Exoplanet Research
Our galaxy is filled with stars... About two hundred billion of them. That's around 200,000,000,000 stars, each one holding the potential for planets to orbit around them. Learn how DPAS is helping refine our understanding of these exoplanets.
Understanding planets outside our solar system
Long relegated to the realm of science fiction, extrasolar planets (exoplanets) are now a scientific fact. As of 2024, there are over 5,000 confirmed exoplanets, and many more keep being discovered.
One of the most common way of detecting exoplanets is the transit method. As a planet passes in front of its host star, that star's brightness dims slightly, and with sensitive enough equipment, that dip in brightness can be detected. A light curve, a record of a star's brightness, can be used to learn a lot about a transiting planet. Knowing the host star's size, a light curve can be used to determine the planet's size, its orbital period, and even its distance from the star.
Data from known exoplanet transits recorded by DPAS is sent to NASA's Exoplanet Watch program, a citizen science project which combines transit light curves made by amateur astronomers to help scientists get a better understanding of these worlds thousands of light-years from Earth.
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Our Transits
WASP-103 b
Distance from Earth: 1,225 light-years
Radius: 1.53 x Jupiter
Mass: 1.49 x Jupiter
Orbital Radius: 0.02 AU
Orbital Period: 0.9 days
TOI-2583 A b*
Distance from Earth: 1,847 light-years
Radius: 1.29 x Jupiter
Mass: 0.25 x Jupiter
Orbital Radius: 0.057 AU
Orbital Period: 4.5 days
*Note that only part of this transit
was captured.
WASP-92 b*
Distance from Earth: 1,878 light-years
Radius: 1.46 x Jupiter
Mass: 0.81 x Jupiter
Orbital Radius: 0.035 AU
Orbital Period: 2.2 days
*Note that only part of this transit
was captured.
WASP-39 b (Bocaprins)
Distance from Earth: 698 light-years
Radius: 1.27 x Jupiter
Mass: 0.28 x Jupiter
Orbital Radius: 0.047 AU
Orbital Period: 4.1 days
The first exoplanet studied by the James
Webb Space Telescope, and the first
discovered to have carbon dioxide in
its atmosphere.
See this data on Exoplanet Watch
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HAT-P-59 b
Distance from Earth: 866 light-years
Radius: 1.12 x Jupiter
Mass: 1.54 x Jupiter
Orbital Radius: 0.051 AU
Orbital Period: 4.1 days
See this data on Exoplanet Watch
​
TOI-4463 A b
Distance from Earth: 565 light-years
Radius: 1.18 x Jupiter
Mass: 0.79 x Jupiter
Orbital Radius: 0.040 AU
Orbital Period: 2.9 days
See this data on Exoplanet Watch
​
TOI-2046 b
Distance from Earth: 945 light-years
Radius: 1.44 x Jupiter
Mass: 2.3 x Jupiter
Orbital Radius: Unknown
Orbital Period: 1.5 days
See this data on Exoplanet Watch
​
TrES-5 b*
Distance from Earth: 1,175 light-years
Radius: 1.19 x Jupiter
Mass: 1.79 x Jupiter
Orbital Radius: 0.025 AUs
Orbital Period: 1.5 days
*Note that only part of this transit
was captured.
See this data on Exoplanet Watch
​
Qatar-10 b
Distance from Earth: 1,823 light-years
Radius: 1.54 x Jupiter
Mass: 0.74 x Jupiter
Orbital Radius: 0.029 AU
Orbital Period: 1.6 days
​
TOI-1516 b
Distance from Earth: 806 light-years
Radius: 1.36 x Jupiter
Mass: 3.16 x Jupiter
Orbital Radius: Unknown
Orbital Period: 2.1 days
See this data on Exoplanet Watch
​
Hat-P-23 b
Distance from Earth: 1,190 light-years
Radius: 1.368 x Jupiter
Mass: 2.09 x Jupiter
Orbital Radius: 0.0232
Orbital Period: 1.2 days
​
WASP-114 b
Distance from Earth: 1,707 light-years
Radius: 1.339 x Jupiter
Mass: 1.769 x Jupiter
Orbital Radius: 0.0285
Orbital Period: 1.5 days
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