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Physics · Astronomy
Exoplanet Hunter
Find hidden worlds from a star’s dip and wobble, read an alien atmosphere, visit TRAPPIST-1 and design a habitable planet.
Physics · Astronomy
Exoplanet Hunter
Find hidden worlds from a star’s dip and wobble, read an alien atmosphere, visit TRAPPIST-1 and design a habitable planet.
The course
7 worlds · 30 lessons
World 1 · Planets Around Other Stars
FREEWhat an exoplanet is, how we find them, and why the first count is biased- 01A faint world next to a blinding starWhy almost no exoplanet is photographed · 10 min
- 02Five ways to find a hidden worldTransit, wobble, imaging, lensing, astrometry · 11 min
- 03The first discoveriesPulsar planets and 51 Pegasi b · 10 min
- 04How many planets are out there?The census and its blind spots · 11 min
World 2 · The Transit Dip
PRORead a light curve: depth, radius, period, orbit size and false alarms
World 3 · The Wobbling Star
PROGravity works both ways: finding planets from a star’s tiny motion
World 4 · The Goldilocks Zone
PROStarlight, temperature and the range of orbits where water could be liquid- 01How much light does a planet get?Luminosity and the inverse square · 10 minPRO
- 02Stars come in many sizesWhere the zone sits around G, K and M stars · 11 minPRO
- 03The temperature of a bare rockEquilibrium temperature, albedo and greenhouse · 12 minPRO
- 04What the zone does not promiseLimits of “habitable” · 11 minPRO
World 5 · Reading an Alien Sky
PROWhat starlight filtered through a planet’s air can tell us
World 6 · Visit TRAPPIST-1
PROSeven planets around one tiny red star, 40 light years away- 01A tiny star with seven worldsMeet the system · 10 minPRO
- 02A system inside Mercury’s orbitPeriods, Kepler and resonance · 11 minPRO
- 03Which worlds are in the zone?Insolation on seven planets · 11 minPRO
- 04Seven dips in one light curveTelling the planets apart · 11 minPRO
- 05Life under a red sunThe sky, the flares and what JWST found · 12 minPRO
