Exoplanet science in the classroom - a practical project

Exoplanet science in the classroom –  a practical project

The ExoClock project has established a highly successful system for amateur astronomers to submit valuable exoplanet transit timing observations in support of the future ESA Ariel space mission. As well as supporting the amateur community, the ExoClock platform and transit analysis tools provide an excellent vehicle for school students to learn about exoplanet science in an engaging way and have fun in the process. Students can get hands-on experience using modern tools to analyse real astronomical data and make valuable contributions to a ‘live’ science project.

This talk is about the experience of planning and running a project for a group of 10 young women studying physics at a local high school. During the project, the students learned about how we use transits to study exoplanets and how to analyse observation data using HOPS software. Working in teams, they analysed two real transits and successfully submitted two light-curves to the ExoClock database.