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Partial support provided by The Planetary Society and NASA.
The search for extra-solar planet transits at the Planetary Science Institute (PSI) seeks to detect new planets as they transit their parent stars. To find transiting planets, we survey, using high-precision differential CCD photometry, a large number of stars repeatedly for many nights. We then analyze the resulting light curves for the distinctive signatures of planetary transits.

In 2000, PSI joined a consortium of insititutions responsible for refurbishing the 1.3-m (50-inch) RCT telescope on Kitt Peak to use as a fully robotic observatory. A major goal of this telescope for two of the partners, Western Kentucky University and PSI, will be to undertake a detailed search for extra-solar planets. Working with observations made at national facility telescopes and collaborations with the Kepler project, the RCT extra-solar planet search program will provide a very large database of ultra-precise photometric information on many types of stellar variability, stellar populations, and extra-solar planetary system candidates.

Overview
Since the discovery of the first planet around 51 Pegasi, there has been an increased interest in the search for extra-solar planets. The links below will give you a brief overview of other, commonly used search methods, details of our method of choice (the transit method), as well as additional project background. Each of these sections will give you a little more information on the science behind the project, in terms that are easy to understand.

You can click on an individual topic above, or can view the set in order by beginning with "Other Search Methods" and following the links at the end of each page.

Would You Like to Help?
Are you interested in supporting our search for extra-solar planets? Click here for more information on how you can make a difference.

Publications
For those desiring a more technical discussion of this project, we present a number of our research papers that have appeared in refereed literature as well as conference proceedings. As additional papers are made available, they will be presented here.

Enter the Publication Vault.

Acknowledgements


Partial support for our involvement in the Kitt Peak 1.3-m telescope project as well as funding for web development has been provided by The Planetary Society. Help make projects such as this happen! Join The Planetary Society.


Partial support for our prototype system and research support has been provided by the NASA/JPL Origins Program.

Work conducted on this project has been conducted in part by undergraduate students working with Drs. Howell and Everett. It is our hope that as the project develops, this unique educational opportunity will be expanded.

Unless otherwise indicated, all illustrations in these pages are © Gilbert A. Esquerdo. Contact him if you wish to use any of them. Most graphical representations are from our scientific publications.

Contacts
If you have questions or require additional information about this project, please feel free to contact one of us!

Send e-mail to the project director, Steve Howell.
Send e-mail to technical and software specialist Mark Everett.

Snail Mail:
Search for Extra-Solar Planets
Planetary Science Institute
620 N. 6th Avenue
Tucson, AZ 85705

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