Assessing Habitability of Exoplanet Targets (Abstract)
Volume 48 number 2 (2020)
- Elias Koubaa
- Stanford Online High School, Academy Hall Floor 2 8853, 415 Broadway, Redwood City, CA 94063; ekoubaa1@gmail.com
- Lian E
- Stanford Online High School, Academy Hall Floor 2 8853, 415 Broadway, Redwood City, CA 94063; lian.e.smws@gmail.com
- Greta Olson
- Stanford Online High School, Academy Hall Floor 2 8853, 415 Broadway, Redwood City, CA 94063; greta.l.olson@gmail.com
- Ivan Altunin
- Stanford Online High School, Academy Hall Floor 2 8853, 415 Broadway, Redwood City, CA 94063; vaa.space@gmail.com
- Kalée Tock
- Stanford Online High School, Academy Hall Floor 2 8853, 415 Broadway, Redwood City, CA 94063; kaleeg@stanford.edu
Abstract
(Abstract only) Images of exoplanet hosts KPS-1 and Qatar-8 were requested from Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network. Light curves were generated by performing differential photometry and fit using the EXOplanet Transit Interpretation Code. KPS-1 b has a well-defined transit midpoint, despite the fact that the observations did not fully sample the planet’s egress from the eclipse of its host. The light curves from Qatar-8 b are too noisy to draw a definitive conclusion, even after applying six different photometric reduction methods. Lastly, pre-existing scientific definitions are used to define a new “Habitability Index,” quantifying the habitability of an exoplanet based on its properties. Predictions based on this habitability index are compared to those of existing metrics.