Shadows in the Dark: Transit Method Exoplanets Quiz

If a planet passes between the telescope and the star, and if that planet is an opaque object, then it must block a small fraction of the star's light, resulting in a measurable decrease in brightness.

If the planet's orbit is tilted so it never passes directly in front of the star from our perspective, then it will not block any light; therefore, an edge-on alignment is required for a transit to occur.

If a planet is defined by its host star, and if that star is outside our solar system, then the term for that world is an exoplanet.

If we are monitoring how a star's brightness changes, and if we plot those brightness measurements on a graph against time, then the resulting line is called a light curve.

If a larger planet covers more of the star's surface area during a transit, then it will block more light; therefore, the depth of the "dip" is directly related to the physical size (radius) of the planet.

If astronomers use different physical clues to find worlds, such as light blockage (transit), star wobbling (radial velocity), or taking actual photos (direct imaging), then these are all valid detection methods.

If the dip depth depends on the ratio of the planet's size to the star's size, then a small planet orbiting a tiny star could produce the same dip depth as a large planet orbiting a massive star.

If a planet orbits a star, it will pass in front of it at regular intervals; if we see the dip repeat multiple times with the same timing, then we can confirm it is a planet and not a random error.

If the planet begins blocking light at one edge of the star and stops at the other, then the length of time the brightness remains lowered is the transit duration.

If the Kepler Mission was built with a high-precision photometer to monitor 150,000 stars for brightness changes, then its primary goal was using the transit method to find exoplanets.

If two stars orbit each other and one blocks the other, or if a dark spot on a star rotates into view, then the light will dip in a way that mimics a planet's transit.

If planets are significantly smaller than the stars they orbit, then they only block a tiny fraction (often less than 1%) of the star's light, making the dips very difficult to detect.

If the transit method relies on measuring light levels accurately over time, and if a photometer is the device designed for that purpose, then it is the primary tool used by transit hunters.

If the time between two consecutive transits represents one full trip around the star, then that time interval is the planet's orbital period.

If we have the light curve, we can measure the time between dips (period), the depth of the dip (radius), and the shape of the dip (inclination), but mass usually requires the radial velocity method.

If a planet is far from its star, it takes a long time to complete one orbit; if it takes a long time to orbit, then transits happen very rarely, making them harder to catch with a telescope.

If starlight passes through the thin layer of gas surrounding a planet during a transit, and if that gas absorbs specific colors of light, then scientists can analyze the light to find atmospheric chemicals.

If a light curve tracks how much light we receive over time, and if time is on the x-axis, then the brightness or flux must be represented on the y-axis.

If telescopes like TESS can monitor huge sections of the sky simultaneously and provide data on both planet size and orbit, then the method is highly efficient for large-scale discovery.

If each planet in a system has a different size and orbital period, and if they all transit the star, then the light curve will show a complex pattern of multiple overlapping dips.