naming_exoplanets/...
Exoplanets TrES-3b & WASP-60b by Simon Dawes
Taken from a few days ago; this is member Simon Dawes 48th accepted transit for the ExoClock project of exoplanet TrES-3b. TrES-3b is a gas giant exoplanet that orbits a G-type star GSC 03089-00929. It has an orbital period of just 31 hours, is nearly twice the mass of Jupiter and is 0.02282 AU from its star. The planet TrES-3b is named Umbäässa. The name was selected in...
Exoplanets XO-1b and Qatar-10b
Two more sets of observations for the ExoClock project by Simon Dawes. Exoplanets XO-1b & Qatar-10b. XO-1b is an exoplanet approximately 536 light-years away in the constellation of Corona Borealis. The planet was discovered orbiting the yellow dwarf star now designated XO-1 in 2006. The planet XO-1b is named Negoiu. The name was selected in the NameExoWorlds campaign during the...
Martin Crow – Exo Planets WASP-58b, TOI-2076b & HAT-P-57b
The latest Exo planet observations by Martin Crow for the ExoClock project. TOI-2076 b is an extrasolar planet (exoplanet) that orbits a K-type star TOI -2076 in the constellation of Bootes. An exoplanet is a planet that orbits a star other than the Sun. The star is located 136.86 light years away from Earth. TOI-2076 b is a Neptune-like exoplanet, its mass is 6.89 Earths, it takes 10.4 days to...
Simon Dawes – Exo Planet TOI-1296b
One more for the ExoClock project by Simon Dawes. Exoplanet TOI-1296b. TOI-1296b was discovered in 2021 and observed with TESS and SOPHIE. It is a hot Saturn-mass exoplanet with an orbital period of 3.944 days. Simon said ‘Got this Friday night; 7 milli mag dip on a mag 11.5 star – quite a noisy measurement due to twilight observation.’...
Exoplanet KELT-23Ab by Simon Dawes
Another set of observations by Simon for the ExoClock project. KELT-23Ab was discovered using the Kilodegree Extremely Little Telescope...
WASP-92b by Simon Dawes
The latest set of observations by Simon for the ExoClock project of the exoplanet WASP-92b which orbits its parent star WASP-92, an F7 star, every 2.17...
WASP-113b by Simon Dawes
The latest exoplanet transit from Simon Dawes for the ExoClock project. WASP 113 is a 11.7 magnitude star and Exoplanet WASP- 113b orbits it every 4.5days with a drop of 10/1000ths of a magnitude. WASP 113 is a G type star of 1.3 Solar Masses and the exoplanet WASP-113b is half the mass of Jupiter. Crayford members have now contributed 110 light curves....
Exoplanet KPS-1b observations by Simon Dawes
Another for the ExoClock project…… KPS-1b orbits a star similar to the Sun with a period of 40 hours. The mass and size of the exoplanet KPS-1b are close to the characteristics of Jupiter, but it is located very close to its parent star so the temperature of the atmosphere KPS-1b is much higher than that of Jupiter. The discovery was made by the prototype Kourovka Planet Search (KPS)...
Exoplanets WASP-148b & HAT-P-44b observations
Simon Dawes has been busy again with his exoplanet observations for the ExoClock project. Below are his observations. Exoplanet HAT-P-44b was discovered in 2013 by the HATNet transit survey. Its mass is 0.39 mass of Jupiter and has an orbital period of 4.3 days. Of Exoplanet WASP -148b Simon said ”This is a 11.8 magnitude star and the dip is 8 thousandths of a magnitude – I think it...
Exoplanet TOI-1298b observations by Martin Crow
These are the latest exoplanet observations by Martin Crow. TOI-1298 b is a gas giant exoplanet that orbits a G-type star TOI -1298 in the constellation of Ursa Minor. Its mass is 0.356 Jupiters. It takes 4.5 days to complete one orbit of its star and is 0.059 AU from its star. TOI-1298 b was discovered by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) observatory, in 2021-09....
Latest exoplanet observations by Simon Dawes
Three more exoplanets have been observed by Simon for the ExoClock project – KELT 23ab, HAT P 13b and KPS...
Exoplanet Qatar 8b
Another exoplanet transit observed by Simon Dawes of Qatar 8b for the ExoClock project. Qatar-8b is just over a third of Jupiter’s mass (0.37) and is considered a “hot Saturn.” It takes less than four days to orbit its star, which is about 900 light-years from Earth. Simon said it was a tricky one to process, but the result came out very well with a depth almost identical to...
Exoplanet WASP-12B by Simon Dawes
Here is the latest exoplanet transit observed by member & trustee Simon Dawes for the ExoClock project. It is of WASP-12b a doomed EGG shaped planet. WASP-12b is a hot Jupiter that orbits so close to its parent star, it is being torn apart and it takes this sizzling gas giant alien world only 1.1 days to completely circle its parent star! The doomed planet is being eaten by its parent...
EXO-Planet Paper features observations from two members
Members Simon Dawes and Martin Crow have been named as contributors on a scientific paper published this week, Martin and Simon along with other amateur and professional astronomers have been observing exo-planet transits – each observation takes between 4 and 5 hours typically so is quite a commitment. Well done Mrtin and Simon and all the other amateur astronomers who submitted...
Exo-Planet HAT-P-30b
HAT-P-30b is a transiting hot Jupiter around a 1.25 solar mass star in the constellation of Hydra near the boarder of cancer. Martin Crow and Simon Dawes observed this exo-planet transiting its parent start part of the exoclock project, to refine transit predictions for the Aerial space craft wich will be observing exoplanet transits to learn more about these enigmatic...
EXO-Planet TrES-3b
Martin Crow observed this Exo...
Observation od EXO-Planet XO-2Nb
XO-2Nb is an exo-planet in Lynx it has an orbital period of 2.6159 days. Observed by Martin Crow as part of the Exoclock project. More info: ExoClock project https://www.exoclock.space/project And the paper that it relates to:...
Observation of EXO-Planet HAT-P-1b
HAT-P-1b is an exo-planet in Lacerta it has an orbital period of 4.4652968 days Observation bt Martin Crow as part of Exoclock project. More info: ExoClock project https://www.exoclock.space/project And the paper that it relates to:...
Observation of EXO-Planet HAT – P – 16b
HAT-P-16b is an exo planet in Andromeda with a period of 2.77596 days. Observed by Martin Crow as part of the ExoClock project More info: ExoClock project https://www.exoclock.space/project And the paper that it relates to:...