Beta Pictoris is one of the most ideal targets for studying planet formation. The young 23 Myr system consists of a bright central star (easily visible with the naked eye) surrounded by a edge-on debris disk composed of dust and gas. The system has also been photographed repeatedly with direct imaging (discovery paper) which has revealed the presence of a giant planet which we see moving here (the star …
One of the key scientific goals of PLATO is to detect terrestrial exoplanets in the habitable zone (HZ) of solar-type stars (up to orbits of one year), and characterise their bulk properties to determine their habitability. Earth remains the only known example where life has successfully emerged, and we can’t yet say what conditions are most suitable for life. We use the HZ as a tool to determine which …
Here I will go through the steps I use when deciding on which exoplanet to observe using an amateur telescope. Step 1: Find objects which are bright enough. Go to the exoplanets.org/table and from the drop down menu on the upper left choose transit planets. Then press the big plus button (+) on the right and choose V mag under stellar params. You can move this table header next to …